Congoli | |
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Waite, Edgar R. (1921) Illustrated Catalogue of the Fishes of South Australia. (Freshwater and Marine Image Bank). | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Suborder: | Notothenioidei |
Family: | Pseudaphritidae McCulloch, 1929 [2] |
Genus: | Pseudaphritis Castelnau, 1872 [3] |
Species: | P. urvillii |
Binomial name | |
Pseudaphritis urvillii (Valenciennes, 1832) | |
Synonyms [4] | |
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The congoli (Pseudaphritis urvillii), also known as the freshwater flathead, marble fish, marbled flathead, sand trout, sanding, sandy, sandy whiting or tupong, [5] is a species of marine ray-finned fish. It is the only species of fish in the monotypic family Pseudaphritidae and the genus Pseudaphritis. It was initially classified as a member of the family Bovichtidae. [6]
The congoli was first formally described as Aphritis urvillii in 1832 by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes but the name Aphritis was a junior synonym of the Diptera genus Aphritis named by Pierre André Latreille in 1805. The genus Pseudaphritis was described by the French zoologist Francis de La Porte Castelnau in 1872. [3] The family Pseudaphritidae was first named by the Australian ichthyologist Allan Riverstone McCulloch in 1929. [2] The Pseudaphritidae are the sister family of the Bovichtidae and Eleginopidae and these are all sister to the rest of the families in the Notothenioidei which have been placed in the suggested superfamily Cryonotothenioidea. [7] Pseudaphritidae is one of two families of the suborder Notothenioidei with a primarily non-Antarctic distribution, the other being Bovichtidae. [8] The congoli is the only species in its genus and family. [4]
The genus name Pseudoaphritis is a compound of pseudo which means “false” and aphritis, a name which dates back to Aristotle, who used it for a type of anchovy or whitebait. Valenciennes originally used Aphritis as the name of the genus but this name was unavailable as Pierre Andre Latreille had used it for a fly genus Aphritis in 1804. Lev Berg proposed a replacement name, Phricus but this was a synonym of Castelnau's earlier Pseudaphritis. the specific name honours the explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, leader of the Astrolabe expedition (1826- 1829), in the course of which type was collected. Gerorges Cuvier's Eleginus bursinus is a senior synonym of Pseudaphritis urvillii but has been disregarded due to the prevailing usage of P. urvillii. [9]
The congolli is found in fresh, brackish and marine waters around south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, and is endemic to Australia. It lives mostly in slow-moving waters of estuaries, rivers and streams. [5] Water temperatures in its habitat range from 5 to 20 °C (41 to 68 °F). This fish will inhabit areas with log snags, overhanging banks, and leaf litter. [10]
Between late April and August, it migrates south to estuaries and sea to breed. [11] [12]
In 2017, congolli were recorded in five rivers on Kangaroo Island in South Australia for the first time, thanks to a project conducted by Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) and carried out by a number of citizen science volunteers. [13]
Tupongs have made a recovery in the Glenelg River in south-western Victoria, after years of absence. [14]
The congolli is a slender, mottled fish, with a silvery-white underside. Its head is slightly flattened, with eyes positioned towards the top and the snout is pointed. It has two separate dorsal fins. [5] The colour varies according to where it lives: it may be bluish, purplish or reddish-brown, marbled with greenish-brown above, and a yellowish white to silvery colour below. Juvenile fish have black saddles on their dorsal surfaces. [10]
The largest adult measured is about 36 centimetres (14 in) long. Usually, adults grow up to 17 centimetres (6.7 in) long. [11]
The congolli is a carnivorous ambush predator, and feeds on insects (especially in freshwater), fish, crustaceans (especially in estuaries), worms, molluscs, and other invertebrates. [10] [11] [12]
The congolli is an ambush predator that usually buries itself in the substrate. [11]
Congolli are catadromous – they live in freshwater habitats as adults, and migrate downstream to estuaries to spawn. [10] Adults migrate south to estuaries reproduce between late April and August. [11] [12] The larvae are carried out to sea, and slowly move upstream as they grow; the larger adults live furthest upstream. [10]
Aboriginal peoples living in the area used to eat Congolli, and the flesh is today considered "excellent eating". However the fish are rarely large enough and no longer important in commercial fishing, although once a minor part of lower Murray fisheries. [10]
The members of the family Percichthyidae are known as the temperate perches. They belong to the order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes.
Flathead(s) or flat-head may refer to:
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Notothenioidei is one of 19 suborders of the order Perciformes. The group is found mainly in Antarctic and Subantarctic waters, with some species ranging north to southern Australia and southern South America. Notothenioids constitute approximately 90% of the fish biomass in the continental shelf waters surrounding Antarctica.
Bovichtidae, the temperate icefishes or thornfishes, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, classified in the suborder Notothenioidei of the order Perciformes. They are native to coastal waters off Australia, New Zealand, and South America.
The flathead grey mullet is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically 30 to 75 centimetres. It is known with numerous English names, including the flathead mullet, striped mullet, black mullet, bully mullet, common mullet, grey mullet, sea mullet and mullet, among others.
Galaxias is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Galaxiidae, and are frequently referred to as the galaxiids. These highly adaptable fish are typically found at temperate latitudes across the Southern Hemisphere.
The giant mottled eel, also known as the marbled eel, is a species of tropical anguillid eel that is found in the Indo-Pacific and adjacent freshwater habitats.
The Glenelg River, a perennial river of the Glenelg Hopkins catchment, is located in the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia.
Platycephalus is a genus of mostly marine, demersal ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae. They are found in the eastern Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.
Brachyplatystoma is a genus of catfish from the family Pimelodidae. As the occasionally used common name goliath catfishes indicates, this genus includes some of the largest species of catfish, including the piraíba, B. filamentosum, which reaches up to the region of 3.6 metres (12 ft) in length. Brachyplatystoma are found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, and other tropical freshwater and brackish habitats in South America. Some species are migratory. These fish are important as food fish and, to some extent, aquarium fish.
Tetraroginae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, commonly known as waspfishes or sailback scorpionfishes, belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are native to the Indian Ocean and the West Pacific. As their name suggests, waspfishes are often venomous; having poison glands on their spines. They are bottom-dwelling fish, living at depths to 300 metres (980 ft). These creatures usually live in hiding places on the sea bottom.
The Artedidraconidae, barbeled plunderfishes, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes, notothenioids belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenioidei. The family comprises four genera. These fishes are endemic to deep waters off Antarctica.
The Patagonian blennie, also known as the rock cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the monotypic family Eleginopidae and monotypic genus Eleginops. It is found in coastal and estuarine habitats around southernmost South America.
Cymbacephalus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Bovichtus is a genus of fish in the family Bovichtidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean.
The flathead congoli is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the family Bovichtidae, the thornfishes or temperate icefishes. It is native to the seas off southeastern Australia. This species is the only known member of its genus.
Cryodraco is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes. They are found in the Southern Ocean. While C. antarcticus has minor commercial importance, C. atkinsoni and C. pappenheimi are of no interest to commercial fisheries.
The nightfish is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a temperate perch from the family Percichthyidae which is endemic to southwestern Australia.