Aba aba: Habitat

Summary: Where are Aba aba found? Join Kiersten as she tells where you can find these amazing fish.

 

For my hearing impaired followers, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean

 

Show Notes: “Gymnarchus niloticus” Global Biodiversity Information Facility, https://www.gbif.org

“Gymnarchus niloticus, Aba aba” Seriously Fish, https://www.seriouslyfish.com

“Morphology of Aba Knife Fish (Gymnarchus niloticus) (Cuvier, 1829)”, by S.O. Ayoola and C. E. Abotti. World Journal of Fish and Marine Sciences 2 (5): 354-356, 2010.

Music written and performed by Katherine Camp

 

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

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Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… This is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

This is the second episode of Aba aba, or Gymnarchus niloticus, and the second thing I like about this little known fish is where they are found. Let’s talk about where in the wild this fish is naturally found and what kind of habitat they tend to like best. This episode may be a bit shorter than most, but I promise to make up for it in future episode of this series.

In episode one we found out that the Aba Aba is found in Africa. They can inhabit bodies of fresh water in the Nile, Turkana, Chad, Niger, Volta, Senegal, and Gambia basins. It is wide spread throughout West African countries of Egypt, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, and Gambia. It has been reported in Cameroon, where it is an introduced species, but identification here still needs further confirmation. By widespread I mean that they can be found in various bodies of freshwater such as lakes and rivers in these areas but they are sparsely spread. 

These fish need fairly large territories, remember that can get up to five feet in length and weigh 42 pounds, and spend most of their lives as solitary individuals, so therefore, they are sparsely spread throughout their natural habitat.

Now that we know where in the world to find these amazing fish, what kind of habitat are we looking for? We know they like freshwater and can be found in lakes and rivers. They will most often be found in areas with dense aquatic vegetation. They use this to hide from larger predators and to help camouflage themselves from prey items. 

In rivers, they favor the edges of the water near the banks to keep out of the rushing currents toward the middle. Don’t get me wrong, they can swim well, but the edges host the plants they need to rest in during the day. Aba aba are nocturnal, so they are most active at night and they spend their days resting in the vegetation. They can use the plants a bit like a hammock, supporting them while they sleep.

Aba aba fish have very small eyes and are a bit sensitive to light so this is another reason to live in and around thick vegetation. 

Their behavior is seasonally influenced by the rains of this continent, as are many species of animals that live on the African continent. When the rains come breeding season begins, but you’ll have to wait for the next episode to find out the unique breeding behaviors of the Aba aba.

That’s it for the second episode of the Aba aba. Thank you for joining me to find out where this amazing fish lives because it is my sec