African sharptooth catfish
Clarias gariepinus
— Where the name comes from
Clarias comes from the Greek klários, “lively”, and for once the name describes the temperament rather than the anatomy: out of water this fish thrashes, hisses and walks. Gariepinus comes from Gariep, the Khoi name of South Africa’s Orange river. In many African languages its name means simply “the one that goes overland”.
— Facts
- Group
- Fish · Actinopterygii · Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Catfishes
- Habitat
- Rivers, swamps, lakes, temporary pools, drainage canals
- Range
- All of Africa and the Middle East; introduced to Asia and Europe
- Size
- 100–150 cm, up to 170 cm; 8–35 kg, record 60 kg
- Diet
- Omnivorous — fish, insects, birds, fruit, refuse
- Lifespan
- 15 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It has a branched breathing organ above the gills and breathes air.
- 02
It walks from pool to pool propped on its pectoral spines.
- 03
It survives days out of water if it stays damp.
— What sets it apart
In Lake Malawi it hunts in groups, and appears organised. Dozens advance side by side along the shore driving small fish into shallow water where they can no longer escape, then rush in together. In drying pools, meanwhile, they are seen leaving the water and crossing mud with strokes of the tail to reach the next pool: a fish that, when it needs to, temporarily stops behaving like one.
