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Pablo Granados-Dieseldorff (1) Nhering Daniel Ortiz Lobo (1)

Description: Head rounded, only slightly flattened above; snout rounded as viewed from above; bony head shield very rough, covered with thin skin, extends to opposite eyes at front; a short central narrow longitudinal groove on shield ends well behind eyes; a broad based bony process at end of shield narrows and shortens at rear, has a slight central keel, extends back to meet a shield-shaped bone plate at base of dorsal fin; 2 pairs of close-set nostrils; no fleshy furrow extends across snout and connects rear nostrils; mouth under snout; 3 pairs of barbels (on chin and both jaws); gill opening wide, membranes not adhering to breast; teeth on roof of mouth in 2 small, narrowly separated or touching oval to square patches in center and 2 large oval patches on sides, these teeth never molar-like; 3-5 tiny rakers on upper rear surfaces of first two gill arches; 1st gill arch with 16-18 rakers on side, 2nd arch with 18-20; mature females have fleshy protuberances on pelvic fins; tail fin deeply forked; a complete lateral line, with branches to top and bottom base of tail fin, no scales. Colouration: Yellowish brown above, shading to whitish below; top barbels grey above, white below; chin barbels yellow-white; pectorals white, with black at base that extends onto spine; top of base of pelvic fin intensely black; anal fin silver; tail fin grey, with dark central rays. Etymology: The specific name assimilis: Latin for similar, described as “closely allied” to Hexanematichthys hymenorrhinos (= Sciades herzbergii) and A. seemanni. Remarks: Ariopsis assimilis has a relatively restricted distribution, found primarily in freshwater systems from Quintana Roo, Mexico to Honduras. The estimated extent of occurrence, assuming a maximum depth of 3 m (Miller et al. 2005) is likely to be more than 5000 km². The species is assessed as Least Concern, because, in spite of its rather limited distribution, it can be locally abundant, for example in the Bacalar lagoon system, which is not subject to the pollution impacts that likely killed a large part of the population in Chetumal/Corozal Bay in 1996 (IUCN 2019).

Mayan sea catfish

Arius assimilis, Galeichthys assimilis, Hexanematichthys assimilis, Sciades assimilis

Ariidae

North America: Atlantic draining rivers, from Quintana Roo, Mexico, to Honduras. Type locality: Lake of Yzabal, Guatemala.

35.0cm. TL (14ins)

26-29°c (79-85°f)

7.0-8.5.

Betancur, R., Marceniuk, A.P. & Schmitter-Soto, J. 2019. Ariopsis assimilis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 02/2024 )
Marceniuk, Alexandre P.; Menezes, Naércio A. (2007). "Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes), with a redefinition of the genera" Zootaxa 1416: 1–126.
Marceniuk, A.P. and N.A. Menezes, 2007. Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes), with a redefinition of the genera. Zootaxa 1416:1-126.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.