You can sponsor this page

Clarias laeviceps Gill, 1862

Catfish
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Clarias laeviceps (Catfish)
Clarias laeviceps
Picture by MNHN

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: Gill.

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

Freshwater; demersal. Tropical; 8°N - 3°N

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

Africa: C. laeviceps laeviceps: river St. John in Liberia to the Volta in Ghana; also found in the upper Niger in Guinea (Ref. 57129). Possibly also in the St. Paul River (Ref. 248, 13331). C. laeviceps dialonensis: rivers coming out of the Fouta Djalon (Konkouré, Kolenté), the upper Senegal River in Guinea and coastal basins in Sierra Leone; endemic to that region (Ref. 57129).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 31.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57129)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 74 - 93; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 60 - 75; Vertebrae: 65 - 69. Diagnosis: body very elongate, its depth 9.1-13.6% SL (m = 12.0)(Ref. 57129). Head short and broad (Ref. 248, 571429), oval-shaped dorsally (Ref. 248), its length 17.8-22.7% SL (m=21.1), its width 13.4-17.0% SL (m=16.0)(Ref. 57129). Snout broadly rounded; eyes more laterally placed (Ref. 248). Interorbital distance large, 44.7-54.8% HL (m = 49.5)(Ref. 57129). Tooth plates broad (Ref. 248, 57129), width of premaxillary plate 31.8-41.3% HL, width of vomerine plate 25.6-35.0% HL (Ref. 57129). Frontal fontanelle intermediate between "knife-shaped" and "sole-shaped"; occipital fontanelle rather long and oval shaped; supraorbital and "dermosphenotic" bones become joined in specimens between 80 and 100 mm TL (Ref. 248). Dorsal and anal fins very long (63.2-72.0% and 49.7-57.6% SL respectively) (Ref. 57129). Gill rakers small, slender and distantly set; suprabranchial organ partially fills chamber; pectoral spine rather thin and slightly curved (Ref. 248). Coloration: no information on colour in life (Ref. 57129). Preserved specimens: 2 types of colouration: one uniform, with back and sides blackish-brown and belly beige; and a marbled pattern with light spots against a dark background on back and sides, and pale brown on belly (Ref. 57129). Caudal fin with dark vertical bar occupying 2/3 of its base, dividing it in a dark anterior and a light posterior part (Ref. 57129).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Nothing is known regarding the biology of this species (Ref. 78218). Max. reported size of C. laeviceps laeviceps and C. laeviceps dialonensis is 317mm TL and 257mm TL respectively (Ref. 57129)

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)

  Vulnerable (VU) (B2ab(i,ii,iii)); Date assessed: 29 April 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

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
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
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
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

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):  3.4   ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
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).