Madagascar sea catfish (Arius madagascariensis)

Scientific name: Arius madagascariensis Vaillant, 1894

Madagascar sea catfish (Arius madagascariensis)

The Madagascar sea catfish (Arius madagascariensis) is a freshwater fish of the family Ariidae. Native range: Africa, western coast of Madagascar; seldom on the eastern coast. Also found in Mozambique and Tanzania.

Biology

Anal soft rays: 16. Body moderately compressed. Head width 17.5-20.5 % of SL. A single pair of ovoid vomerine tooth patches. Dorsal surface of head and body uniform gray to grayish brown, upper third of head and body darkest, gradually fading to a lighter color along middle third of head and body; lower third and ventral surfaces of head and body dirty white. Adipose fin gray, dorsal-fin rays gray, fin-rays of all other fins with scattered gray melanophores.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Arius madagascariensis
Family
Ariidae (Sea catfishes)
Order
Siluriformes (Catfish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
70.0
Common length
20.0
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Africa: western coast of Madagascar; seldom on the eastern coast. Also found in Mozambique and Tanzania.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least Concern (LC)
Threat to humans
Traumatogenic
Uses
Fisheries: commercial
Resilience
Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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