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Clarias cavernicola Trewavas, 1936

Cave catfish
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Namibia country information

Common names: Cave catfish
Occurrence: endemic
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Known only from one dark, underground lake in Aigamas Cave near Otavi. This is severely threatened by the depletion of water levels in local Karstland aquifers, which has caused lake levels in Aigamas Cave to decrease by about 20 m since 1921. Fishing pressure by aquarists could further threaten this species. Conservation action includes prohibiting the translocation of alien fishes and the pollution of cave lakes; and access to the cave or collection of specimens should have permit from the owner of Aigamas farm (Ref. 26175). Also Ref. 248, 13332, 27553. Also known from Interior (Ref. 33857). Status of theat: Critically endangered listed in IUCN 1994 (Ref. 52863). Threatened (Ref. 54854).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/wa.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.benefit.org.na/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Skelton, P.H., 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Clariidae (Airbreathing catfishes)
Etymology: Clarias: Greek, chlaros = lively, in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time out of water.
  More on author: Trewavas.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal.   Tropical; 20°C - 26°C (Ref. 2060); 18°S - 20°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: known only from the type locality, Aigumas Cave, North Otavi, Namibia. Major threat is depletion of ground water (Ref. 7248).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 16.1 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7248)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 71-76; Anal soft rays: 66 - 61. Devoid of pigment. Eyes extremely small; covered with skin; dorsally located. Head rectangular in dorsal outline; snout broadly rounded. Frontal fontanelle long and narrow; occipital fontanelle long and oval-shaped. Supraorbital and `dermosphenotic' bones fused. Premaxillary tooth plate rather broad. gill rakers long, slender and distantly set. Suprabranchial organ greatly reduced. Openings of the secondary sensory canals regularly arranged along flanks.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Lacks pigment. Lives in caves (Ref. 248) and is adapted to life underground (Ref. 78218); over shelves in open, clear water. Feeds on bat droppings, animal carcasses and terrestrial insects that fall into the lake (Ref. 7248).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Teugels, G.G., 1986. A systematic revision of the African species of the genus Clarias (Pisces; Clariidae). Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool., 247:199 p. (Ref. 248)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Critically Endangered (CR) (B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)); Date assessed: 01 March 2007

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00776 (0.00343 - 0.01757), b=2.97 (2.79 - 3.15), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.8   ±0.26 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm=1; Fec=50).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).