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African sea catfish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

African sea catfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Ariidae
Genus: Arius
Species:
A. africanus
Binomial name
Arius africanus
Günther, 1867
Synonyms[1]
  • Arius falcarius africana Günther, 1867
  • Arius falcarius africanus Günther, 1867
  • Tachysurus africanus (Günther, 1867)

The African sea catfish (Arius africanus), also known as the marine catfish,[2] is a species of sea catfish in the family Ariidae.[3] It was described by Albert Günther in 1867.[4] It is found in tropical brackish and freshwater in Tanzania, Madagascar, and the Pangani River. It reaches a maximum standard length of 45 cm (18 in).[3]

The diet of the African sea catfish consists of small finfish and invertebrates.[5] It is of commercial interest to fisheries.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Synonyms of Arius africanus at fishbase.org.
  2. ^ Common names of Arius africanus at www.fishbase.org.
  3. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Arius africanus". FishBase. April 2016 version.
  4. ^ Playfair, R. L. and A. Günther, 1867 [ref. 3490] The fishes of Zanzibar, with a list of the fishes of the whole east coast of Africa. London. i-xix + 1-153, Pls. 1-21.
  5. ^ Food items reported for Arius africanus at fishbase.org.