Description:
D I, 7; A 14-17; P1 I, 11-12; P2 6; GR 4-5 + 9-10.
Body elongated, compressed. Head depressed; head shield
almost smooth, weakly striated; dorsomedian groove
shallow and short, not reaching anteriorly to level
of posterior end of eye; supraoccipital process rounded
in adult. Palatal teeth granular or conical with blunt
tips, on 2 pairs of patches longitudinally arranged;
anterior patch small and oval; posterior patch elongate,
slender. Inner gill rakes absent on the anterior 2
gill arches. Lateral line bifurcates behind caudal
fin base. Colouration: Body silvery;
brownish dorsally; all fins blackish or dusky; adipose
fin with a black margin. Habitat:
Distributed in eastern Indian Ocean and West Pacific,
from east coast of India to east coast of Australia,
north to Philippines. Inhabits coastal waters and
estuaries. Diet: Feeds mainly on
sea urchins.
Western
Pacific: Bay of Bengal, western central Pacific
and northern coast of Australia.
Size:
40.0cm. SL (14ins)
Temp:
20-27°c
(67-81°f)
p.H.
7.5-8.5.
Reference:
Ferraris, C.J. Jr.,
2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes:
Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary
types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628. Fishes
of Andaman Sea.
West coast of southern Thailand. Froese, R. and D. Pauly.
Editors. 2008. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic
publication. www.fishbase.org, version (12/2008).
Kailola, P.J., 1999. Ariidae (=Tachysuridae):
sea catfishes (fork-tailed catfishes). p. 1827-1879.
In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species
identification guide for fishery purposes. The living
marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol.
3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1
(Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome. Marceniuk, A.P. and N.A. Menezes,
2007. Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi,
Siluriformes), with a redefinition of the genera.
Zootaxa 1416:1-126.
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