The giraffe catfish, Auchenoglanis occidentalis, is an Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

. It eats plants off the floor of lakes and streams.

Distribution and habitat

The giraffe catfish is found throughout Africa in lakes and rivers, partially due to introduction and establishment in other areas. It is found in many important lakes and rivers such as the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

 and Lake Chad

Lake Chad

Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...

. Its distribution covers includes bodies of water from East Africa to West Africa. It generally lives in shallow waters with muddy bottoms.

Anatomy and appearance

This fish has a maximum size that sources say are between two and three feet.

The giraffe

Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...

-like pattern will fade with age to a two-tone mottled brown. Various subspecies have been described for this fish, indicating some geographical variation in coloration.

Reproduction

Eggs are scattered in a nest and guarded by the male. Dinotopterus cunningtoni

Dinotopterus cunningtoni

Dinotopterus cunningtoni is a species of fish in the Clariidae family. It is found in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is freshwater lakes.-Source:...

takes advantage of the care and allows the male giraffe catfish to care for its eggs and young, an example of interspecific brood care.

Relationship to humans

The giraffe catfish is occasionally imported for the aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

trade. Because of its large eventual size and its fast rate of growth, it is inappropriate for smaller aquaria. This fish will readily accept a variety of foods and is tolerant of a wide variety of water conditions. They will scavenge the aquarium looking for food, which could cause in the uprooting of plants.

This fish is also an important food fish in Africa.