As you can see on the above image the strange bulbous head that this species and others from the genus adorn and also the continuous adipose fin and caudal. Quite a peculiar looking catfish to say the least :-)

 

The image below shows the well developed barbel arangement of Liobagrus marginatus.

 

There are three genera, Amblyceps, Liobagrus and Xiurenbagrus but the first two are the species we tend to see although they are still pretty rare in the trade. The differences are Amblyceps: Nostrils close together; cup-like depresion below opercular flap present. Liobagrus: Nostrils far apart; no cup-like depresion below opercular flap.

This family are closely related to the Bagridae family and are reported to be able to live out of the water for a period of time.

The ichthyologist who discovered this species, Albert Günther, was born in Esslingen in Swabia (Germany) in the year 1830 and died at the age of 84 at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. He studied theology in Bonn and Berlin and later studied medicine in Tübingen. He went to the British Museum in 1856, where he worked on ichthyology. Following the death of John Edward Gray in 1875 he was made director of the zoology department of the Natural History Museum in London, remaining so until 1895. Apart from fishes, he also worked on the reptiles and amphibians in the Museum collection.