The silver cobbler (''Neoarius midgleyi''), also known as the Lake Argyle catfish, the Lake Argyle silver cobbler, the Midgley's catfish, the Ord River catfish, the shovel-nosed catfish, or the shovelhead catfish, is a
species of
catfish in the family
Ariidae.
It was described by
Patricia J. Kailola
Patricia J. Kailola is a noted ichthyologist. Her primary focus is in tropical Indo-Pacific fishes. She is an Australian Museum Research Associate. Among her numerous publications are listed several books covering tropical fish. She also has w ...
and
Bryan E. Pierce in 1988, 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
brackish 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 northern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It is known to reach 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 , but usually reaches an SL of .
The silver cobbler's diet includes
crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
,
finfish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...
and
prawns
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 ...
.
Food items reported for ''Neoarius midgleyi''
at www.fishbase.org.
References
Ariidae
Fish described in 1988
Freshwater fish of Australia
{{Ariidae-stub