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Carlarius latiscutatus (Günther 1864)

Image contributors to this species:

Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (2)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Habitat: Mainly marine but frequently found in brackish estuaries, and sometimes enters freshwater. Common during winter. Ornamental and sometimes considered an aquarium fish, the fish is venomous and can be dangerous to humans. Diet: Feeds on fish, benthic invertebrates, zooplankton and detritus. Remarks: It has to be noted that Marceniuk et al (2007) have placed this species (Arius latiscutatus) 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. Up to date this change of genera has now been accepted. Note: Fishbase and iNaturalist still consider this species as Arius latiscutatus.

Common Name:

Rough-head sea catfish

Synonyms:

Arius lagoensis, Tachysurus lagoensis

Family:

Ariidae

Distribution:

Western Africa: Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Angola and Namibia. Type locality: Fernando Póo Island, Equatorial Guinea, Gulf of Guinea.

Size:

70cm.TL (28ins)

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).
Marceniuk, Alexandre P.; Menezes, Naércio A. (2007). "Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes), with a redefinition of the genera" Zootaxa 1416: 1–126.

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

Carlarius latiscutatus

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