Article © Heok Hee Ng, uploaded April 01, 2004.

Think of sucker-mouth catfishes and the South American loricariids come immediately to mind. Think again of the African catfish family Mochokidae and the ever-popular Synodontis is the first thing one thinks of. The subject of this month's article is neither of these, but one with both characteristics, Chiloglanis is a mochokid with a sucker mouth.

A genus of about 40 species, Chiloglanis are easily characterized by their small size and circular sucker mouths, and are usually difficult to identify accurately to species. There are two other genera of sucker-mouthed mochokids, namely Euchilichthys and Atopochilus. These two genera can be distinguished from Chiloglanis by their larger body size, and a more elliptical sucker mouth (as I mentioned before the sucker mouth in Chiloglanis is almost circular). Chiloglanis is not easily available in the aquarium trade, but has shown up from time to time as occasional imports.

Unlike the sizes one normally associates with the more ubiquitous mochokids like Synodontis, Chiloglanis are among the smallest mochokids one may encounter in the aquarium trade. Most species typically reach about 60 mm SL (C. polypogon maxes out at 55 mm SL) and are therefore one of the few mochokids that can be maintained in moderate numbers in a tank. A few species (but not C. polypogon) also show sexual dimorphism in the caudal fins (males have larger fins), making it easy to sex individuals in these species.

One common misconception that most people have of suckermouth catfishes is that they are algae eaters. While this is true for a number of species, you'd be surprised at the number of suckermouth catfishes for which algae does not form a significant part of their diet. The African suckermouth catfish is one such catfish. While they will occasionally scrape algae off rocks and tank walls, their natural diet largely consists of invertebrates scraped off from rocks (with algae possibly being ingested incidentally), and as such, a meatier diet should be provided. At feeding time, they will burst out of hiding and will begin to swim in frenzied circles about the substrate, looking for food. Their gustatory search is not limited to the bottom, though: tank walls, filter outlets and even your hand (if it happens to be in the water) are all eagerly sniffed (or in this case, sucked) at. They adapt very readily to a diet of dry foods like sinking pellets, granules, and even flakes, although they are particularly fond of frozen or live (invertebrate) foods.

Like most fishes with a large sucker mouth, the African suckermouth catfish typically inhabits fast-flowing, rocky streams, usually in elevated areas. As such, they require cool, well-oxygenated water. They particularly enjoy a current and like to frequent areas in the aquarium where the current is at its strongest. Once acclimatized to aquarium conditions, the African suckermouth catfish can be relatively hardy and withstand adverse water conditions much better than one usually credits hillstream fish with. However, they are susceptible to ich, particularly when water conditions change (such as when just introduced to a tank). They are peaceful, both to congeners and to tankmates, and make ideal fish for a hillstream biotope tank (although hillstream conditions are not entirely necessary to successfully maintain them, reasonably good aeration being the only key ingredient).

Although most of the comments above have been made with C. polypogon in mind, the needs of congeners are so similar that what has been written also applies to other Chiloglanis you may encounter in the aquarium trade.

Thanks go again to Heok Hee Ng for this month's "catfish of the month" article.

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	Chiloglanis polypogon  Roberts, 1989
Common Name	African Suckermouth Catfish
Type Locality	High gradient stream along road from Mamfe to Bamenda, 88-94 kilometers southwest of Bamenda, Cross basin, Cameroon, western Africa.
Pronunciation	Kee low glan iss - paw lee poe gone
Etymology	Chiloglanis: From the Greek cheilos, meaning lip, and glanis, meaning catfish; in reference to the oral morphology. The name polypogon (noun in apposition, from the Greek "poly," multiple, and "pogon," beard)refers to the numerous mental barbels.
Articles
Species Information
Size	55mm or 2.2" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	The second largest catfish genus in Africa after Synodontis. They are characterized by jaws and lips modified into a sucker or oral disc used for adhering to and feeding upon objects in fast-flowing waters. Generally reasonably small at 100 mm SL or less. species with forked caudal fins can show sexual dimorphism and is usually species-specific. Other characteristics in this hard-to-ID genus are the size of the adipose fin, the position of the adipose fin relative to pelvic and ventral fins, size of barbles, eyes and dorsal fin. Only a handful of species are identified on colouration. They can be distinguished from other African suckermouth catfish (of the genera Euchilichthys and Atopochilus) by their circular suckermouth disc. This is more elliptical in the other two genera. Can be distinguished from South American suckermouth catfishes by lack of body armour plates. Can be distinguised from other African suckermouth catfish (of the genera Euchilichthys and Atopochilus) by its circular suckermouth disc. This is more eliptical in the other two genera.
Sexing	Males with an elongate genital papilla. Some other species of Chiloglanis can be easily sexed in the males having enlarged anal and caudal fins of different shapes from the females.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Africa: Cross River, Cameroon. African Waters, Cross (click on these areas to find other species found there) Log in to view data on a map.
IUCN Red List Category	Near Threatened, range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2019.
pH	6.4 - 7.0
Temperature	22.0-26.0°C or 71.6-78.8°F (Show species within this range)
Other Parameters	A good current is strongly recommended.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Will eat a wide variety of prepared and frozen foods. Supplement with algae wafers. User data.
Furniture	Provide plenty of rocks for hiding. Tank does not need to be well-planted.
Compatibility	Peaceful both with conspecifics and other fish, and therefore, suitable for the community tank.
Suggested Tankmates	Good with many small- to mid-sized community fish. Ideal tankmates include fast-water Synodontis (such as S. brichardi and S. soloni), fast-water African characins and cyprinids like Nannocharax and Garra.
Breeding	Not known in aquarium, although other species have been successfully bred in natural enclosures.
Breeding Reports	There is no breeding report.
Further Information
Reference	Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Series 4) v. 46 (no. 6), pp 168, Figs. 1b, 2b, 3c-d, 6a-b, 8.
Registered Keepers	There are 4 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 2 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 4 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
Forum BBCode
	Search for C. polypogon
	Look up C. polypogon on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up C. polypogon on Fishbase
	Look up C. polypogon on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up C. polypogon on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
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Last Update	2020 Sep 16 01:44 (species record created: 2004 Apr 01 11:22)

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