Aristotle's catfish (''Silurus aristotelis'') is a species of

fish 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 li ...

in the family

Siluridae Siluridae is the nominate family of catfishes in the order Siluriformes. About 105 living species of silurids are placed in 12 or 14 genera. Although silurids occur across much of Europe and Asia, they are most diverse in Southeast Asia, beyond ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, where it occurs in the

Acheloos River The Achelous ( el, Αχελώος, grc, Ἀχελῷος ''Akhelôios''), also Acheloos, is a river in western Greece. It is long. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity. It empties into the Ionian Sea. In ancien ...

drainage. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. This species grows to a length of TL and is of importance to local

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

. It is known from

Lake Trichonida Lake Trichonida ( el, Λίμνη Τριχωνίδα ''Limni Trichonida'', Ancient Greek: Τριχωνίς ''Trichonis'') is the largest natural lake in Greece. It is situated in the eastern part of Aetolia-Acarnania, southeast of the city of Agrin ...

Lake Lysimachia Lysimachia ( el, Λυσιμαχία) is a lake in Aetolia-Acarnania, western Greece. Its area is 13.2 km², its depth is around 9 m. It is fed by the small river Ermitsa, and by a canal that connects the lake with the larger Lake Trichonida ...

and

Lake Amvrakia Lake Amvrakia or Ambracia ( el, Αμβρακία) is a freshwater lake in Aetolia-Acarnania, in western Greece. It lies between the towns of Agrinio and Amphilochia, and is long, wide and has a maximum depth of . It is a Natura 2000 protected h ...

and introduced to

Lake Volvi Lake Volvi ( el, Λίμνη Βόλβη - ''Límni Vólvi'') is located at the root of the Chalkidiki peninsula, in the Thessaloniki regional unit of Greece. It is the second largest lake in the country at length and width. The area is 68 k ...

and

Lake Ioannina Lake Pamvotida or Pamvotis ( el, Λίμνη Παμβώτιδα/Παμβώτις), commonly also Lake of Ioannina ( el, Λίμνη των Ιωαννίνων, ''Limni ton Ioanninon'') is the largest lake of Epirus, located in the central part o ...

in the 1980s thus exclusively lives in lakes. Threats may be

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...

and

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

. Its name derives from the fact that it was first described by

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

in his

History of Animals ''History of Animals'' ( grc-gre, Τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν, ''Ton peri ta zoia historion'', "Inquiries on Animals"; la, Historia Animalium, "History of Animals") is one of the major texts on biology by the ancient Gr ...

References

Further reading