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D. Ross Robertson (1) FAO (1)

Description: Body robust; eye 4.9-6.0 in head; head smooth to rough, with four prominent ridges extending forward, two parallel ridges in center plus two outer ridges, each diverging towards eye, ridges with coarse to sharp granules or tubercles; central groove on head narrow, long, at rear of head; bony process extending back from head shield along nape triangular, short, slightly longer than wide; 3 pairs of barbells (on chin and both jaws); gill opening restricted to sides by adhesion of gill membranes to breast; gill rakers 9, no rakers on posterior surface of first 2 archs; teeth on roof of mouth simple, in 4 patches,the inner patches well separated at midline and continuous with slightly larger and narrowly ovate outer patches, the outer patches with conical teeth, tooth patches considerably larger in females; jaw teeth in several rows, front teeth smaller than back; dorsal rays I, 7; adipose dorsal fin base longer than first dorsal fin base; anal rays 19-23; pectoral rays I, 10-11. Colouration: Dark grey or bluish brown on back, sides grey to bluish; lower surface whitish; barbels black; fins dusky to blackish. Habitat: relatively common, marine, occasionally in estuaries, not in freshwater. Etymology: The specific name dasycephalus: dasys, rough; cephalus, head, referring to the “coarsely granulated” crown of head.

Bigbelly sea catfish

Arius dasycephalus, Ariopsis dasycephalus, Cathorops (Precathorops) dasycephalus

Ariidae

South and Central America: South and Central America in eastern Pacific drainages: Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador and Panama. Type locality: Gulf of Panama, Panama.

29.0cm. (11¾ins)

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biogeodb.stri.si.edu
D R Robertson and Gerald R Allen. 2015. Shorefishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific: online information system. Version 2.0 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panamá.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Kailola, P.J. and W.A. Bussing, 1995. Ariidae. Bagres marinos. p. 860-886. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.