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Clarias liocephalus Boulenger, 1898

Smoothhead catfish
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Clarias liocephalus
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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: Boulenger.

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 12468); 2°N - 12°S

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

Africa: Lake Victoria, Edward, George, small lakes of Uganda, Lake Kivu, smaller lakes of Rwanda, Lake Tanganyika, in Malawi, Kagera, Malagarazi and Ruzizi Rivers (Ref. 248). Also in Lake Rukwa (Ref. 27292) and in Luapula and Lualaba River drainages (Congo River basin) (Ref. 248). Present in Cunene, Okavango, upper Zambezi, and Kafue systems (Ref. 7248).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 32.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3820)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 67 - 79; Anal soft rays: 53 - 67; Vertebrae: 55 - 58. Pectoral fin spine with serrations on the inner and upward directed on the outer side (Ref. 34290). Head oval to rectangular dorsally; snout broadly rounded; eyes more laterally located. Frontal fontanelle intermediate between `knife-shaped' and `sole-shaped'; occipital fontanelle long and oval-shaped. Supraorbital and `dermosphenotic' bones generally joined above 150 mm SL and more dorsally placed. Tooth plates relatively broad. Pectoral spine relatively short; its outer side strongly serrated over entire length. Gill rakers short and far apart. Openings of secondary sensory canals regularly arranged on flanks.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Occurs in marginal water-lily and papyrus swamps as well as in marginal weed beds; abundant in high mountain streams and torrents and on the bottom among stones; not found in any situation lower than about 915 m above sea level nor in water of a higher temperature than 18 °C (Ref. 248). In the Rukwa and Malawi drainage they are sometimes found in very cold upland streams (Ref. 78218). These fishes are omnivores, feeding on insect larvae and sometimes also fishes (Ref. 78218).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | 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)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 18 July 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | 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):  3.3   ±0.45 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (22 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.