Description

Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 19 - 22. This species is distinguished with the following characters: short head, nearly as broad as long; blunt snout, well-rounded in lateral profile and dorsally; palatal tooth patches posterior to premaxillary tooth band meet at midline; rounded caudal-fin lobes, of near equal length, fin not deeply forked; short and thick caudal peduncle; underside of body (both head and belly) covered with fine brown specks; anterior gill-rakers on first arch 10-13 (5 + 5); pectoral fin rays 9-12; fatty growth along pectoral fin spines of breeding females not present outside spawning season. Dimorphism present with posterior (humeral) process of cleithrum obvious externally, fan-shaped in females, triangular in males; smooth and shallow dorsomedian cranial depression on exposed skull not reaching supraoccipital process (Ref. 85159).

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Siluriformes

Family: Ariidae

Genus: Galeichthys

Species: Galeichthys ater Castelnau, 1861

Climate Zone

Location

Biology

Carnivorous on benthic invertebrates, primarily annelids (Ref. 4332).

Habitat

associated