Habitat:
Occurs among stones and shingle over the river bed,
and in similar places on wave-washed rocky shores
of the lake. Preference for rocky or stony substrates,
where they hide among the rocks. Nothing is known
about spawning and reproduction. Diet:
Feeds mainly on lithophilic insects, plants and Copepoda,
but shows great adaptability in diet. Etymology:
Clariallabes: Latin, clarias, -a, -um = shining
+ Greek, allabes, -etos = a fish of the Nile, a kind
of lamprey. The specific name of petricola,
a dweller among rocks.
Common
Name:
Victoria snake catfish
Synonyms:
None
Family:
Clariidae
Distribution:
Africa: Lake
Victoria and the Victoria Nile, near the Owen-falls
dam. Type locality: Nile, about half
a mile below the Owen-falls dam, Jinja, Uganda.
Size:
8.5cm. (3¼ins)
Temp:
23-28°C
(73-83°F)
p.H.
6.0-7.5.
Reference:
Corbet, P.S.,
1960. Breeding sites of non-cichlid fishes in Lake
Victoria. Nature 187:616-617.
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. 2023. FishBase.World Wide Web electronic
publication. www.fishbase.org, version (07/2023). Greenwood, P.H., 1966. The Fishes
of Uganda. The Uganda Society, Kampala. 131p. Seegers, L., 2008. The catfishes
of Africa: A handbook for identification and maintenance.
Aqualog Verlag A.C.S. GmbH, Germany. 604 p.
Clariallabes
petricola Line drawing-dorsal head
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