Clarias cavernicola Trewavas, 1936
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Clarias cavernicola, the cave catfish, is a critically endangered species of airbreathing catfish. This cavefish is only known to live in the Aigamas cave, Otjozondjupa region, Namibia. The golden cave catfish lack pigmentation and are up to 16.1 cm (6.3 in) in standard length. They have very small eyes that are covered with skin, and are probably effectively blind. They feed on detritus and invertebrates that fall into the lake in which they live. The population is estimated at 200–400 individuals. Little is known about its reproduction, and attempts to breed it in captivity have failed. The population is threatened by chance events and water extraction from the cave lake, which has resulted in a drop of the water level.
It is the only known cavefish in mainland Southern Africa.
Wikipedia contributors, Clarias cavernicola; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:21:40.375493+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Clarias cavernicola Trewavas, 1936
- Name authority
- Trewavas, 1936
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Clariidae
- Genus
- Clarias
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSiluriformes
- familyClariidae Bonaparte, 1845
- genusClarias Scopoli, 1777
- speciesClarias cavernicola Trewavas, 1936
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Clarias. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Clarias albopunctatus Nichols & La Monte, 1953 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias buthupogon Sauvage, 1879 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias cataractus (Fowler, 1939) | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dumerilii Steindachner, 1866 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias pseudonieuhofii Sudarto, Teugels & Pouyaud, 2004 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias salae Hubrecht, 1881 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dussumieri Valenciennes, 1840 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias longior Boulenger, 1907 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias olivaceus Fowler, 1904 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dayi Hora, 1936 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias buettikoferi Steindachner, 1894 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dhonti (Boulenger, 1920) | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Trewavas, E. (1936). Dr. Karl Jordan’s expedition to South-West Africa and Angola: The fresh-water fishes. Novitates Zoologicae. A Journal of Zoology in Connection with the Tring Museum, v. 40: 63–74, Pls. 1–2. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5YW96. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.