Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes
(Perch-likes) > Ambassidae
Etymology: Ambassis: Derived from Greek, anabasis = climbing up (Ref. 45335). More on author: Lacepède.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243). Subtropical
Africa: South Africa to Kenya, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 5.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4318)
soft rays: 9 - 11. With a single supraorbital spine. Rostral spine absent. Preopercle ridge and rear margin serrate. Interopercle edge smooth except for few small serrae at angle. Cheek scales, 2-3 rows. Predorsal scales 13-18. Lateral line continuous.
Tolerant of freshwater when water temperature is within 7-32°C (Ref. 7248, 79840). Tends to be more tolerant of lower temperatures in water of low salinity (2ppt) than in seawater (Ref. 7248). Feeds at night on crustaceans, fish fry and larvae and insects (Ref. 7248). Salt dried and eaten in some countries (Ref. 12484)
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Fricke, R., 1999. Fishes of the Mascarene Islands (Réunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez): an annotated checklist, with descriptions of new species. Koeltz Scientific Books, Koenigstein, Theses Zoologicae, Vol. 31:759 p. (Ref. 33390)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 120744)
CITES (Ref. 118484)
Threat to humans
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969
): 23.9 - 28.8, mean 27.3 (based on 254 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01738 (0.00911 - 0.03313), b=2.99 (2.82 - 3.16), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.7 ±0.56 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179
): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (16 of 100) .