The Mozambique sea catfish (''Plicofollis polystaphylodon''), also known as the Mozambican sea catfish, is a
species of
catfish in the family
Ariidae.
It was described by
Pieter Bleeker in 1846, originally under the genus ''
Arius
Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's un ...
''.
It inhabits marine and
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 include ...
s in the western Pacific and western
Indian Ocean. It reaches a maximum
standard 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 m ...
of .
The diet of the Mozambique sea catfish consists of
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
invertebrates.
Food items reported for ''Plicofollis polystaphylodon''
at www.fishbase.org. It is harvested by commercial fisheries, and its meat is generally marketed fresh.
References
Ariidae
Fish described in 1846
{{Ariidae-stub