Ariopsis guatemalensis, Blue sea catfish : fisheries

Ariopsis guatemalensis (Günther, 1864)

Blue sea catfish
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Ariopsis guatemalensis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ariopsis guatemalensis (Blue sea catfish)
Ariopsis guatemalensis
Picture by Robertson, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Ariidae (Sea catfishes) > Ariinae
Etymology: Ariopsis: Greek, ari = very, strength, superiority + Greek, opsis = appearance (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; depth range 0 - 20 m (Ref. 96339). Tropical; 24°N - 14°N

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Mexico,(from the mouth of Colorado River, Sonora) to Costa Rica.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 54.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 115882)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: mesethmoid median portion wide, medial notch of mesethmoid large and shallow mouth wide 13.0-15.2% SL; cephalic shield at frontal area wide, 10.0-11.5% SL; cephalic shield at lateral ethmoid area wide 14.3-15.3% SL; distance between anterior nostrils wide 7.1-8.6% SL; distance between posterior nostrils wide 7.2-8.7% SL; osseous medial groove absent; fleshy medial groove of neurocranium conspicuous or inconspicuous, but never surpassing posterior margin of eyes; lateral margin of sphenotic straight, as wide medially as anteriorly; pterotic lateral margin markedly convex, sometimes angled; pectoral spine long 18.2-20.5% SL; external posterior branch of lateral ethmoid columnar and thin; fenestra delimited by mesethmoid and lateral ethmoid conspicuous (Ref. 116660).
Cross section: oval.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Abundant in marine and brackish waters (Ref. 9271). Also enters freshwater (Ref. 36880).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Ferraris, Jr., Carl J. | Collaborators

Marceniuk, A.P., A.P. Acero, R. Cooke and R. Betancur-R, 2017. Taxonomic revision of the new world genus Ariopsis Gill (Siluriformes: Ariidae), with description of two new species. Zootaxa 4290(1):1-42. (Ref. 116660)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 May 2007

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 58010)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Trophic ecology
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |