Agonostomus telfairii is a species of fish in the family Mugilidae, the mullets. It is known by the common name fairy mullet.[1][2] It is native to the islands off the eastern coast of Africa, where it can be found in freshwater bodies and estuaries in Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, and Réunion.[1][2] It returns to the sea to spawn.[2]

Agonostomus telfairii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Mugiliformes
Family: Mugilidae
Genus: Agonostomus
Species:
A. telfairii
Binomial name
Agonostomus telfairii
Synonyms
  • Nestis cyprinoides Valenciennes, 1836
  • Nestis dobuloides Valenciennes, 1836
  • Agonostoma dobuloides (Valenciennes, 1836)
  • Agonostomus dobuloides (Valenciennes, 1836)

This species grows to a length of 75 centimetres (30 in) TL and is of minor importance to commercial fisheries.[2] The specific name honours the Irish botanist and ship's surgeon Charles Telfair (1778-1833), who is known to have made a botanical and zoological collection in Mauritius in 1810 which included the type of this species.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Sparks, J.S. (2020) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Agonostomus telfairii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T697A174775712. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T697A174775712.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2015). telfairii"Agonostomus telfairii " in FishBase. April 2015 version.
  3. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (17 September 2022). "Order MUGILIFORMES (Mullets)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. v. 4.0. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 27 April 2024.