Biology:Clarias

From HandWiki

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, and is about the ability of the fish to live for a long time out of water.[1]

Taxonomy

Clarias is 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 Asia Minor and in Africa.[5] The diversity of these catfishes is highest in Africa.[6] Some (notably the walking catfish) have become pest species where they were accidentally introduced, 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. Many species 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 61 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 (African sharptooth catfish)
  • Clarias hilli Fowler, 1936
  • Clarias jaensis Boulenger, 1909
  • Clarias laeviceps T. N. Gill, 1862
    • Clarias laeviceps dialonensis Daget, 1962
    • Clarias laeviceps 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

Fossil species

  • Clarias falconeri Lydekker, 1886, from India

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 species are of great economic importance in 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, causing problems for native wildlife. The effect of the 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, the UK,[17][18] Papua New Guinea, Guam, Taiwan, Thailand, and Cuba.

References

  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). Species of Clarias in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  2. 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. Bibcode2008JFBio..73.1139M. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ng, Heok Hee (2003). "Clarias insolitus, a new species of clariid catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from southern Borneo". Zootaxa 284: 1–8. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.284.1.1. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2003f/zt00284.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Ng, Heok Hee (2001). "Clarias microstomus, a New Species of Clariid Catfish from Eastern Borneo (Teleostei: Siluriformes)". Zoological Studies 40 (2): 158–162. http://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/40.2/158-162.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lim, Kelvin K. P.; Ng, H. H. (1999). "Clarias batu, a New Species of Catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (6): 157–167. http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s6/s6rbz157-167.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Teugels, Guy G.; Sudarto; Pouyaud, Laurent (2001). "Description of a New Clarias Species from Southeast Asia Based on Morphological and Genetical Evidence (Siluriformes, Clariidae)". Cybium 25 (1): 81–92. http://www.mnhn.fr/sfi/cybium/numeros/pdf/251pdf/11.teugels.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 Sudarto; Teugels, Guy G.; Pouyaud, Laurent (2004). "Description of a New Clariid Catfish, Clarias pseudonieuhofii from West Borneo (Siluriformes: Clariidae)". Zoological Studies 43 (1): 8–19. http://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/43.1/8.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  8. Guy G. Teugels (2003). "Clarias lamottei (Siluriformes, Clariidae), a Natural Intergeneric Hybrid from West Africa". Cybium 27 (1): 11–15. https://sfi-cybium.fr/sites/default/files/pdfs-cybium/04-Teugels147.pdf. Retrieved 12 April 2023. 
  9. "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.. 2022. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363111769. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 "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. 1999. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289942687. 
  11. Ng, H. H.; Dang, K. H.; Nguyen, V. T. (2011). "Clarias gracilentus, a new walking catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Vietnam and Cambodia". Zootaxa 2823: 61–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2823.1.4. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z02823p068f.pdf. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 Tomy Sudarto; Guy Teugels; Laurent Pouyaud (March 2003). "Description of two new Clarias species from Borneo (Siluriformes, Clariidae)". Cybium. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Clarias-kapuasensis-sp-nov-holotype-MZB-10965-A-Lateral-view-B-Dorsal-view-of_fig2_262449807. Retrieved 11 April 2023. 
  13. H. H. Ng; Hadiaty Rk (2011). "Clarias microspilus, a new walking catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from northern Sumatra, Indonesia". Journal of Threatened Taxa 3 (3): 1577–1584. doi:10.11609/JoTT.o2386.1577-84. http://www.threatenedtaxa.org/ZooPrintJournal/2011/March/ng.htm. 
  14. Ng, Heok Hee (2003). "Clarias nigricans, a New Species of Clariid Catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from Eastern Borneo". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 51 (2): 393–398. http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/51/51rbz393-398.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  15. Ng, H.H.; Kottelat, M. (2014). "Clarias serniosus, a new walking catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Laos". Zootaxa 3884 (5): 437–444. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3884.5.4. PMID 25543801. http://publication.plazi.org/id/0966F73CFFA3FFAFE61D042FF938FFF8. 
  16. "Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus, 1758)". USGS. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=486. 
  17. "Walking catfish spotted in the Thames by angler". The Telegraph. 18 March 2009. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5009804/Walking-catfish-spotted-in-the-Thames-by-angler.html. 
  18. "Environment Agency warning over Clarias Catfish found in River Tonge, Bolton". The Bolton News. 19 July 2017. https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/15418391.environment-agency-warning-over-clarias-catfish-found-in-river-tonge-bolton/. 

Wikidata ☰ Q736329 entry