Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded October 01, 1999.

Certainly a catfish for life, not just for Christmas! This month's featured catfish are adorable as juveniles, but their real character comes with age. Also with age will come a few tank upgrades as this fish is a big one.

The main drawback with a catfish of this size is its destructive capability within the confines of an aquarium. Think elephant in a greenhouse. Even when young this fish will innocently uproot plants not secured by way of plastic pots. Once past the foot long stage it will dig up the pots too in the continual search for food. Catfish, as a whole, are often considered (in unenlightened aquatic circles) as "scavengers", the diet of which doesn't require consideration as they will eat whatever is left lying around. While as a general rule this is a great falsehood, with this fish it is actually 100% true. This fish will eat anything in or around the substrate and will soon learn and react to the feeding regime. It will eat in quantity too, so a powerful filter (or filters) is a requirement for success with these fish as they grow.

The fish takes it's common name from the attractive pattern it exhibits most clearly as a youngster (pictured below). Sadly with age this distinctive appearance fades a little into two-tone mottled brown. This cosmetic failing is tempered by the fishes gregarious nature.

The giraffe catfish is found throughout-out Tropical Africa and has successfully established itself in many different habitats. As different, for example, as strong rivers and deep lakes. In the aquarium this adaptability manifests itself as a fish that can thrive in a wide range of water conditions; particularly in relation to pH. As with many of the larger catfish in their natural habitat, this fish is an important part of the locals diet and a large freshly caught full-grown Giraffe Catfish will grace many an African dinner table.

Copyright information for the images used in this article can be found on the species' full Cat-eLog page.

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	Auchenoglanis occidentalis  (Valenciennes, 1840)
Common Names	Giraffe Catfish Afrikanischer Augenfleckenwels (Germany), Girafmalle (Denmark)
Type Locality	Senegal.
Synonym(s)	Auchenaspis occidentalis, Auchenoglanis acuticeps, Auchenoglanis biscutatus occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis occidentalis, Auchenoglanis occidentalis tanganyikanus, Auchenoglanis occidentalis tchadensis, Auchenoglanis scutatus, Auchenoglanis tchadensis, Auchenoglanis vittatus, Auchenoglanis wittei, Auchenoglannis occidentalis, Pimelodus occidentalis
Pronunciation	awe sea dent al iss
Etymology	Auchenoglanis: From the Greek, auchenos, meaning neck and glanis, meaning catfish; in reference to the long cranial shield.
Articles
Species Information
Size	700mm or 27.6" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	The genus is diagnosed on the basis of a unique combination of characters: a deep and broad skull, narrow mouth, reduced pramaxillary tooth patches, anterior nostrils on the upper lip, and three large nuchal plates, the first which is in close proximity to the rear of the supraoccipital- a bone on the dorsal side of the great foramen(opening) of the skull. The adult body is uniformly dark brown on the sides of the body and dorsally and light brown ventrally. Juveniles are heavily spotted. The fins of adults are mostly dark but may have vague mottling. The maxillary barbels are very dark but the mandibular barbels are less dark but not white. The sides and top of the head are brown and without spots. The lower side of the head is white or light brown. the upper lip is dark but the lower lip is less pigmented. The anterior edge of the adipose fin rises gradually to its maximum height at the posterior end of the fin, well behind the mid-point of the fin.
Sexing	Unknown
General Remarks	There is a good chance the size potential of the different species of Auchenoglanis may be much bigger than what is shown on the data pages. Some of the current data comes from studies which do not always use fully grown adult fish, sizes will be adjusted as proof of larger adult sizes are revealed.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Africa: Nile, Lake Chad, West Africa, Congo-Lualaba River system, East African lakes, Omo River and Giuba River. African Waters, Gambia (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Casamance (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Sénégal (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Least Concern , range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2019.
pH	6.5 - 8.0
Temperature	21.0-25.0°C or 69.8-77°F (Show species within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	This species will grow very quickly on a diet of live or frozen foods, but prepared foods are equally popular and easier on the budget. User data.
Furniture	In nature this fish is found living in both lakes and rivers, so the only real requirement is not too much bright light. Plants, although not eaten, will be uprooted in the search for food.
Compatibility	Downright sociable and safe with any fish larger than its relatively small mouth.
Suggested Tankmates	Ideally other medium to large sized African species (Distochodus springs to mind), this fish will also thrive in African Rift Lake Tanks, particularly the smaller Tanganyikan and Victorian cichlids. How about a large shoal of 30 Congo Tetras and one of these? For the non-purists, will do well with most appropriately sized tropical fish from any continent.
Breeding	Unknown - would require a very large aquarium.
Breeding Reports	There is no breeding report.
Further Information
Reference	Histoire naturelle des poissons v. 15, pp 203.
Registered Keepers	There are 48 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 3 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 13 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
Forum BBCode
	Search for A. occidentalis
	Look up A. occidentalis on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up A. occidentalis on Fishbase
	Look up A. occidentalis on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up A. occidentalis on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.243.70.149
Last Update	2020 Oct 08 11:53 (species record created: 1999 Oct 01 11:22)

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