Bathyclarias euryodon was described from three specimens of 50.5-105 cm (19.9-41.3 inches) total length, caught off Nkhata Bay and Nkhota Kota, Malawi. This endemic deep-water clariid catfish has blunt vomerine teeth in a wide band (see below), which "...suggests a molluscan diet... but no molluscan remains were observed in the stomach contents. The stomach of the type contained numerous scales and fin-ray bones of cichlid fish, and three small lumps of charcoal, while the paratype's stomach was empty. Both fishes were taken on long lines, which suggests a markedly carnivorous habit" (Jackson, 1959).

There is little information in the FishBase species summary.

B. euryodon can be distinguished from the other species of Bathyclarias by possessing all of the following characters (adapted from Greenwood, 1961: 230):

1. Gill rakers short, length of longest gill raker (on outer arch) divided by length of longest gill filament = 0.3-0.6 [about one-third length of filaments according to Jackson (1959)];
2. Barbels rounded in cross section, smooth and simple;
3. Body smooth, not pitted;
4. Gills and suprabranchial cavity not black; and
5. Tooth band on vomer more than 1½ times broader than the premaxillary band, with coarse, blunt teeth.

Last Update: 17 October 1999 Web Author: M. K. Oliver, Ph.D. Copyright © 1997-2021 by M. K. Oliver, Ph.D. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED