Giant sea catfish
| Giant sea catfish | |
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| Species: | A. gigas
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| Binomial name | |
| Arius gigas Boulenger, 1911
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The giant sea catfish (Arius gigas), also called the ewe or the marine catfish,[2] is a species of sea catfish in the family Ariidae.[3] It was described by George Albert Boulenger in 1911, originally under the genus Tachysurus.[4] It is known from brackish and freshwater in the Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Benin, Mali, Ghana and Nigeria.[5] It reaches a maximum total length of 165 cm (65 in), and a maximum weight of 50 kg (110 lb). Males incubate eggs in their mouths.[3]
The giant sea catfish is of commercial significance as a food fish; however, its populations have declined due to over-fishing, and possibly chemical pollution. Due to these factors the IUCN redlist currently lists the species as Near Threatened.[5]
References
- ^ Synonyms of Arius gigas at fishbase.org.
- ^ Common names of Arius gigas at fishbase.org.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Arius gigas". FishBase. April 2016 version.
- ^ Boulenger, G. A., 1911 (24 Feb.) [ref. 579] Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History). London. v. 2: i-xii + 1-529
- ^ a b Arius gigas at the IUCN redlist.
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