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Austroglanis barnardi (Skelton, 1981)

Image contributors to this species:

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Habitat: Prefers fast flowing, rocky habitats of headwater streams. They seem to be restricted to cobble zones of the lower gradient sections of tributary streams. Aquarium Care: I have kept all three species in aquaria – all quite difficult to maintain in good condition. Best results were with A. barnardi – I had them in a recirculating circular tank. Packed peat into the filter and pushed the pH right down (Roger Bills). Diet: Fed them on worms mostly although I assume they generally eat chironomids, mayflies and caddis mostly in the wild. They were very aggressive with each other and seemed to maintain territories. (Roger Bills). Etymology: The genus name Austroglanis: auster, south wind, being the most southerly distributed catfishes in Africa; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish. The specific name barnardi: continuing the tradition of naming species in this genus after directors of the South African Museum, in honour of Keppel Harcourt Barnard (1887-1964), who described A. gilli in 1943. Remarks: This species is critically endangered and uncommon due to their habitats being threatened by stream channeling, water extraction, sedimentation and introduced bass. This species will never be imported to our aquariums due to the above limitations.

Common Name:

Barnards Rock Catfish, Spotted Rock Catfish

Synonyms:

Gephyroglanis barnardi

Family:

Austroglanididae

Distribution:

South Africa: Streams in Clanwilliam-Olifants River system. Type locality: Noordhoeks River at roadbridge, tributary of Olifants River, Cape Province, S. Africa, 32º43'15"S, 19º03'59"E.

Size:

8.0cm (3¼ins)

Temp:

23-26°C (73-79°F)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

IUCN Red List

A range restricted species, known from three locations (Heks, Thee and Noordhoeks tributaries) in the Olifants-Doring River System (ODRS), South Africa. Its extent of occurrence (EOO) is 164 km2 and area of occupancy (AOO) is 36 km2. There is continuous decline in the number of mature individuals, AOO and quality of habitat due to predation from alien invasive fish and water abstraction. The species' habitat may also be threatened by pesticide runoff from the agricultural activities located next to the rivers. While it does not occur in any provincial nature reserves, all three tributaries are located within the Cederberg Mountain Catchment Area and the upper section of the Heks River is located within the Cederberg Wilderness Area. This species is listed as Endangered under criteria B1ab(ii,iii,v)+2ab(ii,iii,v), (IUCN 2017).

Reference:

Bills R. pers. comm.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2011. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version.
ScotCat Factsheet no. 214. April 2014.
Skelton, P.H., 1993. A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers. 388 p.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.
Van der Walt, R., Swartz, E.R., Bills, R., Impson, D. & Jordaan, M. 2017. Austroglanis barnardi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017.

Family: Austroglanididae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Austroglanis barnardi

Austroglanis barnardi
Type Locality Olifants system, Western Cape. Typical habitat is shallow cobble riffles and runs. They don’t seem to like deeper pools.

Austroglanis barnardi
In SAIAB aquaria

Austroglanis barnardi
Dorsal view-in SAIAB aquaria

Austroglanis barnardi
Recirculating Austroglanis tank at SAIAB

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