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Bagre marinus (Mitchill, 1815)

Image contributors to this species:

Paul A. Scharf (1) Frants Lehmann (2 Stamps) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: Anal soft rays: 22 - 28. Maxillary barbels, first ray of dorsal fin, and first ray of pectoral fin extended as long, flat filaments. 1 pair of barbels on chin. The dorsal and pectoral fins are equipped with a serrated erectile spine, both of which are venomous. Habitat: Mainly marine but enters brackish estuaries with relatively high salinities. Diet: Feeds mainly on small fishes and invertebrates. Commonly caught by anglers along bridges, piers and catwalks. The flesh is considered good. Etymology: The specific name of marinus: meaning of the sea, the “Salt-water Catfish” of New York State (USA).

Common Name:

Gafftopsail sea catfish

Synonyms:

Felichthys felis, Bagre felis, Bagre marina, Silurus marinus, Felichthys marinus, Galeichthys blochii , Galeichthys parrae, Galeichthys bahiensis, Aelurichthys longispinis.

Family:

Ariidae

Distribution:

Eastern America: United States, Mexico, Cuba, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guyana and Brazil. Type locality: New York, U.S.A.

Size:

40.0cm. (16ins)

Temp:

12-26°c (61-79°f)

p.H.

7.0-8.5.

IUCN Red List

This widely distributed species is common and abundant where it occurs in shallow coastal and estuarine waters. It is a valued fishery resource in the Gulf of Mexico off Mexico and the level of exploitation is considered to be at maximum sustainable yield. It is likely vulnerable to overexploitation due to ongoing illegal fishing activity that targets spawning adults. It also occurs as bycatch in trawl fisheries and artisanal catch off Brazil. It does not support a significant fishery in U.S. waters. Currently, there is no indication of significant decline on the global level. Therefore, it is listed as Least Concern with a recommendation to improve monitoring and regulation of the Mexican fisheries, so needs updating (IUCN 2015).

Reference:

Chao, L., Vega-Cendejas, M., Tolan, J., Jelks, H. & Espinosa-Perez, H. 2015. Bagre marinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (10/2009).
Marceniuk, Alexandre P.; Menezes, Naércio A. (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.

Family: Ariidae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Bagre marinus
Caught in Fort Morgan, Gulf of Mexico, Baldwin County Alabama, 18 Oct 2000

Bagre marinus
Stamp

Bagre marinus
Caught in the Rio Colorado, Costa Rica

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