AFRICAN TIGER FISH

genus Hydrocynus

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INTRODUCTION

I've done little to no research on this fish, since it has not been readily available. You can check out various fishing web sites under the African Tiger Fish or genus name Hydrocynus and that should give you a lot of native habitat information.

OPEFE was recently sent 5 preserved African Tiger Fish juveniles. On March 22, 2000 OPEFE secured 2 live specimens of Hydrocynus vittatus. Most of these were sent to Oregon State University where Dr. Douglas Markle will be using them for his neo-tropical division students. The fish measured about 5-6 inches each and all were positively identified by Dr. Markle's student as H. vittatus.

Hydrocynus vittatus Photo by Frank Magallanes

Hydrocynus (or fish dogs, or fish tigers) are known strict ichthyophagous for their promptness and their voracity. All the fish belonging to this kind appreciably look the same and only an attentive examination makes it possible to differentiate them. They have a torpedo form, which they use to their advantage of nourishing itself, since they continuously chase their prey. The fish are generally silver plated and brilliant. The scales are marked with a dark spot, thus forming especially visible parallel stripes above the side line. According to certain species', these lines are more or less dark. The dorsal fin is inserted into the same level as the ventral fins or a little ahead. The mouth is armed with only one series of teeth, very developed and sharp, on each jaw. The eye is almost entirely covered with a fat eyelid.

REFERENCES

1. Bertin, L.   1948 Catalogue des types de poissons du Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle. 3e partie. Ostariophysaires (Characiniformes, Gymnotiformes). Cat. Fish Types, Paris 3e partie: 1-49.

2. Boulenger, G. A.   1898 (Dec.) Matériaux pour la faune du Congo. Poissons nouveaux du Congo. Deuxième Partie. Elopes, Characins, Cyprins. Ann. Mus. Congo (Ser. Zool.) v. 1 (fasc. 2): 21-38, Pls. 10-19.

3. Boulenger, G. A.   1907 Zoology of Egypt: The fishes of the Nile. Hugh Rees, Ltd., London. Fish. Nile: i-li + 1-578, Pls. 1-97.

4. Brewster, B.   1986 (31 July) A review of the genus Hydrocynus Cuvier 1819 (Teleostei: Characiformes). Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Zool. v. 50 (no. 3): 163-206.

5. Castelnau, F. L.   1861  Mémoire sur les poissons de l'Afrique australe. Paris. Mem. Poiss. Afr. Australe: i-vii + 1-78.

6. Cuvier, G.   1819 Sur les poissons du sous-genre Hydrocyon, sur deux nouvelles espèces de Chalceus, sur trois nouvelles espèces du Serrasalmes, et sur l'Argentina glossodonta de Forskahl, qui est l'Albula gonorhynchus de Bloch. Mem. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. v. 5: 351-379, Pls. 26-28.

7. Dankwa, H. R., E. K. Abban and G. G. Teugels   1999 Freshwater fishes of Ghana: identification, distribution, ecological and economic importance. Ann. Soc. Zool. Belge v. 283: 1-53.

8. Günther, A.   1864 (10 Dec.) Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Physostomi, containing the families Siluridae, Characinidae, Haplochitonidae, Sternoptychidae, Scopelidae, Stomiatidae in the collection of the British Museum. Cat. Fishes v. 5: i-xxii + 1-455.

9. Lévêque, C., D. Paugy, G. G. Teugels and R. Romand   1989  Inventaire taxinomique et distribution des poissons d'eau douce des bassins côtiers de Guinée et de Guinée Bissau. Rev. Hydrobiol. Trop. v. 22 (no. 2): 107-127.

10. Lévêque, C., D. Paugy and G. G. Teugels (eds.)   1990 Faune des poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Collection Faune tropicale no. XXVIII. MRAC (Tervuren)/ORSTOM (Paris). Faune Poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtre Afr. Ouest v. 1: 1-384.

11. Paugy, D.   1984 (Feb.) Characidae (pp. 140-183). In: Daget et al. 1984 [ref. 6168]. Cloffa v. 1.

12. Paugy, D. and J.-F. Guégan   1989 Note à propos de trois espèces d'Hydrocynus (Pisces, Characidae) du bassin du Niger suivie de la réhabilitation de l'espèce Hydrocynus vittatus (Castelnau, 1861). Rev. Hydrobiol. Trop. v. 22 (no. 1): 63-69.

13. Paugy, D. and V. Bénech   1989  Les poissons d'eau douce des bassins côtiers du Togo (Afrique de l'Ouest). Rev. Hydrobiol. Trop. v. 22 (no. 4): 295-316.

14. Paugy, D., C. Lévêque, G. G. Teugels, R. Bigorne and R. Romand   1990  Freshwater fishes of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Annotated checklist and distribution. Rev. Hydrobiol. Trop. v. 23 (no. 4): 329-350.

15. Seegers, L.   1996  The fishes of the Lake Rukwa drainage. Ann. Soc. Zool. Belge v. 278: 1-407.

16. Seegers, L., L. De Vos and D. O. Okeyo   2003 Annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of Kenya (excluding the lacustrine haplochromines from Lake Victoria). J. East Afr. Nat. Hist. v. 92: 11-47.

17. Skelton, P. H.   1993 A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers, Ltd. Guide Freshwater Fish. South. Africa: i-xiii + 1-388.

18. Skelton, P. H.   2001 A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa. Struik Publishers. Freshwater fishes southern Africa.: I-xiv + 1-395.

19. De Vos, L., L. Seegers, L. Taverne and D. Thys van den Audenaerde   2001 L'ichtyofaune du bassin de la Malagarasi (système du Lac Tanganyika): une synthèse de la connaissance actuelle. Ann. Soc. Zool. Belge v. 285: 117-134.

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UPDATED: 05/22/2007