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Faculty Publications
Morphological Evidence for the Occurrence of Two Electric Catfish (Malapterurus) Species in the White Nile and Omo-Turkana Systems
Document Type
Article
Keywords
Distribution, Electric catfish Malapterurus, Morphology, Nile, Omo-Turkana
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Fish Biology
Volume
55
Issue
3
First Page
492
Last Page
505
Abstract
Morphological analysis of 28 Malapterurus specimens collected from the Nile and Omo-Turkana basins revealed two groups. The first was characterized by low vertebral counts (41-44) and numerous gill rakers (14-22) situated along the entire first ceratobranchial, the second group was characterized by high vertebral counts (47-51) and a low number of gill rakers (6-13) situated only on the upper portion of the first ceratobranchial. Through comparison with the type specimens of three currently recognized Malapterurus species and comparison with museum collections from the Nile, Omo-Turkana, and Chad basins, these two groups were identified as M. electricus and M. minjiriya. A principal component analysis of 27 measurements allowed partial discrimination among species. Biogeographic aspects of finding M. minjiriya in the tributaries of the White Nile and in the middle reaches of the Omo River are discussed.
Department
Department of Biology
Original Publication Date
1-1-1999
DOI of published version
10.1006/jfbi.1999.1016
Recommended Citation
Berendzen, Peter B. and Golubtsov, A. S., "Morphological Evidence for the Occurrence of Two Electric Catfish (Malapterurus) Species in the White Nile and Omo-Turkana Systems" (1999). Faculty Publications. 6363.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/6363