The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

that mainly live in marine waters with many

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does in ...

and

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family includes about 143 species.

Taxonomy

The relationships of this family are not yet clear. Two of the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

, ''

Gogo Go go or Gogo may refer to: Geography * Ghogha, India, a town once also known as Gogo * Gogo, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso, a town * Gogo, Zoundwéogo, Burkina Faso, a city * Gogo Department, a department in central Burkina Faso * Gogo Formatio ...

'' and '' Ancharius'', have been moved to a separate family called Anchariidae. The Ariidae are divided into three subfamilies: '' Galeichthys'' is the only genus classified in the subfamily Galeichthyinae and similarly '' Bagre'' is the only genus in the subfamily

Bagreinae ''Bagre'' is a genus of sea catfishes found along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas from southern North America to northern South America. Currently, four species are described: * ''Bagre bagre'' ( Linnaeus, 1766) (coco sea catfish ...

, while the rest of the genera are classified in the subfamily Ariinae. Previously, the family Ariidae has been grouped in the superfamily Doradoidea, but then it was moved into Bagroidea (along with Austroglanididae,

Claroteidae The Claroteidae are a family of catfish (order Siluriformes) found in Africa. This family was separated from Bagridae. However, the monophyly of the family is sometimes contested. The 12 genera contain 86 known species of claroteids in two subf ...

, Schilbeidae, Pangasiidae, Bagridae, Malapteruridae, and Pimelodidae. It has also been classified in a superfamily Arioidea containing Ariidae and Anchariidae.

Distribution and habitat

Ariids are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. Ariids are unusual among catfish in that they live primarily in the sea; the majority of catfish families are strictly

and have little tolerance for

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

or marine conditions. Ariid catfish are found in shallow temperate and tropical seas around the coastlines of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

, and Australia. Many other species of catfish 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 fresh water.

Appearance and anatomy

Ariid catfish have a deeply forked caudal fin. Usually, three pairs of barbels are present. They possess some bony plates on their heads and near their dorsal fins. At least some species have venomous spines in their dorsal and pectoral fins.

Skull

The gafftopsail catfish is sometimes called the "crucifix catfish" because its dried skull bones resembles a cruciform man. This is an example of pareidolia.

Ecology

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, tiny eggs for about two months until the eggs hatch and the fry become free-swimming.

Relationship to humans

One well-known ariid catfish is the

hardhead catfish The hardhead catfish (''Ariopsis felis'') is a species of sea catfish from the northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and similar to the gafftopsail catfish (''Bagre marinus''). It is one of four species in the genus '' Ariopsis''. The common nam ...

, ''Ariopsis felis'', abundant along the Western Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Mexico. Although hardhead catfish reach a weight of about and are edible, they have a mixed reputation as game fish and are often considered nuisance bait stealers. A less-abundant species, more highly regarded as a game and food fish, is the gafftopsail catfish, ''Bagre marinus''. The range of the gafftop extends further south, to Venezuela. The smaller ariid catfishes have minor value as public and home aquarium fish. In 1972, the Shedd Aquarium in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

received worldwide acclaim for the first successful breeding of ''Ariopsis felis'' in captivity, a feat they have repeated several times since. The Colombian shark catfish ''Sciades seemanni'' (until recently ''Hexanematichthys seemanni'') is a fairly popular aquarium fish, though it has been traded under a variety of spurious names, such as ''Arius jordani'' and ''Arius seemani''. Less commonly traded aquarium species include ''Arius berneyi'' and ''Arius graeffei''.The catfish family Ariidae
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References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q194305 Catfish families Taxa named by Lev Berg