Key to Species
Click on species name to go to that profile for further details on that species.
Valid Taxa
Hydrocynus goliath-
Usuallly with 12-14 teeth in the upper jaw. Gill rakers very short, less than one-third the length of the filaments; lateral line with 53-58 pored scales; anal fin with 3 soft, unbranched and usually 14 branched rays; vertebrae 52-54; lateral stripes not distinctive; found in the Congo river.
Gill rakers approximately one-third the length of the gill filaments; 4th infraorbital width broad, approximately 7.7 percent of the standard length (range 6.9-8.9 percent); body deep; lateral line with 47-55 pored scales; vertebrae 49-51; lateral stripes conspicuous; found from the Nilo-Sudan region to the west coast of northern Africa.
Gill rakers long, approximately equal in length to gill filaments; 4th infraorbital width (widthe of head just below eyes) approximately 6.1 percent (range 5.1 to 7.5 percent) of the standard length; body not deep; lateral line with 46-53 pored scales; vertebrae 45-51; lateral stripes prominent; found in the Nile, Sanaga and Omo rivers and western Cameroon.
Gill rakers approximately one-third the length of the gill filaments; lateral line with 45-50 pored scales; vertebrae 48-50; anal fin with 3 soft, unbranched and usually 13 branched rays; lateral lines distinct to pronounced; found widely throughout Africa in the Congo, Zambezi and Okavango rivers, coastal river systems south of the Lower Zambezi and in Lake Tanganyika.
Gill rakers approximately one-third the length of the gill filaments; lateral line with 43-47 pored scales; anal fin with 3 soft, unbranched and usually 12 branched rays; vertebrae 46-47; lateral stripes distinct; confined to eastward flowing rivers of Tanzania.
Invalid taxa
Hydrocynus vittiger-
H. vittiger was originally described by Boulenger as H. vittatus, but had to rename it due to the existence of H. vittatus that we are familiar with in the hobby toady, which was already described and named by Castelnau in 1861. As such, Boulenger renamed what he believed to be his new taxa H. vittiger in 1907. H. vittiger was examined by Brewster in 1986 and found to be morphologically identical to H. goliath, which makes H. vittiger a junior synonym and confirms H. goliath as valid.
Hydrocynus somonorum-
H. somonorum was described by Daget in 1954 on H. brevis material. It was described as being a separate species based on morphological variation within H. brevis. This species was rejected as invalid in that the supposed differences fell well within the described perimeters for H. brevis. As such, H. somonorum is a junior synonym of H. brevis, which remains valid.
Cryptid
Hydrocynus cf. black goliath-
H. cf. black goliath is a proposed morph or species of ATF that supposedly lives in the Black River tributary to the Congo. These fish are highly sought after by hobbyists but are not currently imported. They are currently not described by science. There is a great deal of debate in the hobby as to whether or not these even exist. The lack of a description combined with the fact that only one angler has documented catching them has created a great deal of skepticism. Unlikely though it may be,
there is evidence that an undescribed species very closely related to Hydrocynus goliath currently lives in the Congo River.
