Author: (Valenciennes, 1833)

Pseudotolithus senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1833)

Diagnosis: body moderately elongate, compressed; inter-orbital width greater than eye diameter; mouth large, oblique, lower jaw projecting; a pair of sharp canines near tip of upper jaw; Dl X; D2 I + 28-33. A II + 7. Caudal fin asymmetrically pointed. Anterior end of swimbladder with a pair of complicated tube-like appendages, divided into a group of a few short tubes anteriorly and a group of numerous long tubules running backward along bladder. Scales weakly ctenoid, except for some cycloid scales on snout and sub-orbital region. Colour: silvery grey with distinct dark oblique lines along scale rows on sides, becoming horizontal and undulated posteriorly; inside of opercle jet black; spinous portion of dorsal fin with a black tip; pelvic and anal fins dusky to yellowish, caudal fin dark. Size: to 100 cm SL, common to 50 cm.

Habitat: over mud, sandy mud or rock bottoms in eoastal waters from the shoreline to 70 m depth, rarely entering estuaries, smaller individuals often found in shallow waters; moves to midwater when bottom temperature drops below 18° C. Food: fishes and crustaceans. Reproduction: from November to March in waters of 22-25° C (tropical West Africa).

Distribution: along the West African coast from Morocco to Angola, but rarely north of Senegal.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Ovarian eggs only, Collignon, 1957 & 1960 | Longhurst, 1964a.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Perciformes
Suborder Percoidei
Family Sciaenidae
Genus Pseudotolithus
Species Pseudotolithus senegalensis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Pseudotolithus senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1833)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Pseudotolithus senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1833)

Synonyms:

Otolithus senegalensis Valenciennes, 1833, in Cuv. & Val., Hist. nat. Poissons, 476. Holotype: MNHN no. 7512, Gorée.
? Sciaena dux S. Bowdich, 1825: 236, fig. 54 (R. Gambia); nomen dubium, see Trewavas, 1962: 172.
Pseudotolithus macrognathus Bleeker, 1863, Natuurk. Verh. Holland. Maatsch. Wet., (2)18: 61, pl. XIII (fig. 2). Holotype: RMNH no. 753 ('Ashantee').
Otolithus macrognathus: Fowler, 1936: 879, fig. 376 Cadenat, 1951: 227 Poll, 1954: 230, fig. 70 Collignon, 1957 (bionomics in tropical waters); 1959: 5; 1960: 55.
? Otolithus senegalensis: Furnestin et al., 1958: 442.
Pseudotolithus senegalensis: Trewavas, 1962: 169 Longhurst, 1964a & 1964b (bionomics in G. of Guinea).


Common names:

cassava croaker [En]
corvina cassava [Es]
melusa [Mauritania]
otolithe sénégalais [Fr]

Bleeker, P. 1863. Mémoire sur les poissons de la côte de Guinée. Natuurk. Verh. holland Maatsch. Wet. Haarlem, (2)18: pp. 1-136, 28 pl.

Bowdich, T. E. 1825. Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo during the autumn of 1823, while on his third voyage to Africa, London, xii+1-278, Xl pl.+57 fig. (10 n. num. pl.)+l pl. [Fishes of Madeira :121-125].

Cadenat, J. 1951. Poissons de mer du Sénégal, Initiations africaines, III, Inst. fr. Afr. noire, Dakar, 1950 [1951]: 345 pp., 241 fig.

Collignon, J. 1957. Sea perch (Otolithus) fishery. C.C.T.A./C.S.A. Symposium on oceanography and seafisheries on the West African coast. Luanda 21st-27th November 1957, Sea Fisheries I. Africa (57) O.C.W. 40. (Roneo report only.)

Collignon, J. 1959. La systématique des sciaenidés de l'Atlantique oriental. Bull. Inst. océanogr., Monaco, (1155): 1-11, with suppl. table.

Collignon, J. 1960. Contribution à la connaissance des Otolithus des côtes d'Afrique occidentale. Bull. Inst. Étud centrafr. (n.s.), (19-20): 55-94.

Cuvier, G.; Valenciennes, A. 1828-1849. Histoire naturelle des Poissons, Paris-Strasbourg, 22 vol., 11030 pp., 621 pl. (numb. 1-650).1,1828: xvi+573 pp., pl. I-VIII [author: Cuvier]; 2, 1828: xxi+490 pp., pl. 9-40 [Cuv.: pp. 1-238, pp. 249-262, pp. 387-490; Val.: pp. 238-249, pp. 262-386]; 3 April 1829: xxiii+500 pp., pl. 41-71 [Cuvier]; 4, 1829: xxvi+518 pp., pl. 72-99 [Cuvier]; 5, 1830: xxviii+499 pp., pl. 100-140 [Cuvier]; 6, 1830: xxiv+pp.559 pp., pl. 141-169 [Val.: pp. 1-425, 493-559; Cuv.: 426-491]; 7, 1831: xxix + 531 pp., pl. 170-208 [Cuv.: 1-440; Val.: pp. 441-531]; 8, 1832: xix+509 pp., pl. 209-245 [Cuv.: pp. 1-470; Val.: pp. 471-509]; 9, 1833: xxix+512 pp., pl. 246-279 [Cuv.: pp. 1-198, pp. 330-359, pp. 372-427; Val.: pp. 199-329, pp. 359-371, pp. 429-512]; 10, 1835: xxiv+482 pp., pl. 280-306 [Val.]; 11, 1836: xx+506 pp., pl. 307-343 [Val.]; 12, 1837: xxix+507 pp., pl. 344-368 [Val.]; 13, 1839: xix+505 pp., pl. 369-388 [Val.]; 14, 1840: xxii+464 pp., pl. 389-420 [Val.]; 15, 1840: xxi + 540 pp., pl. 421-455 [Val.]; 16, 1842: xx+472 pp., pl. 456-487 [Val.]; 17, 1844: xxiii+497 pp., pl. 487-519 [Val.]; 18, 1846: xix+505 pp., pl. 520-553 [Val.]; 19, 1847: xix+544 pp., pl. 554-590 [Val.]; 20, 1847: xviii+472 pp., pl. 591-606 [Val.]; 21, 1848: xiv+536 pp., pl. 607-633 [Val.]; 22, 1849: xx+532 pp., pl. 634-650 [Val.].

Fowler, H. W. 1936. The Marine Fishes of West Africa, based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-1915. Bull. am. Mus. nat. Hist., 70 (1), Jan. 21, 1936: pp. vii+1-606, fig. 1-275; (2), Nov. 18, 1936: pp. 607-1493, fig. 276-567.

Furnestin, J.; Dardignac, J.; Maurin, C.; Coupé, A.; Boutière, H. 1958. Données nouvelles sur les poissons du Maroc atlantique. Revue Trav. Inst. (scient. tech.) Pêch. marit., Paris, 22 (4): pp. 379-493, 1 pp. errata, 75 fig.

Longhurst, A. R. 1964a. Bionomics of the Sdaenidae of Tropical West Africa. J. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer, 29: 93-114.

Longhurst, A. R. 1964b. A study of the Nigerian trawl fishery. Bull. Inst. fr. Afr. noire, (A) 26: 686-700.

Poll, M. 1954. Poissons. IV. Téléostéens Acanthoptérygiens. Rés. Sci. Expéd. océanogr. belg. Eaux côt. afr. Atlant. Sud (1948-1949), 4 (3A): pp. 1-390, 107 fig., 9 pl.

Trewavas, E. 1962. A basis for classifying the sciaenid fishes of tropical West Africa. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (13) 5: pp. 167-176. Longhurst, A. R. 1969. Synopsis of biological data on West African croakers. Pseudotolithus typus, P. senegalensis, P. elongatus. FAO Fish Synopsis, 35 (rev. 1): 50 p., 9 fig.

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