Red List of South African Species

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Notes

The main area of occupancy for this species are the large floodplains (e.g., Okavango Delta and panhandle, Barotse) of the upper Zambezi and Okavango Ecoregions systems. There are several isolated east coast and southern subpopulations of Clarias ngamensis and their taxonomic status requires examination.

habitat_narrative

Freshwater (=Inland waters)

Blunt-toothed African Catfish is a demersal, potamodromous species. This species prefers vegetated habitats in swamps and estuaries and the lower reaches of rivers. It lives over muddy substrates in swampy areas and feeds on snails (Konings 1990). This species prefers vegetated habitats. Feeding habits overlap considerably with the African Sharptooth Catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Important foods are molluscs, terrestrial and aquatic insects, shrimps, crabs and fish. Hard-shelled foods such as mussels are crushed before they are swallowed. It reportedly packhunts together with the African Sharptooth Catfish in the Okavango Delta. Blunt-toothed African Catfish breeds during the summer rainy season when it moves via shallow flooded drainage channels onto the floodplain to spawn (Skelton 2001).

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