''Galeichthys'' is a genus of

sea catfish 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. Taxono ...

es in the family Ariidae, the only genus in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Galeichthyinae. It includes four predominantly marine species distributed in Southern Africa and northwestern South America: * ''

Galeichthys ater ''Galeichthys ater'', the black sea catfish, is a species of sea catfish found in South Africa and Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shar ...

'' Castelnau, 1861 (Black sea catfish) * ''

Galeichthys feliceps ''Galeichthys feliceps'', the white barbel, sea barbel, white baggar or white sea catfish, is a species of sea catfish found in coastal waters and estuaries over muddy bottoms at depths of from 1 – 120 metres where they gather in large shoals. ...

'' Valenciennes, 1840 (White barbel), the type species * ''

Galeichthys peruvianus ''Galeichthys peruvianus'' is a species of sea catfish that is found in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru and far northern Chile. They reach a length of 35 cm. They are a component of commercial fisheries for human consumption. As wit ...

'' Lütken, 1874 (Peruvian sea catfish) * ''

Galeichthys trowi ''Galeichthys trowi'' is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Cynthia Kulongowski in 2010. It is a tropical, marine catfish which is endemic to the coast of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. It reaches a standa ...

'' Kulongowski, 2010 Those fish have three pairs of barbels: a pair of fleshy and cylindrical maxillary barbels and two pairs of mental barbels. The base of the adipose fin is as long as the base of the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. The name ''Galeichthys'' comes from Greek 'shark' and 'fish'.

References

Ariidae Fauna of Ecuador Fauna of Peru Fauna of South Africa Fish of Africa Fish of South America Venomous fish Catfish genera Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes Marine fish genera {{Ariidae-stub