Animalia > Chordata > Siluriformes > Clariidae > Clarias > Clarias cavernicola

Clarias cavernicola (Cave Catfish)

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Wikipedia Abstract

The golden cave catfish (Clarias cavernicola) is a critically endangered species of airbreathing catfish. They are only known to live in the Aigamas cave, Otjozondjupa region, Namibia. 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 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.
View Wikipedia Record: Clarias cavernicola

Endangered Species

Status: Critically Endangered
View IUCN Record: Clarias cavernicola

Range Map

External References

Citations

Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0