Carlarius
heudelotii (Valenciennes,
1840) |
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| Image
contributors to this species: |
| Hippocampus
Bildarchiv
(1) Henk
Heessen (3) |
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ScotCat Sources: |
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| Other
Sources: |
 
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| Relevant
Information: |
Enters brackish waters;
found along the shallow continental shelf. Feeds on benthic invertebrates
buried in the mud but it can sometimes leave the bottom to capture
prey in open water. The females bear large eggs which are incubated
and develop in the buccal cavity of the males. The rays of the fins
are venomous and the wound inflicted is extremely painful. Demersal;
brackish; marine; depth range 15 - 75 m. The sea catfish from Guinea
are slow growing species which reach 40 to 42 cm (approximately
one kilogram) at 6 years. The quite frequent observation in the
landings of the canoe fishery of 80 cm individuals of A. latiscutatus
and A. heudelotii, which are speculated to be 20 to 30
years old, indicates that their natural mortality is low. Their
morphology, with a very hard skull and strong protective spines,
as well as their habitat on muddy bottoms where turbidity is strong,
probably protects them from predation. Their reproductive adaptativeness,
with a small number of very big eggs (ariids have the largest eggs
of any teleost group) protected by mouth incubation, also allows
a large reduction in the early life mortality. Note:
It has to be noted that Marceniuk & Menezes (2007) have placed
this species in a new Genera, Carlarius, named for Carl
Ferraris for his contribution to the knowledge of Siluriformes fishes
and includes the seven known Arius species from the west
African coastline. Arius heudeloti Valenciennes, 1840,
is the type species. |
| Common
Name: |
Smoothmouth sea catfish
|
| Synonyms: |
Tachysurus
heudelotii, Bagrus goreensis, Tachysurus mercatoris, Arius mercatoris,
Arius heudelotii.
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| Family: |
Ariidae
mblycipitidae |
| Distribution: |
West
coast of Africa, from Mauritania to Gabon and, possibly, to Angola;
in marine waters and estuaries. Type locality:
haut Sénégal. |
| Size:
|
76.0cm.TL
(2ft 6¼ins) |
| Temp: |
20-27°c
(67-81°f ) |
| p.H. |
6.5-8.0. |
| Reference: |
Froese, R. and
D. Pauly. Editors. 2009.FishBase.World Wide Web electronic
publication.www.fishbase.org, version (10/2009).
Conand, F., S.B. Camara and F. Domain 1995 Age
and growth of three species of Ariidae (Siluriformes) in coastal
waters of Guinea. Bull. Mar. Sci. 56(1):58-67.
Marceniuk, Alexandre P.; Menezes, Naércio A.
(2007). "Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes),
with a redefinition of the genera" Zootaxa 1416: 1–126.
California Academy of Sciences http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?spid=4679
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