''Austroglanis'' is the only genus in the

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) 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 three largest species alive, ...

family Austroglanididae. This family was split off from the

Bagridae The Bagridae are a family of catfish that are native to Africa ('' Bagrus'') and Asia (all other genera) from Japan to Borneo. It includes about 245 species. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes. Many large bagrid ...

catfish family. All three species of catfishes in the family Austroglanididae are endemic to southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

), and two species are

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

. These fish have three pairs of barbels (they lack nasal barbels). They have strong dorsal and pectoral fin spines. The adipose fin is small.

Species

There are currently three described species in this genus: * ''

Austroglanis barnardi General ''Austroglanis barnardi'' is an endangered species of catfish (order Siluriformes). It is one of three members of the family Austroglanididae. It is also known as the spotted rock-catfish or Barnard's rock-catfish. Biology Not much i ...

'' ( P. H. Skelton, 1981) (Barnard's rock-catfish) * ''

Austroglanis gilli The clanwilliam rock-catfish (''Austroglanis gilli'') is a species of catfish in the family Austroglanididae. It is endemic to South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Afric ...

'' (

Barnard Barnard is a version of the surname Bernard, which is a French and West Germanic masculine given name and surname. The surname means as tough as a bear, Bar(Bear)+nard/hard(hardy/tough) __NOTOC__ People Some of the people bearing the surname Ba ...

, 1943) (Clanwilliam catfish) * ''

Austroglanis sclateri The rock-catfish, ''Austroglanis sclateri'', is a species of catfish in the family Austroglanididae. This freshwater fish is endemic to the Vaal River in South Africa. It is also found in Lesotho and Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Re ...

'' ( Boulenger, 1901) (Rock-catfish)

References

Austroglanididae Catfish genera {{catfish-stub