Cobbler

Cnidoglanis macrocephalus

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth6–29 m
Water temperature17–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, July, and August
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Liam southwell, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The estuary cobbler is a species of catfish of the family Plotosidae, and is the only species of the genus Cnidoglanis. It is also commonly known as the cobbler, deteira, estuary catfish, South Australian catfish, or Swan River catfish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Estuary cobbler”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 233 records
February: 137 records
March: 168 records
April: 144 records
May: 195 records
June: 116 records
July: 309 records
August: 358 records
September: 144 records
October: 118 records
November: 120 records
December: 214 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–29 m · Deepest record: 50 m

0–10 m: 14 records
10–20 m: 49 records
20–30 m: 48 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–29 °C

16–18 °C: 12 records
18–20 °C: 58 records
20–22 °C: 57 records
22–24 °C: 23 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 0 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) leonie_rennie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) coenobita, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Cobbler, Deteira, Estuarine Cat-fish, Estuarine Catfish, estuary catfish, Estuary Cobbler, South Australian Catfish

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Pez Gato del Sur de Australia
French: Poisson chat d'estuaire
Simplified Chinese: 大头荨麻鳗鲶

Other scientific names: Choeroplotosus decemfilis, Choeroplotosus limbatus, Cnidoglanis bostockii, Neoplotosus waterhousii, Ostophycephalus duriceps, Plotosus macrocephalus, Plotosus megastomus

Similar species

Striped eel catfish
Plotosus lineatus
Nakedhead Catfish
Euristhmus nudiceps
Elongate Catfish
Euristhmus lepturus
Whitelip Catfish
Paraplotosus albilabris
Sailfin Catfish
Paraplotosus butleri
Barbel Eel Catfish
Plotosus canius

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
657 open-data records from 1906 to 2023.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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