[2] The African sicklefish was first formally described as Drepane punctata africana in 1892 by the Portuguese ichthyologist and carcinologist Balthazar Osório with its type locality given as the west coasts of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, the two islands which make up the nation of São Tomé and Príncipe.

The fine scales are ctenoid and cover the body, the bases of dorsal and anal fins and head, apart from the snout and preoperculum.

The African sicklefish reaches a maximum published total length of 45 cm (18 in).

[1] The African sicklefish breeds in estuaries, but not exclusively, although juveniles have not been confirmed as occurring in other habitats.

[2] The African sicklefish is commercially fished for human consumption using Bottom trawling, beach seines and purse seines and it is frequently caught as bycatch in the Gambian trawl fishery targeting shrimp.