Description

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Dorsal spines (total): 15 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 10; Anal spines: 4; Anal soft rays: 6 - 7. Diagnosis: mouth large and protrusible; premaxilla reaching upwards to level of occipital region; preopercle denticulate; lateral line absent; 5 scale rows on cheeks; caudal fin rounded (Ref. 57397). Coloration: highly variable, depending, among other factors, on emotional state of fish; normally, ground colour dark brown; iris red; opercula with a large black blotch bordered posteriorly by a bright red band; under stress, colour turns rapidly into a marbled pattern with alternating light and dark brown cross bars; in young individuals, sides show a series of light cross bars (Ref. 57397).

Common Names

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Firepigget bladfisk , Danish , Denmark

Fourspine leaffish , English , USA

Fourspine leaffish , English , Global

Pikkulehväkala , Finnish , Finland

非洲南鱸 , Mandarin Chinese , China

非洲南鲈 , Mandarin Chinese , China

Taxonomic Hierarchy

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Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Anabantiformes

Family: Nandidae

Genus: Afronandus

Species: Afronandus sheljuzhkoi (Meinken, 1954)

Climate Zone

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Tropical

Location

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Africa: Banco, Agnébi and Mé, small coastal basins in southern Côte d’Ivoire; also reported from the Boubo (Côte d’Ivoire) and from southwestern Ghana (Ref. 57397).

Biology

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Occurs in running freshwater (Ref. 6801). Maximum TL recorded was 4.8cm (Ref. 6801).

Habitat

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benthopelagic