Auchenoglanis occidentalis • Claroteidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Auchenoglanis occidentalis** (Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840)
Common Name(s)	Giraffe Catfish
Type Locality	Senegal.
Synonym(s)	Auchenaspis occidentalis, Auchenoglanis biscutatus occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis tanganyikanus, Pimelodus occidentalis
Pronunciation	awe sea dent al iss
Etymology	Auchenoglanis: From the Greek, auchenos, meaning neck and glanis, meaning catfish; in reference to the long cranial shield.
Species Information
Size	800mm (31.5") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	The genus is diagnosed on the basis of a unique combination of characters: a deep and broad skull, narrow mouth, reduced pramaxillary tooth patches, anterior nostrils on the upper lip, and three large nuchal plates, the first which is in close proximity to the rear of the supraoccipital- a bone on the dorsal side of the great foramen(opening) of the skull. The adult body is uniformly dark brown on the sides of the body and dorsally and light brown ventrally. Juveniles are heavily spotted. The fins of adults are mostly dark but may have vague mottling. The maxillary barbels are very dark but the mandibular barbels are less dark but not white. The sides and top of the head are brown and without spots. The lower side of the head is white or light brown. the upper lip is dark but the lower lip is less pigmented. The anterior edge of the adipose fin rises gradually to its maximum height at the posterior end of the fin, well behind the mid-point of the fin.
Sexing	Unknown
General Remarks	There is a good chance the size potential of the different species of Auchenoglanis may be much bigger than what is shown on the data pages. Some of the current data comes from studies which do not always use fully grown adult fish, sizes will be adjusted as proof of larger adult sizes are revealed.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Restricted to the Senegal, Casamange, and Gambia River Basins of Western Africa. African Waters, Gambia (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Casamance (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Sénégal (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
pH	6.5 - 8.0
Temperature	21.0-25.0°C or 69.8-77°F (Show others within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	This species will grow very quickly on a diet of live or frozen foods, but prepared foods are equally popular and easier on the budget.
Furniture	In nature this fish is found living in both lakes and rivers, so the only real requirement is not too much bright light. Plants, although not eaten, will be uprooted in the search for food.
Compatibility	Downright sociable and safe with any fish larger than its relatively small mouth.
Suggested Tankmates	Ideally other medium to large sized African species (Distochodus springs to mind), this fish will also thrive in African Rift Lake Tanks, particularly the smaller Tanganyikan and Victorian cichlids. How about a large shoal of 30 Congo Tetras and one of these? For the non-purists, will do well with most appropriately sized tropical fish from any continent.
Breeding	Unknown - would require a very large aquarium.
Further Information
References	Hist. Nat. Poiss.v. 15 - pp203. Retzer, ME, 2010. Taxonomy of Auchenoglanis Günther 1865 (Siluriformes: Auchenoglanididae). Zootaxa 2655: 25–5..
Registered Keepers	(1) arapaima, (2) oldfish, (3) Occellatus, (4) Simonh1, (5) janev, (6) Jeox (p: 2), (7) Junttis (k: 3), (8) joe.juice13, (9) zedogz (p: 7), (10) flowaz, (11) miles44, (12) fleahound, (13) tezr, (14) SoCalDiscus, (15) bigcatsrus, (16) hampala, (17) jprp, (18) JamieH, (19) Norbert, (20) danny.450, (21) Viktor Jarikov, who also notes: "came in extremely thin, looks like an apple on a stick but started feeding on bloodworms", (22) musilvr4eva, (23) markhinch, (24) tiffanyjayne, (25) arapaimag, (26) capester, (27) jeepn4x4, (28) 2poc (p: 2), (29) Pcpolo111. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.
Breeding Reports	None.
Articles	- CotM 1999 October
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Last Update	2012 Apr 25 12:58 (species record created: 2001 May 04 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Auchenoglanis occidentalis (Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840)

Common Name(s)

Giraffe Catfish

Type Locality

Senegal.

Synonym(s)

Auchenaspis occidentalis, Auchenoglanis biscutatus occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis tanganyikanus, Pimelodus occidentalis

Pronunciation

awe sea dent al iss

Etymology

Auchenoglanis: From the Greek, auchenos, meaning neck and glanis, meaning catfish; in reference to the long cranial shield.

Species Information

Size

800mm (31.5") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

The genus is diagnosed on the basis of a unique combination of characters: a deep and broad skull, narrow mouth, reduced pramaxillary tooth patches, anterior nostrils on the upper lip, and three large nuchal plates, the first which is in close proximity to the rear of the supraoccipital- a bone on the dorsal side of the great foramen(opening) of the skull.

The adult body is uniformly dark brown on the sides of the body and dorsally and light brown ventrally. Juveniles are heavily spotted. The fins of adults are mostly dark but may have vague mottling. The maxillary barbels are very dark but the mandibular barbels are less dark but not white. The sides and top of the head are brown and without spots. The lower side of the head is white or light brown. the upper lip is dark but the lower lip is less pigmented. The anterior edge of the adipose fin rises gradually to its maximum height at the posterior end of the fin, well behind the mid-point of the fin.

Sexing

Unknown

General Remarks

There is a good chance the size potential of the different species of Auchenoglanis may be much bigger than what is shown on the data pages. Some of the current data comes from studies which do not always use fully grown adult fish, sizes will be adjusted as proof of larger adult sizes are revealed.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Restricted to the Senegal, Casamange, and Gambia River Basins of Western Africa.
African Waters, Gambia (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Casamance (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Sénégal (click on these areas to find other species found there)

(Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)

6.5 - 8.0

Temperature

21.0-25.0°C or 69.8-77°F (Show others within this range)

Husbandry Information

Feeding

This species will grow very quickly on a diet of live or frozen foods, but prepared foods are equally popular and easier on the budget.

Furniture

In nature this fish is found living in both lakes and rivers, so the only real requirement is not too much bright light. Plants, although not eaten, will be uprooted in the search for food.

Compatibility

Downright sociable and safe with any fish larger than its relatively small mouth.

Suggested Tankmates

Ideally other medium to large sized African species (Distochodus springs to mind), this fish will also thrive in African Rift Lake Tanks, particularly the smaller Tanganyikan and Victorian cichlids. How about a large shoal of 30 Congo Tetras and one of these? For the non-purists, will do well with most appropriately sized tropical fish from any continent.

Breeding

Unknown - would require a very large aquarium.

Further Information

References

Hist. Nat. Poiss.v. 15 - pp203.
Retzer, ME, 2010. Taxonomy of Auchenoglanis Günther 1865 (Siluriformes: Auchenoglanididae). Zootaxa 2655: 25–5..

Registered Keepers

(1) arapaima, (2) oldfish, (3) Occellatus, (4) Simonh1, (5) janev, (6) Jeox (p: 2), (7) Junttis (k: 3), (8) joe.juice13, (9) zedogz (p: 7), (10) flowaz, (11) miles44, (12) fleahound, (13) tezr, (14) SoCalDiscus, (15) bigcatsrus, (16) hampala, (17) jprp, (18) JamieH, (19) Norbert, (20) danny.450, (21) Viktor Jarikov, who also notes: "came in extremely thin, looks like an apple on a stick but started feeding on bloodworms", (22) musilvr4eva, (23) markhinch, (24) tiffanyjayne, (25) arapaimag, (26) capester, (27) jeepn4x4, (28) 2poc (p: 2), (29) Pcpolo111.

Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.

Breeding Reports

None.

Articles