Clarias ngamensis Castelnau, 1861
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 ngamensis, known as the blunt-toothed African catfish, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. First described by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau in 1861, the fish is found in swamps and floodplains in much of southern Africa. It reaches a maximum size of 73 centimetres (29 in) in total length and 4.0 kilograms (8.8 lb). The fish can breathe air and survive out of water for extended periods. Its diet includes molluscs, insects, and crabs. This species is fished and farmed for human consumption.
Wikipedia contributors, Clarias ngamensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:21:43.937479+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Clarias ngamensis Castelnau, 1861
- Name authority
- Castelnau, 1861
- 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 ngamensis Castelnau, 1861
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 |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Clarias melandi Boulenger, 1905 Boulenger, 1905 | synonym |
| Dinotopteroides prentissgrayi Fowler, 1930 Fowler, 1930 | synonym |
| Dinotopterus jallae Gilchrist & Thompson, 1917 Gilchrist & Thompson, 1917 | synonym |
| Clarias prentissgrayi (Fowler, 1930) (Fowler, 1930) | synonym |
| Dinopterus jallae Gilchrist & Thompson, 1917 Gilchrist & Thompson, 1917 | synonym |
| Dinopterus pentissgrayi (Fowler, 1930) (Fowler, 1930) | synonym |
| Clarias mellandi Boulenger, 1905 Boulenger, 1905 | synonym |
| Clarias nagamensis Castelnau, 1861 Castelnau, 1861 | synonym |
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.
- Castelnau, F. L. (1861). Mémoire sur les poissons de l’Afrique australe. Paris, i–vii + 1–78. 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:VRDS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.