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Austroglanis sclateri (Boulenger, 1901)

Image contributors to this species:

Gareth Roocroft (2) Roger Bills (2) Russel Brian Tate (2)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Sedimentation, particularly because of erosion in the upper Orange, Caledon and some Vaal catchments is a major threat to their rocky habitats. Dams and weirs probably affected the species negatively in the past, but the current influence is unsure. Pollution in Gauteng Province may have caused extinction in some small tributaries of the Vaal River. Habitat: Occurs in rocky habitats in flowing water, favoring rapids. Feeds on invertebrates, especially insects, taken from rock surfaces; larger specimens also take small fish. Rarely caught by anglers. This larger Austroglanis species will probably never be imported to our aquariums due to the above limitations. Aquarium Care: I have kept all three species in aquaria – all quite difficult to maintain in good condition. Best results were with A. barnardi – I had them in a recirculating circular tank. Packed peat into the filter and pushed the pH right down (Roger Bills). Diet: Fed them on worms mostly although I assume they generally eat chironomids, mayflies and caddis mostly in the wild. They were very aggressive with each other and seemed to maintain territories (Roger Bills). Etymology: The genus name Austroglanis: auster, south wind, being the most southerly distributed catfishes in Africa; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish. The specific name sclateri: in honour of William Lutley Sclater (1863-1944), Director, South African Museum, who supplied type.

Common Name:

Common Rock Catfish

Synonyms:

Gephyroglanis sclateri

Family:

Austroglanididae

Distribution:

South Africa: Orange-Vaal River basin, in major tributaries and main river channel. Also found in Lesotho and Namibia. Type locality: Vaal River, South Africa.

Size:

30.0cm (12ins)

Temp:

p.H.

Reference:

Bills R. Pers comm.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2011. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version.
Skelton, P.H., 1993. A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers. 388 p.
Swartz, E., Bills, R. & Impson, D. 2007. Austroglanis sclateri. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

Family: Austroglanididae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Austroglanis sclateri

Austroglanis sclateri

Austroglanis sclateri
Vaal River. Deep river channels always in the main stream channels. Turbid flows typically–very different from the clear water Olifants systems

Austroglanis sclateri
Lower Orange River, South Africa

Austroglanis sclateri

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