Genus of fishes
Clarias
Walking catfish, Clarias batrachus
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Siluriformes
Family:
Clariidae
Genus:
Clarias
Scopoli , 1777
Type species
Silurus anguillaris
Species
Many, see text.
Synonyms
Chlarias Scopoli, 1777
Macropteronotus
La Cepède , 1803
Clarias Cuvier, 1816
Cossyphus M’Clelland, 1844
Phagorus M’Clelland, 1844
Dinotopteroides
Fowler , 1930
Prophagorus Smith, 1939
Anguilloclarias Teugels, 1982
Brevicephaloides Teugels, 1982
Clarioides Teugels, 1982
Platycephaloides Teugels, 1982
Clarias is a
genus of
catfishes (
order
Siluriformes ) of the
family Clariidae, the
airbreathing catfishes . The name is derived from the
Greek chlaros , which means lively, in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time out of water.
[1]
Taxonomy
Clarias has been found to be
paraphyletic . A species of
Heterobranchus (H. longifilis ) clusters deeply inside the Clarias group.
[2]
Distribution
They are found in inland waters throughout much of the
Old World , and are one of the most widespread catfish genera in the world.
[3]
[4] The genus is found in
Southeast Asia and
East Asia westwards through India and the
Asia Minor to
Africa .
[5] The diversity of these catfishes is highest in Africa.
[6] Some (notably the
walking catfish ) have become pest species where they have been accidentally introduced, and particularly in Cuba, where their introduction was intentional.
Description
Clarias species are recognized by their long-based
dorsal and
anal fins , which give them a rather
eel -like appearance. These fish have slender bodies, a flat, bony head, and a broad, terminal mouth with four pairs of
barbels . They also have a large, accessory breathing organ composed of modified gill arches.
[3]
[5] Also, only the
pectoral fins have spines.
[7]
Species
There are currently 62 species recognized in this genus:
African species
Clarias liocephalus
Clarias stappersii collected in
Lavushi Manda National Park ,
Zambia by the
South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Clarias agboyiensis
Sydenham , 1980
Clarias albopunctatus
Nichols &
La Monte , 1953
Clarias alluaudi
Boulenger , 1906 (Alluaud's catfish)
Clarias angolensis
Steindachner , 1866
Clarias anguillaris
Linnaeus ,
1758 (mudfish)
Clarias buettikoferi Steindachner, 1894
Clarias buthupogon
Sauvage , 1879
Clarias camerunensis
Lönnberg , 1895
Clarias cavernicola
Trewavas , 1936 (cave catfish)
Clarias dhonti Boulenger, 1920
Clarias dumerilii Steindachner, 1866
Clarias ebriensis
Pellegrin , 1920
Clarias engelseni
Johnsen , 1926
Clarias gabonensis Günther, 1867
Clarias gariepinus
Burchell , 1822 (North African catfish)
Clarias hilli
Fowler , 1936
Clarias jaensis Boulenger, 1909
Clarias laeviceps
T. N. Gill , 1862
Clarias lamottei (?) Daget &
Planquette , 1967
[8]
Clarias liocephalus Boulenger, 1898 (smoothhead catfish)
Clarias longior Boulenger, 1907
Clarias maclareni
Trewavas , 1962
Clarias macromystax Günther, 1864
Clarias monsembulai Bernt and Stiassny, 2022
[9]
Clarias ngamensis
Castelnau , 1861 (blunt-toothed African catfish)
Clarias nigromarmoratus
Poll , 1967
Clarias pachynema Boulenger, 1903
Clarias platycephalus Boulenger, 1902
Clarias salae
Hubrecht , 1881
Clarias stappersii Boulenger, 1915 (blotched catfish)
Clarias submarginatus
W. K. H. Peters , 1882
Clarias theodorae
M. C. W. Weber , 1897 (snake catfish)
Clarias werneri Boulenger, 1906 (Werner's catfish)
Asian species
Clarias batrachus from
Lumajang Regency ,
East Java ,
Indonesia
Clarias nieuhofii from
East Kotawaringin ,
Central Kalimantan , Indonesia.
Clarias pseudoleiacanthus
Clarias abbreviatus Valenciennes, 1840
Clarias anfractus
H. H. Ng , 1999
[10]
Clarias batrachus
Linnaeus ,
1758 (Walking catfish)
Clarias batu K. K. P. Lim & H. H. Ng, 1999
[5]
Clarias brachysoma
Günther , 1864
Clarias cataractus Fowler, 1939
Clarias dayi
Hora , 1936
Clarias dussumieri
Valenciennes , 1840
Clarias fuscus
Lacépède , 1803 (Hong Kong catfish)
Clarias gracilentus H. H. Ng,
K. H. Dang &
V. T. Nguyen , 2011
[11]
Clarias insolitus H. H. Ng, 2003
[3]
Clarias intermedius
Teugels ,
Sudarto &
Pouyaud , 2001
[6]
Clarias kapuasensis Sudarto, Teugels & Pouyaud, 2003
[12]
Clarias leiacanthus Bleeker, 1851
Clarias macrocephalus Günther, 1864 (bighead catfish)
Clarias magur
F. Hamilton , 1822
Clarias meladerma Bleeker, 1846 (blackskin catfish)
Clarias microspilus H. H. Ng &
Hadiaty , 2011
[13]
Clarias microstomus H. H. Ng, 2001
[4]
Clarias nebulosus
Deraniyagala , 1958
Clarias nieuhofii Valenciennes, 1840 (slender walking catfish)
Clarias nigricans H. H. Ng, 2003
[14]
Clarias olivaceus Fowler, 1904
Clarias planiceps H. H. Ng, 1999
[10]
Clarias pseudoleiacanthus Sudarto, Teugels & Pouyaud], 2003
[12]
Clarias pseudonieuhofii Sudarto, Teugels & Pouyaud, 2004
[7]
Clarias serniosus
H. H. Ng &
Kottelat , 2014
[15]
Clarias sulcatus H. H. Ng, 2004
Fossil species
Importance to economy
Yam pladuk fu (
Thai : ยำปลาดุกฟู ): shredded and deep fried Clarias (pla duk ) catfish with salad
Pecel lele , an Indonesian-style deep fried Clarias (lele ); usually sold as street food
Many of the species are of great economic importance in both
fisheries and
fish culture .
[6]
Invasive species
Clarias catfish and primarily
Clarias batrachus (walking catfish) have been introduced to many different areas of the world, where they are causing problems for the native wildlife. The effect of introduction of these fish varies from area to area, but as they are predatory, they often affect the local wildlife by eating other fish, birds, and amphibians. In Florida, the fish are causing problems by invading
aquaculture farms and preying on the fish cultivated there.
[16] Countries where one or several Clarias species have been introduced include
Indonesia , the United States,
Hong Kong , China, UK,
Papua New Guinea ,
Guam ,
Taiwan ,
Thailand , and
Cuba .
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Clarias .
^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011).
Species of Clarias in
FishBase . December 2011 version.
^ Mwita, CJ; Nkwengulila, G. (2008). "Molecular phylogeny of the clariid fishes of Lake Victoria, Tanzania, inferred from cytochrome b DNA sequences". Journal of Fish Biology . 73 (5): 1139–1148.
doi :
10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.01935.x .
^
a
b
c Ng, Heok Hee (2003).
"Clarias insolitus , a new species of clariid catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from southern Borneo" (PDF) .
Zootaxa . 284 : 1–8.
doi :
10.11646/zootaxa.284.1.1 . Retrieved 2009-06-24 .
^
a
b Ng, Heok Hee (2001).
"Clarias microstomus , a New Species of Clariid Catfish from Eastern Borneo (Teleostei: Siluriformes)" (PDF) . Zoological Studies . 40 (2): 158–162. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2009-06-24 .
^
a
b
c Lim, Kelvin K. P.; Ng, H. H. (1999).
"Clarias batu , a New Species of Catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia" (PDF) . The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (6): 157–167. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2009-06-24 .
^
a
b
c Teugels, Guy G.; Sudarto; Pouyaud, Laurent (2001).
"Description of a New Clarias Species from Southeast Asia Based on Morphological and Genetical Evidence (Siluriformes, Clariidae)" (PDF) . 25 (1): 81–92. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2009-06-24 .
^
a
b Sudarto; Teugels, Guy G.; Pouyaud, Laurent (2004).
"Description of a New Clariid Catfish, Clarias pseudonieuhofii from West Borneo (Siluriformes: Clariidae)" (PDF) . Zoological Studies . 43 (1): 8–19. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2009-06-24 .
^ Guy G. Teugels (2003).
"Clarias lamottei (Siluriformes, Clariidae), a Naturel Intergeneric Hybrid from West Africa" (PDF) . Cybium 2003, 27(1): 11-15 . Teugels, Guy. Retrieved 12 April 2023 .
^ Maxwell J. Bernt & Melanie L.J. Stiassny (2022).
"A New Species of Air-Breathing Catfish (Clariidae: Clarias) from Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo" . American Museum Novitates 2022(3990) . Bernt, Maxwell J. & Stiassny, Melanie L.J. Retrieved 11 April 2023 .
^
a
b Ng Heok Hee (1999).
"Two New Species of Catfishes of the Genus Clarias from Borneo (Teleostei: Clariidae)" . Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore . H. H. Ng. Retrieved 11 April 2023 .
^ Ng, H. H.; Dang, K. H. & Nguyen, V. T. (2011).
"Clarias gracilentus , a new walking catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Vietnam and Cambodia" (PDF) . Zootaxa . 2823 : 61–68.
doi :
10.11646/zootaxa.2823.1.4 .
^
a
b Tomy Sudarto; Guy Teugels & Laurent Pouyaud (March 2003).
"Description of two new Clarias species from Borneo (Siluriformes, Clariidae)" . Cybium: international journal of ichthyology . Tomy Sudarto, Guy Teugels, & Laurent Pouyaud. Retrieved 11 April 2023 .
^ Ng HH & Hadiaty Rk (2011) Clarias microspilus , a new walking catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
Journal of Threatened Taxa 3(3): 1577-1584.
http://www.threatenedtaxa.org/ZooPrintJournal/2011/March/ng.htm
Archived 2012-03-22 at the
Wayback Machine
^ Ng, Heok Hee (2003).
"Clarias nigricans , a New Species of Clariid Catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from Eastern Borneo" (PDF) . The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . 51 (2): 393–398. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2009-06-24 .
^ Ng, H.H. & Kottelat, M. (2014): Clarias serniosus, a new walking catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Laos. Zootaxa, 3884 (5): 437–444.
^
issg Database: ecology of Clarias batrachus