Golden cave catfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
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)[2] is a critically endangered species of airbreathing catfish.[3] This cavefish is only known to live in the Aigamas cave, Otjozondjupa region, Namibia.[4][5] It has also been reported from the nearby Dragon's Breath Cave.[6] The golden cave catfish lack pigmentation and are up to 16.1 cm (6.3 inches) in standard length.[5] They have very small eyes that are covered with skin, and are probably effectively blind.[5] They feed on detritus and invertebrates that fall into the lake in which they live. The population is estimated at 200–400 individuals.[7] Little is known about its reproduction, and attempts to breed it in captivity have failed.[8] The population is threatened by chance events and water extraction from the cave lake, which has resulted in a drop of the water level.[3]

It is the only known cavefish in mainland Southern Africa.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bills, R. (2007). "Clarias cavernicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63363A12662977. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63363A12662977.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Clarias cavernicola". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 24 January 2006.
  3. 1 2 Bills, R. (2007). "Clarias cavernicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63363A12662977. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63363A12662977.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021. Listed as Critically Endangered (CR B1+2c, E v2.3)
  4. ↑ Cave catfish (Clarias cavernicola) at ARKive Archived 2005-11-26 at the Wayback Machine. Images of Life on Earth
  5. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2011). "Clarias cavernicola" in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  6. ↑ Proudlove, G.H. (2018–2019). "Clarias cavernicola". cavefishes.org.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  7. ↑ Bruton, M. N. (1995). "Threatened fishes of the world:Clarias cavernicola Trewavas, 1936 (Clariidae)". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 43 (2): 162. doi:10.1007/BF00002486. S2CID 44350023.
  8. ↑ "Clarias cavernicola". 2005-02-19. Archived from the original on 2005-02-19. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  9. ↑ Aldemaro, R., editor (2001). The Biology of Hypogean Fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. ISBN 978-1402000768


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