Austroglanis sclateri

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	SILURIFORMES	AUSTROGLANIDIDAE

Scientific Name:

Austroglanis sclateri

Species Authority:

(Boulenger, 1901)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Rock Catfish

Synonym/s:

Gephyroglanis sclateri Boulenger, 1901

Taxonomic Notes:

Formerly placed in family Bagridae, but recognized in a separate family by Mo (1991) and de Pinna (1998) (Nelson 2006).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2007

Assessor/s:

Swartz, E., Bills, R. & Impson, D.

Reviewer/s:

Snoeks, J. (Freshwater Fish Red List Authority) & Darwall, W. (Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Unit)

Justification:
There is no reliable information about population trends. Decline and possible extinction in the last 10 years probably occurred in Gauteng Province tributaries of the Vaal River, but over a relatively restricted area compared to its overall range. Therefore, criterion A is not applicable. The species is widespread, but may be restricted to suitable habitat within its overall range. There is little or no information available on small-scale distribution patterns, movement between possible suitable habitats or on population trends. However, its wide distribution suggests that criterion B is not applicable. The species seems to occur in low numbers, but due to its wide range, overall population size is expected to be larger than 10,000 individuals. Therefore, criteria C and D are not applicable. No quantitative analysis has been done for this species. Therefore, criterion E is not applicable.

There is concern that the species appears to be rare compared to other co-occurring species and pollution in tributaries of the Vaal River have caused local declines and possibly even local extinctions. However, the wide distribution and therefore relatively large overall population size of this species precludes it from any of the criteria, and is therefore assessed as Least Concern (LC).

History:

1996	–	Data Deficient
1994	–	Indeterminate (Groombridge 1994)
1990	–	Rare (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Rare (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Occurs in the major tributaries and the mainstream of the Orange River system and it has been translocated through inter-basin transfer schemes to the Great Fish River system and the Olifants catchment of the Limpopo River system (Skelton 2001, Skelton and Cambray 1981, Cambray 1984, Laurenson and Hocutt 1984), and may also establish in other river systems that have been connected.
Countries:	Native: Lesotho; Namibia; South Africa (Eastern Cape Province, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape Province)
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	No estimate of population size is available. Despite reports of being caught by fisherman, they appear to occur in relatively lower numbers compared to other angling species.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Prefers rocky habitat in mainstream areas of major rivers. Omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates especially from rock surfaces with larger specimens also feeding on small fish (Skelton 2001)
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Sedimentation, particularly because of erosion in the upper Orange, Caledon and some Vaal catchments is a major threat to their rocky habitats. Dams and weirs probably affected the species negatively in the past, but the current influence is unsure. Pollution in Gauteng Province may have caused extinction in some small tributaries of the Vaal River

Major Threat(s):

Sedimentation, particularly because of erosion in the upper Orange, Caledon and some Vaal catchments is a major threat to their rocky habitats. Dams and weirs probably affected the species negatively in the past, but the current influence is unsure. Pollution in Gauteng Province may have caused extinction in some small tributaries of the Vaal River

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation of mainstream habitats through South Africa's river health programme needs to be developed further. Some reserves and parks exist that were primarily proclaimed for terrestrial fauna and flora or for scenery, and are therefore ineffective to secure populations of this species.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation of mainstream habitats through South Africa's river health programme needs to be developed further. Some reserves and parks exist that were primarily proclaimed for terrestrial fauna and flora or for scenery, and are therefore ineffective to secure populations of this species.

Citation:	Swartz, E., Bills, R. & Impson, D. 2007. Austroglanis sclateri. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2012.
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