Clarias cavernicola

Golden Cave catfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Clariidae
Genus: Clarias
Species: C. cavernicola
Binomial name
Clarias cavernicola
Trewavas, 1936

The golden cave catfish (Clarias cavernicola)[1] is a critically endangered species of airbreathing catfish.[2] They are only known to live in the Aigamas cave, Otjozondjupa region, Namibia.[3][4] They appear similar to white eels, up to a length of 16.1 cm (6.3 inches) SL. They have very small eyes, and are probably effectively blind. They feed on detritus that falls into the lake in which they live. The population is estimated at 150 or 200–400[5] individuals. Little is known about its reproduction, and attempts to breed it in captivity have failed. The population is threatened by chance events and aquifer depletion that threatens to drain the lake.

See also

External links

References

  1. Skelton (1996). "Clarias cavernicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2006. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 11 May 2006. Listed as Critically Endangered (CR B1+2c, E v2.3)
  2. Cave catfish (Clarias cavernicola) at ARKive. Images of Life on Earth
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). "Clarias cavernicola" in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  4. Bruton, M. N. (1995). "Threatened fishes of the world:Clarias cavernicola Trewavas, 1936 (Clariidae)". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 43 (2): 162–162. doi:10.1007/BF00002486.


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