Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Siluriformes
(Catfish) > Malapteruridae
Etymology: Malapterurus: Greek, mala = a lot of + Greek, pteron = fin + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335); minjiriya: "Minjiriya" is the Hausa word for the species, easily distinguished from the sympatric M. electricus by Niger River fishermen (Ref. 44050).
Environment / Climate / Range
Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57130)
Morphology | Morphometrics
soft rays: 9 - 12;
Vertebrae: 43 - 47. Diagnosis: tooth patches broad (Ref. 34006, 44050). Pectoral fin placed ventrally; 8-12 anal-fin rays; 19 caudal-fin rays (ii-7-8-ii); 43-47 vertebrae (Ref. 44050). Body and head marked with large blotches (Ref. 34006, 44050). Spotting and blotching concentrated posteriad; caudal and anal fins unmarked or lightly spotted; paired fins rarely spotted (Ref. 44050).
Africa: known from Niger River and Volta River system (Ref. 44050, 57130). Also in the White Nile (Barro and Alvero Rivers), and Omo River; possibly also in Chad and Senegal basins but has not been collected here (Ref. 44050).
Largest specimen encountered in museum collections was 320mm SL; Sagua (1987) reported sizes up to 510 mm SL (Ref. 57130).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Norris, S.M., 2002. A revision of the African electric catfishes, family Malapteruridae (Teleostei, Siluriformes), with erection of a new genus and descriptions of fourteen new species, and an annotated bibliography. Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool., 289:1-155. (Ref. 44050)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 96402)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), based on all LWR estimates (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.5 ±0.5 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 69278
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100) .