What Animal Lives Where

Where has the African Butter Catfish been recorded?

Schilbe mystus occurrence evidence comes from 115 records in 17 countries and territories, from 1936 to 2025. Most records come from Benin.

African Butter Catfish
African Butter Catfish — Photo (display-sized rendition): Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
SiluriformesSchilbeidaeSchilbe

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

115 records across 17 countries and territories, 1936–2025.

Schilbe mystus · GBIF taxon key 2341732

Source coverage

CC0 GBIF Animalia occurrence facets, including country, month and year summaries.

Refreshed 2026-08-23. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

The species has been recorded in the listed places in the stated source universe. Peak month: August.

11 months reach at least 10% of the peak facet count.

What this does not mean

repeated describes the record pattern, not a formal range, residency, abundance or conservation assessment.

A single record remains evidence of a recording, not proof that a population lives there.

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: August. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Records over time

19362025

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where African Butter Catfish has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for African Butter Catfish. They do not define a complete habitat range: survey effort differs by place, and historical or one-off records can appear alongside repeated presence.

PlaceRecordsShare
Benin 25
Zambia 18
Ghana 15
Cameroon 11
Nigeria 11
Central African Republic 10
Uganda 7
Chad 4
DR Congo 3
Botswana 2
Egypt 2
Mali 2
Congo 1
Ethiopia 1
Kenya 1
Niger 1
Zimbabwe 1

Related animals

Others in the family Schilbeidae.

African glass catfish
African glass catfish
54 records
Record pattern: repeated
Repeated records across many years and months. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.