Found in shallow waters; common in estuaries; may enter lower reaches of rivers. Can tolerate fresh water only within a narrow temperature (23-26°C). Feeds mainly at night on crustaceans, but also takes small fishes, fish eggs and larvae in estuaries (Ref. 7248). Marketed dried and salted (Ref. 12693).

Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea and South Africa to the Philippines, north to China (Ref. 33450) and Taiwan (Ref. 5193), south to northern Australia.

Ambassis gymnocephalus is distributed in Indo-West Pacific (Day 1875, Talwar and Jhingran 1991, Jayaram 1999): Red Sea and South Africa (Whitfield and Paterson 2003), Kenya to the Philippines, India (Bhimachar and Venkataraman 1952, Venkataraman 1960, Tilak 1972), Sri Lanka (Vinobaba 2007) north to China (Randall and Lim 2000), Hong Kong (Nip and Wong 2010), Thiland (Shinnaka et al. 2007), Hainan (Nichols and Pope 1927), Borneo (Inger 1955) and Taiwan (Hung and Chiu 1991), south to northern Australia (Russell et al. 2003).

Ambassis ambassis is found in the Indo-West Pacific from subtropical eastern South Africa to Kenya, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius (Anderson and Heemstra 2003, Harrison 2005), Seychelles (Playfair 1868), Zanzibar (Playfair and Günther 1867), Borneo (Fowler 1905), India (Raj 1916, Talwar and Jhingran 1991, Jayaram 1999, Bijukumar and Sushama 2001, Ramanujam and Anbarasan 2009) and north Australasia (Day 1875).

Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Reunion, Seychelles, South Africa (country), Tanzania

Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: East and South Africa east to Philippines and New Guinea, north to Taiwan, south to Queensland (Australia) at Cairns.

Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 10; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 8 - 10

Maximum size: 160 mm TL

16.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 4180))

In shallow waters; common in estuaries; may enter lower reaches of rivers. Can tolerate fresh water only within a narrow temperature (23-26°C). Feeds mainly at night on crustaceans, but also takes small fishes, fish eggs and larvae in estuaries (Ref. 7248).

This taxon is one of a number of demersal species in the Zambezi River system of southern Africa. Demersal river fish are found at the river bottom, feeding on benthos and zooplankton

Nutrient levels in the Zambezi River are relatively low, especially in the upper Zambezi; in that reach, above Victoria Falls, most of the catchment drains Kalahari sands, whose nutrient levels are inherently low due to their aeolian formation; moreover, agricultural fertilizer addition throughout the Zambezi watershed is low, due to the shortage of capital available to farmers of this region.

Nitrate levels (as nitrogen) in the upper Zambezi are typically in the range of .01 to .03 milligrams per liter. Correspondingly electrical conductivity of the upper Zambezi is on the order of 75 micro-S per centimeter, due to the paucity of ion content. From the Luangwa River downstream nitrate levels elevate to .10 to .18 milligrams per liter, and electrical conductivity rises to a range of two to four times the upper Zambezi levels. Not surprisingly, pH, calcium ion concentration, bicarbonate and electrical conductivity are all higher in portions of the catchment where limestone soils predominate compared to granite.

There are a total of 190 fish species present in the Zambezi River, including eel and shark taxa. The largest native demersal species present are the 117 centimeter (cm) long tiger fish (Hydrocynus vittatus), the 175 cm African mottled eel (Anguilla bengalensis labiata), the 120 cm Indonesian shortfin eel (Anguilla bicolor bicolor), the 200 cm Giant mottled eel (Anguilla marmorata), the 150 cm African longfin eel (Anguilla mossambica), the 183 cm Sampa (Heterobranchus longifilis), the 150 cm Cornish jack (Mormyrops anguilloides) and the 700 cm largetooth sawfish (Pristis microdon).

demersal; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); freshwater; brackish; marine; pH range: 7.2 - 8.2

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Freshwater
• Marine

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Freshwater
• Marine

Depth range based on 5 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 1 sample.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0.2 - 5.5
  Temperature range (°C): 26.803 - 26.803
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.090 - 0.090
  Salinity (PPS): 34.975 - 34.975
  Oxygen (ml/l): 4.666 - 4.666
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.131 - 0.131
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.005 - 1.005

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0.2 - 5.5
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Amphidromous. Refers to fishes that regularly migrate between freshwater and the sea (in both directions), but not for the purpose of breeding, as in anadromous and catadromous species. Sub-division of diadromous. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.Characteristic elements in amphidromy are: reproduction in fresh water, passage to sea by newly hatched larvae, a period of feeding and growing at sea usually a few months long, return to fresh water of well-grown juveniles, a further period of feeding and growing in fresh water, followed by reproduction there (Ref. 82692).

Found in shallow waters; common in estuaries; may enter lower reaches of rivers. Can tolerate fresh water only within a narrow temperature (23-26°C). Also inhabits coral reefs (Ref. 58534). Feeds mainly at night on crustaceans, but also takes small fishes, fish eggs and larvae in estuaries (Ref. 7248).

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Specimens with Barcodes: 10
Species With Barcodes: 1

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


No available public DNA sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 3
Specimens with Barcodes: 8
Species With Barcodes: 1

Population

Population Trend

Population

Population Trend

Least Concern (LC)

Major Threats

Major Threats

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions

fisheries: minor commercial; price category: low; price reliability: very questionable: based on ex-vessel price for species in this family