Ariidae

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Ariidae

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Superfamily:	Bagroidea
Family:	Ariidae L. S. Berg, 1958

Genera

See text.

The Ariidae or ariid catfish are catfish that mainly live in marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones.^[1]

Their caudal fin is deeply forked. There are usually three pairs of barbels. They possess some bony plates on their head and near their dorsal fins.^[1] Beyond their maritime habitat, ariid catfish have a number of unique adaptations that set them apart from other catfish. Most, if not all species, are mouthbrooding fish, with the male carrying a small clutch of a few dozen, golf-ball sized eggs for about two months until they eggs hatch and the fry become free-swimming^[2]. At least some species have venomous spines in their dorsal and pectoral fins^[3].

Ariid catfish have sometimes been called crucifix catfish thanks to a rather peculiar skull morphology that, with a bit of imagination, can be seen to resemble a crucifixion scene^[4].

1 Distribution and habitat
2 Relationship to humans
3 Genera
4 References

[edit] Distribution and habitat

Ariids are unusual among catfish in that they live primarily in the sea; the majority of catfish families are strictly freshwater and have little tolerance for brackish or marine conditions. Ariid catfish are found in shallow temperate and tropical seas around the coastlines of North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. They are absent from Europe and Antarctica.

Many species are also present in freshwater habitats; some species only occur in freshwater. In North and South America about 43 species extend into brackish water or are found exclusively in freshwater. Doiichthys is another freshwater species that is found in New Guinea.^[1]

[edit] Relationship to humans

One well known ariid catfish is the hardhead sea catfish, Ariopsis felis, abundant along the Western Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Mexico. Although hardhead catfish reach a weight of about 5.5 kg and are good eating, they have a mixed reputation as game fish and are often considered nuisance bait stealers^[5].

The smaller ariid catfish have minor value as public and home aquarium fish. In 1972, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago received worldwide acclaim for the first successful breeding of Ariopsis felis in captivity, a feat they have repeated several times since. Hexanematichthys seemanni is a fairly popular aquarium fish, though it is usually traded under a variety of spurious names, such as Arius jordani and Arius seemani^[6]. Less commonly traded aquarium species include Arius berneyi and Arius graeffei^[7].