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Joe Cutler (2)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 62-77; Anal soft rays: 52 - 57. Diagnosis: long and narrow, "knife-shaped" frontal fontanel (Ref. 248, 81644), 2.5-3.0 times as long as wide. Tooth plates remarkably broad; median vomerine tooth plate length strikingly shorter than premaxillary length. Vomerine tooth band very short, length 2.0-5.0% HL (mean 3.3), clearly shorter than premaxillary tooth band. Head rectangular in dorsal outline, relatively large (HL 25.3-27.6% SL, mean 26.4) and wide (width 18.6-20.9% SL, mean 19.8). Supraorbital and "dermosphenotic" never sutured; reduced suprabranchial organ. Pectoral spine serrate only along anterior margin; flank neuromasts arranged in a regular pattern; postorbital bones not in contact; eyes laterally positioned, interorbital width 44.5-49.0% HL, mean 47.3; 14-16 rakers on 1st gill arch. Diet: Large individuals feed mainly on other fishes (especially cichlids), while smaller individuals mainly feed on insects. Colouration: Preserved specimens dark reddish brown on back and flanks; ventrum and lower parts of paired fins pale. Etymology: Named in memory of Peter Ian Rupert MacLaren (ca. 1919-1956), who used his position as Fisheries Development Officer of Nigeria to collect fishes for the British Museum, including type specimen of this catfish (from Cameroon) in 1948. He died from wounds inflicted by a crocodile in what is now Zambia. Remarks: Clarias maclareni is a critically endangered species of catfish in the family Clariidae. It is endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in western Cameroon. It is currently threatened because of pollution and sedimentation due to human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the lake's bottom.

None

None

Clariidae

Africa: Endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo, western Cameroon.

36.0cm. (14½ins) T.L.

23-28°c (73-83°f)

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2022. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (09/2022).
Moelants, T. 2010. Clarias maclareni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.
Seegers, L. 2008 The catfishes of Africa. A handbook for identification and maintenance. Aqualog Verlag A.C.S. GmbH, Germany. 604 p.
Teugels, G.G., D. Adriaens, S. Devaere and T. Musschoot, 2007. Clariidae. p. 653-691. In M.L.J. Stiassny, G.G. Teugels and C.D. Hopkins (eds.) The fresh and brackish water fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa. Volume I. Collection Faune et Flore tropicales 42. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, France, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, and Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium. 800 pp.
Teugels, G.G., 1986. A systematic revision of the African species of the genus Clarias (Pisces; Clariidae). Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool., 247:199 p.