Full article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... .1487/full
Videography: http://underwatervideo.co.za/en-us/abou ... mibia.aspx
Source of photos and videos: http://www.arkive.org/cave-catfish/clarias-cavernicola/
Video #1: http://www.arkive.org/cave-catfish/clar ... eo-00.html
Video #2: http://www.arkive.org/cave-catfish/clar ... eo-99.html
EXCERPTS (there is no abstract)
Burton wrote:A blind catfish that lives in a subterranean lake in southwest Africa also eats poop – bat poop, to be precise. Unlike Commodus, however, it has no fear of barbers and eats excrement because it has to, although it turns out that chiropteran droppings are not the poor fare you might think.
Burton wrote:The cave catfish (Figure 1) is found nowhere but in the Aigamas Cave near Otavi, below Namibia's dry bush. Its entire world is a pool some 18 m long, 2.5 m wide, and over 93 m deep, although it has only been seen swimming down to 15 m. No light penetrates the cave, so neither algae nor plants grow to sustain a food web, leaving these 16-cm-long creatures, which perhaps evolved from fish that once inhabited a much larger, aboveground lake during Namibia's wetter past, to survive on the odd arthropod that falls from the cave walls, an occasional bat corpse, and the droppings of living bats roosting on the cave's ceiling. Indeed, this last, very particular manna from heaven may be the most important food source for the scores of fish looking for a bite to eat.
Burton wrote:The catfish of the Aigamas Cave may therefore not have it all that bad. They may have to eat poop, but in all likelihood it is very nutritious poop. The short intestines of insectivorous bats, designed to keep their flying weight down, just don't get all the goodness out of what they digest; there's plenty left in what pops out. And indeed, C cavernicola may not be the only cave fish to have figured this out; the Ozark cavefish () and the black bullhead catfish (), also from the Ozark Mountains in the US, may also occasionally nibble on bat nuggets.
Burton wrote:Coprophagy can therefore be a valid feeding strategy, especially when you are stuck in a cave in a dark pool and the cupboard is otherwise bare. Happily for us, however, hamburgers remain the tastier option. If only Commodus' chefs had known how to make one.
Clarias cavernicola, taking a break after a nutritious lunch. © C Maxwell/www.underwatervideo.co.za
(source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10 ... e96a41e5f4)