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D. Ross Robertson (1) FAO (1)

Description: Body moderately robust; head relatively long, depressed; snout moderately long, rounded across front; eye small (3.2-4.2% SL); top of head rough at rear, covered with thin skin; groove on top of head discontinuous - a short fleshy, wide, inconspicuous groove on snout that reaches to level of front nostrils, rear, bony part is narrow, inconspicuous, very shallow, with parallel, irregular margins; bony process behind head shield, funnel shaped, wide and relatively long (10.4-11.9% SL); 3 pairs of barbells (on chin and both jaws), top barbell reaches past base of pectoral spine, longest lower barbell reaches past gill membrane; gill opening restricted to sides by adhesion of gill membranes to breast; gill rakers 15 (14-17) on 1st arch, 15-17 on 2nd, rakers present on posterior surface of all gill arches; lips relatively thin; jaws wide, with large teeth; teeth at front of top jaw in a continuous broad band; rear lower teeth are small molars; palate teeth large, molariform, in two large oval patches that touch or nearly do at front, more oblique than horizontal, tooth patches considerably larger in females; jaw teeth in several rows, front teeth smaller than back; dorsal rays I, 7, dorsal spine short (18.4-20.4% SL), much thinner than pectoral spine; anal rays 23 (22-24); pectoral rays I, 10-11, pectoral spine short, thick finely serrated; tail fin with short, wide, rounded lobes. Habitat: Inhabits shallow marine waters and brackish estuaries. Colouration: Dark blue or brownish on back, silvery white on sides and belly; fins dusky.

Congo sea catfish

Arius fuerthii

Ariidae

South and Central America: Pacific draining rivers of the Americas from Mexico to Ecuador. Type locality: Panama.

29.0cm. (11¾ins)

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biogeodb.stri.si.edu
D R Robertson and Gerald R Allen. 2015. Shorefishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific: online information system. Version 2.0 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panamá.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Kailola, P.J. and W.A. Bussing, 1995. Ariidae. Bagres marinos. p. 860-886. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.