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his month's (June 2025) catfish subject tends to be well known by its common name, as you can see in the image below, the "Fatheaded Eel Catfish." Belonging to the walking catfish family, Claridae, this African catfish doesn't have the same bad reputation as other family members, namely the many Clarias species. Never the less, caution is recommended if smaller species are introduced to its home environment.

    Gymnallabes typus

There are only two species in this genus, the other being Gymnallabes nops Roberts & Stewart, 1976. This species has no eyes, lacks pigmentation and the dorsal and anal fin rays have less counts than G. typus and is a clear evolutionary trend towards cave-dwelling, such as is seen in several fish that inhabit the rapids of the lower Congo River (Seegers, L. 2008).

Fatheaded Eel Catfish

Gymnallabes typus heterocercalis, Clariallabes longicaudatus

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Africa: Niger River to Cameroon. Type locality: West Africa, probably Old Calabar.

23.0cm. (9ins)

23-26°C (73-79°F)

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 96-109; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 83 - 94. Dorsal and anal fins always confluent with caudal fin. Body very elongate, maximum body depth 14-15% standard length, abdominal depth 4.5-8% SL (mean 6). Head very short, 12.5-14.3% standard length; lateral cephalic bones separated from each other by a distinct gap. Distance between supraoccipital process and dorsal fin short, 5-14% SL; pectoral fins present, 30-56% skull length, supported by a short spine (about half of fin length); pelvic fins always present and short; skull short, 11-18% SL (mean 13), with a very narrow roof, 9-23% (mean 14) head length, partially covered by jaw muscles; these muscles almost completely exposed dorsally and laterally and frequently bulging (especially in larger specimens); supraoccipital process short and narrow, 10-20% (mean 16) head length; eyes very small (4-9%), bordered by small infraorbital bones (hard to observe externally); barbels long, maxillary longest (86-155% skull length); maxillary barbel connected at base to large skin folds that border mouth opening; when mouth is closed, these skin flaps are folded and conspicuous in dorsal view; internal mandibular barbel shortest, 58-99% (mean 76) head length.

Not a problem as long as you provide hiding places such as pipe work etc. Will be out during the day looking for food. Will not attack other fish in the aquarium unless they are very small. Tank mates can include the various African characins and Cichlids.

Unreported

Unreported

Probably consists of insect larvae, worms and similar smaller organisms. Fishes are not eaten. In the aquarium you can feed insect larvae, frozen and tablet foods.

Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Mandibular: Pertaining to the lower jaw. (mandibular barbels).
Maxillary: Pertaining to the upper jaw. (maxillary barbels).
Caudal fin: The tail.
Caudal peduncle: The narrow part of a fish's body to which the caudal or tail fin is attached.
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Pectoral fin: The paired fins just behind the head.
Pelvic fin: The paired fins, between the pectorals and the anal fins (also referred to as ventrals).
Standard length: The standard length (SL) of a fish is the distance from the tip of its snout or lower jaw to the base of its caudal fin. This is the most reliable measurement for fish because tail fins are often damaged.
Supraoccipital: Unpaired bone at the back of the skull, usually with a crest.

Gymnallabes: Greek, gymnos = hidden + Greek, allabes,-etos = a fish of the Nile, a kind of lamprey.
typus: Meaning, serving as type of the genus.

Photo Credits

© Claudio Marullo
© Frants Lehmann
© Map: Google Maps 2025.