Common names:
Cornish jack, African Carp
Local: Not available

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: Mormyrops
Species: Mormyrops anguilloides (Linnaeus, 1758)
Number of Occurrancies: 13

Etymology(based on Sharpf & Lazara, 2018) 

• Mormyrops: –opsis, relating to sight and appearance, presumably referring to similarity or affinity to Mormyrus


• anguilloides:  –oides, having form of: anguilla, eel, probably referring to elongate shape compared to carp-like shape of Marcusenius cyprinoides

Synonyms: click here to view synonyms

Type locality: Nile River 

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

• Elongate body (5-6 times longer than deep)


• Terminal mouth that is anterior to the eyes


• Nostris of each side are separated from one another and distant from the eye


• dorsal fin shorter than the anal fin, and the pelvic fins are equidistant from the pectoral and anal fins

Distinguishing characters for the species

• Depth of the body contained up to 5-6.5 times in standard length, and length of the head 4 times


• Upper head profile slightly concave


• Snout rounded, its length 1/5-1/4 that of the head; projecting somewhat beyond the mouth


• Teeth notched or slender and conical, 20-24 in each jaw


• Dorsal fin with 25-28 rays, its origin twice as far from the snout as from the caudal fin origin


• Anal fin with 39-42 rays, its origin considerably in advance of the dorsal


• Caudal fin is small, with rounded lobes, and almost completely covered with small scales


• Lateral line with 87-96 scales; 20 around the caudal peduncal, which is nearly twice as long as deep


• Colour is brownish or olive above, silvery beneath.

Distribution in Uganda: Lake Albert basin

Occurence: Native

Habitat: Not much information is available on ecology for Ugandan population, but the fish is typically a demersal, potamodromous species. 

Feeding: No data is available for fishes from Uganda. Elsewhere, juveniles are primarily insectivorus, but adults feed on small fish. 

Biology: Maximum length recorded for Uganda is 60 cm, but the species can grow up to 100 cm. No information on breeding of species in Uganda. 

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

IUCN conservation status: click here to view IUCN status

Threats: River damming for hydro-electric power generation; Clearence of papyrus swamps and marginal wetlants; fishing

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