Taxonomy & naming
George Albert Boulenger described the species in 1902, with the type locality at Agberi in southern Nigeria. The Catalog of Fishes lists Phractura ansorgii as valid. It belongs to Amphiliidae, the African loach catfishes, a family of small fishes of fast streams.
Morphology
FishBase gives a maximum length of 3.5 in TL. Phractura species are slender, with a flattened underside and bony plates along the body, which the genus name records.
Habitat
FishBase lists the lower Niger, the Niger delta and the Oshun River in Nigeria, with reports from the Mono River basin in Togo. It gives a range of 68–75 °F, pH 6.3 to 7.2 and hardness 10 to 18 dH. FishBase notes that Phractura species are often associated with the vegetation of flowing waters.
Feeding
FishBase gives no diet entry. Amphiliids in general graze small insect larvae and other invertebrates from stones and plants.
Mating
Courtship is not recorded for this species.
Breeding
Breeding is not recorded in FishBase for the species.
In the aquarium
A fish of flowing water needs a strongly oxygenated tank with a current, rocks and plants, and cool tropical temperatures at the FishBase range. Keep it with peaceful tankmates. It is rarely offered, and no captive husbandry record is available.
Conservation
IUCN lists the species as Endangered. The Niger delta has seen oil pollution, dredging and habitat loss, which bear on a fish restricted to its flowing waters.