The crucifix sea catfish (''Sciades proops'') — also known as the Christfish, the crucifix/crucifex catfish, the crucifixfish, or the gillbacker, — is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in the family

Ariidae The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a family of catfish that mainly live in marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family includes about 143 species. Taxonomy ...

. This fish was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus '' Bagrus''. It inhabits marine,

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 estu ...

and freshwaters ranging from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to Colombia. It reaches a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of , more commonly reaching a TL of . It reaches a maximum weight of . Its maximum known life expectancy is 4 years. The crucifix sea catfish spawns from October–May. It is harvested by commercial fisheries, and its meat is marketed fresh.

Diet

The crucifix sea catfish has an extensive diet, consisting largely of

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s such as crabs in the genera '' Callinectes'' ('' C. bocourti'', '' C. danae'', and '' C. ornatus''), ''

Petrolisthes ''Petrolisthes'' is a genus of marine porcelain crabs, containing these extant species: *'' Petrolisthes aegyptiacus'' Werding & Hiller, 2007 *'' Petrolisthes agassizii'' Faxon, 1893 *''Petrolisthes amoenus'' (Guérin-Méneville, 1855) *'' Pet ...

'', and '' Porcellana'' ('' P. sayana''); shrimp and

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...

s in the genera '' Alpheus'', '' Exhippolysmata'' ('' E. oplophoroides''), '' Nematopalaemon'' ('' N. schmitti''), ''

Penaeus ''Penaeus'' is a genus of prawns, including the giant tiger prawn (''P. monodon''), the most important species of farmed crustacean worldwide. The genus has been reorganised following a proposition of Pérez Farfante and Kensley based on morph ...

'' ('' P. schmitti''), and '' Xiphopenaeus'' ('' X. kroyeri''); and

isopods Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and ...

. It also feeds largely on

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

s in the families

Muraenesocidae The Muraenesocidae, or pike congers, are a small family of marine eels found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. Some species are known to enter brackish water. Pike congers have cylindrical bodies, scaleless skin, narrow heads with large ...

and

Ophichthidae Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels. They are named for thei ...

, and other bony fish in the genera '' Anchoa'', '' Aspistor'' ('' A. quadriscutis''), ''

Cathorops ''Cathorops'' is a genus of catfishes in the family Ariidae found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. These species are found in the eastern and western Central and South America in brackish and freshwater habitats.Marceniuk, A.P. & Menezes, N.A ...

'' ( '' C. arenatus'', '' C. phrygiatus'' and '' C. rugispinis''), '' Evermannichthys'', '' Gobioides'', '' Plagioscion'', '' Pseudauchenipterus'' ('' P. nodosus''), ''

Stellifer ''Stellifer'' is a genus of fish in the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. It is found in New World waters.Chao, N. L. (2001)Two new species of ''Stellifer'' from inshore waters of the eastern Pacific, with a redescription of ''S. ephelis ...

'' ('' S. microps'' and '' S. rastrifer''), '' Synbranchus'' ('' S. marmoratus''), and ''

Trichiurus ''Trichiurus'' is a genus of cutlassfishes belonging to the family Trichiuridae. Species Species within this genus include: * ''Trichiurus auriga'', Klunzinger, 1884 (Pearly hairtail) * ''Trichiurus australis'' Chakraborty, Burhanuddin & Iwa ...

''. It also feeds on annelid,

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...

and

roundworm The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...

s, as well as ariid larvae, insects, gastropods, and leaves and twigs from terrestrial plants.Food and Feeding Habits Summary Sciades proops
at www.fishbase.org.

References

Ariidae Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes Fish described in 1840 {{Ariidae-stub