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 e stay on the African continent this month but instead of sticking with the Mochokidae family from last month (June 2005) we move on to a newish family, Auchenoglanididae. The genera of the Auchenoglanididae were originally assigned to the spiny catfish (Bagridae, or to the subfamily Auchenoglaninae), later they were assigned to the Claroteidae as the subfamily Auchenoglanidinae. In the fourth edition of Fishes of the World, a standard work on fish systematics, they form an independent family. Common features of the family are the rounded to emarginate caudal fin and the position of the posterior nostrils on the sides of the upper lip. It contains the three genera Auchenoglanis, Parauchenoglanis and Notoglanidium.

Auchenoglanis occidentalis

This "Bagrid" can grow to an impressive 46cm (18¼ins) but it is basically a gentle giant and can be trusted with anything that can not fit into its small mouth. Its long pointed snout is well adapted to "sook" up worms and detritus in the sandy substrate and as such you should provide your specimen(s) with a sand floor to your aquarium with an external power filter that has a good flow rate. It goes without saying of course that you will need to provide this catfish with a spacious tank considering its adult size.

It is very tolerant to most water parameters and as such you can keep it in a low p.H. (6.5) with larger Characins or Barbs or even in a Lake Tanganyika setup with Cichlids from that lake in harder water, but my choice would be to stick with the former soft and acidic conditions for a more contented individual(s).

Auchenoglanis occidentalis

Above you can see a specimen that I photographed from the Port Doree Public Aquarium in Paris, France which was captioned as A. occidentalis but it may represent another close member of this family, Parauchenoglanis punctatus.

Update 2010: Teugels et al. (1991) considered the genus Auchenoglanis to be comprised of two valid species: A. biscutatus and A. occidentalis. Due to the work carried out recently (2010) by Michael Retzer there are now 8 in this genus with six new species, A. acuticeps, A. biscutatus, A. occidentalis, A. sacchii, A. senegali, A. tanganicanus, A. tchadiensis and A. wittei. The main description for A. occidentalis is that it can be differentiated from all other congeners (except A. tchadiensis) by having  a uniformly coloured body. It differs from A. tchadiensis by having oval-shaped tooth patches on the upper jaw vs.triangular for A. tchadiensis.

Giraffe Catfish

Auchenaspis biscutata, A.biscutatus, A.occidentalis, Auchenoglanis biscutatus, Pimelodus occidentalis,  A. biscutatus occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis occidentalis, Oxyglanis sacchii, Auchenoglanis  occidentalis var. tanganicanus, A. occidentalis tchadiensis, A. tchadensis, A. scutatus, A. acuticeps, A. wittei, A. occidentalis tanganyikanus, A. vittatus, A. acuticeps, A. tanganyikanus.

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Africa: Senegal, Casamange and Gambia river drainages in western Africa.. Type locality: Sénégal.

46.0cm. (18¼ins)

21-25°C (69-77°F)

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7-8; Anal spines: 3-4; Anal soft rays: 7-8. Head large with heavily built body. The upper jaw has oval-shaped teeth.

Best suited to the larger aquarium. Peaceful large catfish which will do well in company of larger characins from Africa and large Barbs.

No reports on the breeding of this species in captivity as it would need a very large tank with a number of individuals. In its natural habitat the nested eggs are guarded by the male. Furthermore, the male plays host to eggs and young of Dinotopterus cunningtoni, a member of the Claridae catfish family, which takes advantage of the already prepared nest and feeds on the host brood.

Will eat a variety of foods. Tablet and pellet foods with a good quality flake and frozen bloodworms. Also relishes live worms such as the common garden worm, making sure that there has been no weedkiller on the premises, and white worm.

Auchenoglanis: Auchen; auchenos = neck; glanis = catfish.
occidentalis: Pertaining to the west; from the west.

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (10/2009).
Retzer, ME (2010) Taxonomy of Auchenoglanis Günther 1865 (Siluriformes: Auchenoglanididae). Zootaxa 2655, pp. 25–51.
Sandford, Gina & Crow, Richard: The Interpet Manual of Tank Busters, Salamander Book, p110-111.
Tom Geerinckx & Emmanuel Vreven (2013) A re-evaluation of the species-level diversity within the catfish genus Auchenoglanis (Siluriformes: Claroteidae), Journal of Natural History, 47:47-48, 2979-3010.
www.africhthy.org/en

Photo Credits

© Johnny Jensen @  
Allan James @