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Plicofollis nella (Valenciennes, 1840)

Image contributors to this species:

FAO (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: D I, 7; A 14-17; P1 I, 11-12; P2 6; GR 4-5 + 9-10. Body elongated, compressed. Head depressed; head shield almost smooth, weakly striated; dorsomedian groove shallow and short, not reaching anteriorly to level of posterior end of eye; supraoccipital process rounded in adult. Palatal teeth granular or conical with blunt tips, on 2 pairs of patches longitudinally arranged; anterior patch small and oval; posterior patch elongate, slender. Inner gill rakes absent on the anterior 2 gill arches. Lateral line bifurcates behind caudal fin base. Colouration: Body silvery; brownish dorsally; all fins blackish or dusky; adipose fin with a black margin. Habitat: Distributed in eastern Indian Ocean and West Pacific, from east coast of India to east coast of Australia, north to Philippines. Inhabits coastal waters and estuaries. Diet: Feeds mainly on sea urchins. Etymology: The genus name Plicofollis: plico, fold; follis, bellows or windbag, referring to creased or scalloped swim bladder characteristic of the genus. The specific name nella: derived from nalla-jella, local name for this catfish in Vizagapatam, India.

Common Name:

Shieldhead Catfish, Smooth-headed catfish

Synonyms:

Pimelodus nella, Arius leiotetocephalus, Bagrus (Ariodes) meyenii

Family:

Ariidae

Distribution:

Western Pacific: Bay of Bengal, western central Pacific and northern coast of Australia.

Size:

40.0cm. SL (14ins)

Temp:

20-27°c (67-81°f)

p.H.

7.5-8.5.

Reference:

Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Fishes of Andaman Sea. West coast of southern Thailand.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2008. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (12/2008).
Kailola, P.J., 1999. Ariidae (=Tachysuridae): sea catfishes (fork-tailed catfishes). p. 1827-1879. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol. 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome.
Marceniuk, A.P. and N.A. Menezes, 2007. Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes), with a redefinition of the genera. Zootaxa 1416:1-126.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

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Plicofollis nella

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