Petrocephalus guttatus Fowler, 1936
Species overview
Very small fish, body short and deep, head slightly longer than deep, snout blunt, mouth inferior but extending only to a line below posterior nostril. Head without particular aggregations of cutaneous sensory organs. Caudal fin obtusely pointed. Light brownish, finely speckled black, much larger spots on the head. Size observed: 42 mm SL, 49 mm TL.
P. guttatus(measurements)
Taxonomic description
-Body short, strongly laterally compressed, body depth 31-32 % SL, greatest depth above origin of anal fin.
-Head length 28-31 % SL; head depth 24-26 % SL, 79-83 % body depth.
-Outline of back slightly convex, upper profile convex, underside head concave, outline of belly slightly convex, bases of unpaired fins steeply running to caudal peduncle.
-Snout rounded, short, 17-23 % head length, 28-42 % postorbital length, tip of snout on a level with midline of body.
-Mouth 13-18 % head length, inferior but its edge below posterior nostril, not extending to the eye, upper jaw on a level with lower edge base of pectoral fin.
-Chin inconspicuous.
-Teeth not indicated in original description.
-Nostrils closely together, separate from eye, oval, posterior nostril wider than anterior one, on a level slightly above lower rim of eye; axis parallel to axis of head.
-Eye diameter 17-21 % head length, 28-34 % postorbital length. No conspicuous aggregations of electrorecpetors on the head.
-Opercular cleft curved, not extending much beyond base of pectoral fin, 26-39 % head length, 30-45 % head depth.
-Dorsal fin 20-21 fin-rays, base of D 19-21 % SL, anal fin 24-25 rays, base of A 24-26 % SL, origin of D behind origin of A, end of D more or less opposite end of A; predorsal length 62-64% SL, preanal length 58-62 % SL.
-Pectoral fin pointed, extending to tip of pelvic fin. V is closer to P than to A.
-Caudal fin obtusely pointed, scaled part may extend to half its length. 40-44 scales in lateral line; 16 round caudal peduncle.
-Caudal peduncle 19-24% SL, its depth 6-6.5 % SL, 26-32 % its length.
-Coloration »Light brownish, obscurely clouded with darker.
-Head and body everywhere marked with rather large close-set spots, one to each scale on trunk and tail. On sides of body and lower surface of head, same spots enlarged and conspicuous. Lips brown. Iris grey. Fins dull brown, with darker blotch at each lobe basally. Some specimens show the fin rays of the vertical fins all more or less speckled with dark brown«.
Type locality
»Thirty kilometers east of Kribi, Cameroons«. (3° 57 ‘ N 9° 55 ‘ E)
Distribution
»Cameroon and Republic of Central Africa (type locality)«.