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. This fish was described by

Achille Valenciennes Achille Valenciennes (9 August 1794 – 13 April 1865) was a French zoologist. Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. His study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology. ...

in 1840, originally under the genus ''

Bagrus ''Bagrus'' is a genus of bagrid catfishes. These are relatively large catfish found in freshwater habitats in Africa, except for the virtually unknown ''B. tucumanus'' from South America, which likely is a Synonym (biology), synonym of ''Luciop ...

''. 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 estuari ...

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 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 ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. 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 ...

s such as crabs in the genera ''

Callinectes ''Callinectes'' is a genus of crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely ...

'' ('' 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) *'' Petr ...

'', and ''

Porcellana ''Porcellana'' is a genus of Decapoda, decapod crustaceans in the widespread family (biology), family Porcellanidae, the porcelain crabs, which superficially resemble true crabs. The genus ''Porcellana'' includes the following species: * ''Por ...

'' ('' P. sayana'');

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

and prawns in the genera '' Alpheus'', '' Exhippolysmata'' ('' E. oplophoroides''), ''

Nematopalaemon ''Nematopalaemon'' is a genus of shrimps belonging to the family Palaemonidae. The species of this genus are found in Southern Asia, Africa and Southern America. Species: *'' Nematopalaemon colombiensis'' *'' Nematopalaemon hastatus'' *'' Nem ...

'' ('' N. schmitti''), '' Penaeus'' ('' P. schmitti''), and ''

Xiphopenaeus ''Xiphopenaeus'' is a genus of crustaceans in the suborder Dendrobranchiata, the shrimps and prawns. Two species are in this genus: *''Xiphopenaeus kroyeri'' *'' Xiphopenaeus riveti'' Likely, more species have not yet been described and named. ...

'' ('' X. kroyeri''); and isopods. 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, and other

bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...

in the genera ''

Anchoa ''Anchoa'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Engraulidae. It currently consists of 35 species. Species There are currently 35 recognized species in this genus: * '' Anchoa analis'' ( R. R. Miller, 1945) (Longfin Pacific anchovy) * ' ...

'', '' 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 ''Plagioscion'' is a genus of hardheads, ray-finned fish in the family Sciaenidae. They are found in tropical and subtropical South America where they inhabit fresh and brackish waters. Some species (notably ''P. squamosissimus'' and ''P. surin ...

'', '' 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 ''Synbranchus'' is a genus of swamp eels native to Central and South America. Species There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * '' Synbranchus lampreia'' Favorito, Zanata & Assumpção, 2005 * '' Synbranchus madeirae'' D ...

'' ('' S. marmoratus''), and '' Trichiurus''. It also feeds on

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

, polychaete 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 broa ...

s, as well as ariid

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

, insects,

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

s, 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