Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Clarias cavernicola (Clarias cavernicola), recorded as Critically Endangered
Clarias cavernicola (Clarias cavernicola). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Critically Endangered

Clarias cavernicola

Clarias cavernicola

Clarias cavernicola is a ray-finned fish in the family Clariidae (order Siluriformes), recorded as Critically Endangered.

Status
Critically Endangered
Scientific name
Clarias cavernicola
Taxonomy
Siluriformes · Clariidae · Clarias

The ray-finned fish

The golden cave catfish lack pigmentation and are up to 16.1 cm (6.3 in) in standard length.

Range and habitat

The population is threatened by chance events and water extraction from the cave lake, that has resulted in a drop of the water level. It is the only known cavefish in mainland Southern Africa.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Breeding

Little is known about its reproduction, and attempts to breed it in captivity have failed.

In crisis

The population is estimated at 200–400 individuals.

Clarias cavernicola is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Clarias cavernicola, Wikidata item Q3235269. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Clarias maclareni (Clarias maclareni), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Clarias maclareni

Clarias maclareni
Photograph of Wagur (Clarias magur), recorded as EndangeredEN

Wagur

Clarias magur
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus

Quick answers

What is Clarias cavernicola?
Clarias cavernicola is a ray-finned fish in the family Clariidae (order Siluriformes).
What is the conservation status of Clarias cavernicola?
Critically Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Clarias cavernicola. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Clarias cavernicola live?
The population is threatened by chance events and water extraction from the cave lake, that has resulted in a drop of the water level.
Why is Clarias cavernicola in crisis?
The population is estimated at 200–400 individuals.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Clarias cavernicola?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Clarias cavernicola a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.