The rock-catfish, ''Austroglanis sclateri'', is a species of

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

in the family

Austroglanididae ''Austroglanis'' is the only genus in the catfish family Austroglanididae. This family was split off from the Bagridae catfish family. All three species of catfishes in the family Austroglanididae are endemic to southern Africa (South Africa and ...

. This freshwater fish is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is also found in

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Distribution

Africa:Endemic to the Orange-Vaal system, South Africa. Also found in Lesotho and Namibi

Size

Length: 300mm Weight:
1KG

Behavior

Occurs in rocky habitats in flowing water, favoring rapids. Feeds on invertebrates, especially insects, taken from rock surfaces; larger specimens also take small fish. Rarely caught b

References

Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum (1898)

* Skelton, P.H., 1993. ''A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa.'' Southern Book Publishers. 388 p. Austroglanis Freshwater fish of South Africa Fish described in 1901 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{bagridae-stub