 In the absence of optimal breeding habitat (such as in dams), it will use any shallow water with generous rocks on the ground.Its stocks have declined precariously between the 1940s and 1970s, after the smallmouth bass ("Micropterus dolomieu") was introduced into its range.Though it is still found across a wide area and is plentiful in some places, the bass will eat young Clanwilliam yellowfish and thus easily lower their stocks to local extinction.