[Aba Aba, Aba (Nigeria); Poisson-cheval (French); African Knifefish,
Frankfish, Freshwater Rat-tail; Gymnarchus niloticus]
These low voltage electric fish are found in swamps, lakes, and rivers in drainage basins of the Nile, Turkana, Chad, Niger, Volta, Senegal, and Gambia rivers. They can grow to a little over 5 feet long and weigh up to 42 pounds. They have poor vision and hunt at night, using electrical fields for navigation and to locate prey. Propelled by their long dorsal fin, they can swim both forward and backwards, which most fish can't do. They have much larger brains than most fish, thought necessary to control and monitor their electric systems. They are quite successful, so IUNC Red List LC (Least Concern).
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(very large page).
Smoke Dried Fish is very popular in West Africa, but Aba Aba is much too
large to dry whole as is usually done. For this reason, in northern Nigeria
it is cut into chunks before smoke drying into a form called Mangala. This
honor it shares with larger catfish in the region. Mangala is available
on-line in North America, and is used for flavoring soups and stews. The
specimens in the photo are Aba Aba.
More on Smoke Dried Fish.