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Hippocampus Bildarchiv (2) Frants Lehmann (3 Stamps) Karl Heinz Dau (1 Stamp) Reinhold Wawrzynski (9) Nathan Cook (1) Christian Bode (1)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 1 - 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 5 - 6. Anal fin long, extending from vent almost to origin of caudal fin. Four pairs of short, circum-oral barbels. Silver-grey, somewhat darker above. Reported to be a pelagic species. Habitat: Occur mainly on shallow waters. Migrates to the surface at night. Rarely grow to lengths greater than 30 cm SL. Reproduction: Spawns throughout the year peaking once. Migrates into rivers in fairly compact schools during the rainy season to spawn in floodwater pools. Oviparous, eggs are unguarded. Aquarium Care: Large aquarium with tankmates not too small as they could become prey during night time activities. Will do better with conspecifics. Diet: Feeds on a wide range of invertebrates including terrestrial insects and whole or pieces of fish. Primarily piscivorous at 13-34 cm  TL . In the aquarium it is not a problem as they will eat most aquarium fare.

Butterfish

Schilbe mystus, S.senegallus, S. dispila, S. senegalensis, S. senegalensis fasciata, S. palmeri

Schilbeidae

Africa: Senegal, Gambia, Casamance, Corubal, Geba, Sassandra, Boubo, Bandama, Agnébi, Comoé, Tano, Pra, Volta, Mono, Ouémé, Ogun, Niger, Chad and Cross River basins. Africa: Nile River in Sudan. Reported from the Okavango Delta, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa. Type locality: Nile.

30.0cm. (12ins)

23-26°C (73-79°F)

6.5-7.2.

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2008. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (11/2008).
ScotCat Factsheet no. 199. Jan. 2013.