Lates angustifrons
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Latidae (Lates Perches)
Lates
Lates angustifrons
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Spacing between dorsal fins more than between last spines of first dorsal fin. Caudal fin rounded in adults, rounded and spotted in juveniles. Eyes small, less than interorbital with. Striking features: none.
Distribution
Africa: widely distributed in Lake Tanganyika (Ref. 2216, 36901) and present in the Malagarazi River delta (Ref. 54847).
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. demersal. Found in: lakes.
Biology
Juveniles live in a specific inshore habitat until they reach 18 cm (Ref. 2216) also found near and in slow flowing affluents (Ref. 36901). Adults found from the littoral to near the limit of the oxygenated zone (Ref. 2216). Solitary, lurking predator, probably favoring rocky bottoms and unspecialized in its fish diet; highly susceptible to intensive fishing (Ref. 2216). Feeds largely on benthic cichlids (Ref. 4967, 36901), but also takes sardines (Ref. 4967). Threatened due to over harvesting (Ref. 58490).
Max length: 200.0 cm SL; max weight: 100000 g.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN), assessed 2006-01-31. Resilience: Low (tm=3-5; K=0.25; tmax=13).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Coulter, G.W. (1976) The biology of Lates species in Lake Tanganyika, and the status of the pelagic fishery for Lates species and Luciolates stapersii. J. Fish Biol. 9(3):235-259.
Eccles, D.H. (1992) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the freshwater fishes of Tanzania. Prepared and published with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (project URT/87/016). FAO, Rome. 145 p.
Poll, M. (1953) Exploration hydrobiologique du lac Tanganika (1946-1947). Résultats scientifiques. Volume III, fascicule 5A. Poissons non Cichlidae. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles. 251 pp.
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