Common names:
Elephant-snout fish, Bottlenose
Lunyoro: Kasulubana, Kasamene Jonam: Kobia Lunyankole: Ntanant General name: Kasulu

Taxonomic tree
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
Order: Osteoglossiformes (Fishes with bony tongue)
Family: Mormyridae (fishes with Elephant-like snout)
Genus: Mormyrus
Species: Mormyrus kannume (Forsskål 1775)
Number of Occurrancies: 392

Etymology (based on Sharpf & Lazara, 2018) 

• Mormyrus: Greek name of a “littoral fish variously coloured,” probably Striped Sea Bream, Lithognathus mormyrus (Linnaeus 1758), “applied by Linnaeus, not very happily, to fresh-water fishes of a uniform hue”


• kannume:  Arabic name for this fish

Synonyms: click here to view synonyms

Type locality: Damiatae, Egypt. No types known

General identification features for mormyrids: Elongate body; narrow and distinct caudal peduncle; opercular bones hidden beneath the skin, reduced opening of the branchial cabity reduced; small eyes covered by the skin; naked head, its skin thick and well supplied with mucus glands; small cycloid scales; and muscles of the caudal peduncle modified to form an electric organ, and the elaphant-like snout

Distinguishing characters for the genus

• A characteristic long dorsal fin, ending posteriorly to the anal fin

Distinguishing characters for the species

• Dorsal head profile straight or somewhat curved, sloping steeply


• Snout produced into a stout trunk whose thickness and angle to the face are variable; its length is equal to, or slightly shorter than, the post-ocular part of the head


• Small and terminal mouth, with thick lips


• Teeth notched, 4-7 in the upper jaw and 8-10 in the lower jaw


• Long dorsal fin with 55-75 rays, originating above or in front of the origin of the pelvic fin


• Short anal fin with 17-22 rays; caudal fin almost covered with small scales


• Lateral line with 80-116 scales; 26-32 around the the caudal peduncal, which is up to twice as long as deep


• Colour is dull bronze above, lighter below

Distribution in Uganda: Widespread, all major lakes (Victoria, Kyoga, Albert, George, Edward) and their affluent rivers, Victoria and Murchison Nile

Occurence: Native

Habitat: Demersal, inhabiting waters just above the bottom; widespread in both coastal and offshore waters and papyrus fringes.

Feeding: Primarily insectivore, feeding on insect larvae particulary larval lake-flies (Chironomidae), with most feeding activity occuring at night. The small fishes feed on lithophilic insects, and adults are almost exclusively insectivorous 

Biology: The largest specimen recorded was 100 cm long, but the size range of adult fish is usually between 40-60 cm. The adult of this species can give a strong electric shock. Solitary, nocturnal species. Little information is known about the breeding of this fish, but it is likely that any one population of the species may have an annual reproductive cycle where the spawning times vary in different Geographical areas. There are indications that the species may also spawn on wave-washed rocky shores. Fecundity ranges between 1393 and 17,369 eggs.

Economic importance/End use: Local subsistence (for food).

IUCN conservation status: click here to view IUCN status

Threats: Habitat degradation; fishing of juveniles for baits in the Nile perch fishing industry.

Main references

• Greenwood PH. 1966. The fishes of Uganda. The Uganda Society, Kampala. 131 pages.


• Sharpf C, Lazara J.K. 2018. Fish Name Etymology Database v16. www.etyfish.org


• Witte F & van Densen W.L.T. 1995. Fish Stocks and Fisheries of Lake Victoria: a handbook for field observations. Samara Publishing Limited, Netherlands