New Granada sea catfish

Ariopsis bonillai

FAMILY

Ariidae

TAXONOMY

Galeichthys bonillai Miles, 1945, Magdalena River, Honda, Colombia.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Mâchoiron requin; Spanish: Chivo cabezón, chivo cazón.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Length 31.5 in (80 cm). Body naked, elongate, and robust; dorsal fin with one spine and seven soft rays; adipose fin present; pectoral fins with one spine and 10 soft rays; pelvic fins with six soft rays, inner rays strongly modified to form a hook in mature females; caudal fin deeply forked; head covered by a very rugose bony shield, well visible beneath the skin and extended anteriorly to opposite eyes, the posterior portion of the shield extends backward to meet the predorsal plate, which is large and crescent-shaped; three pairs of barbels; posterior pair of nostrils partly covered by a flap of skin; eye large, with free orbital rims. Dark gray to bluish gray dorsally, bluish white ventrally.

DISTRIBUTION

Southern Caribbean between Colombia and the Gulf of Venezuela.

HABITAT

Mainly inhabits coastal, brackish water, mangrove-lined lagoons, but has been collected in riverine environments as well as in shallow turbid marine waters.

BEHAVIOR

Benthic over muddy bottoms; solitary or forms schools.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Omnivorous; feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates, including crustaceans and polychaetes, but also consumes insects, small fishes, algae, and detritus.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

As with all studied members of this family, engages in oral brooding; the male incubates the relatively large eggs in his mouth until hatching. Spawning occurs almost year round, with a peak in the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta between April and July. Fecundity is rather low, each female produces 24–39 eggs of about 0.5 in (1.3 cm). Sexual maturity is reached at sizes around 17 in (43 cm), but sexes can be told apart using external morphology at 7.5 in (19 cm). Males carry eggs and young for about two months.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Classified as Endangered by the IUCN. This status is due to its endemicity to the southern Caribbean, combined with enormous pressure from artisan fisheries and significant habitat alteration. As a consequence of overfishing, the medium size of capture (12 in/30.5 cm) is well below the size of sexual maturity.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Fished for with hook and line, cast nets, and beach seines. Widely used as food by fishing communities and low-income populations of cities and towns in the Colombian Caribbean. By 2002 attempts to develop a specific aquaculture procedure were being made. Young may be used also as an aquarium species.