Chrysichthys polli Risch, 1987
Image contributors to this species:
Jeffrey Lawton (6)
ScotCat Sources:
Other Sources:
Relevant Information:	Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 6 - 6; Anal soft rays: 12 - 14. Body moderately elongate. A deep head, its height more than 66% of the head length. An obtusely pointed snout, slightly rounded. Eye-diameter longer than the length of the nasal barbel. Nasal barbel short, hardly reaching the anterior edge of the orbit; maxillary barbel moderate reaching the tip of the humeral spine; outer mandibulary barbel moderate, up to the posterior end of the operculum; inner mandibulary barbel reaching the end of the orbit; the two pairs of slender mandibulary barbels are distantly set and in between small papillae are found. A low number, 13-14, of slender gill rakers. Humeral spine well developed, but not reaching beyond the level of the dorsal spin. Dorsal spine short, strongly serrated on the posterior side; pectoral spine well developed, strongly serrated on the inner side. Dorsal fin short, much shorter than the head length; pectoral fin short, not reaching the base of the ventral fin; anal fin moderate, its base longer than or equal to the base of the adipose fin. Adipose fin small, the length of its base shorter than the length of the base of the dorsal fin). Colour: Preserved specimens are dark brown above the lateral line and lighter beneath; sometimes there is a black band behind the operculum. The dorsal and caudal fin may show a tiny black margin. This is stated as a smalll Chrysichthys species which may be is imported as C. longipinnis or C. sp. furcatus in the trade. The first three specimens in the photo's are just under 2ins (5cm) in size and the last three are 12 months later.
Common Name:	None
Synonyms:	None
Family:	Claroteidae
Distribution:	Africa: lower Congo River basin and Ubangi drainage (middle Congo River basin). Type locality: Yelelola (falls). Lower Zaire (5º43'S, 13º34'E).
Size:	14cm. (5½ins)
Temp:	22-28°C (71-83°F)
p.H.	6.5-7.2.
Reference:	Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628. Seegers, L. 2008 The catfishes of Africa. A handbook for identification and maintenance. Aqualog Verlag A.C.S. GmbH, Germany. 604 p. Risch, L. 1987 Description of four new bagrid catfishes from Africa (Siluriformes: Bagridae). Cybium 11(1):21-38. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (02/2010).