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Notarius grandicassis (Valenciennes, 1840)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Thomas sea catfish (Notarius grandicassis) is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus Arius. It inhabits mud on the floors of brackish and marine waters between the Gulf of Venezuela and the Amazon River, at a depth range of 1 to 20 m (3 ft 3 in to 65 ft 7 in). It reaches a maximum total length of 63 cm (25 in), more commonly reaching a TL of 40 cm (16 in).

The Thomas sea catfish is currently ranked as Least Concern by the IUCN redlist. It spawns during the months of May and June. Its meat is of minor commercial value, and is marketed fresh.

Wikipedia contributors, Thomas sea catfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:21:11.814213+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Notarius grandicassis (Valenciennes, 1840)
Name authority
(Valenciennes, 1840)
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Siluriformes
Family
Ariidae
Genus
Notarius
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderSiluriformes
  11. familyAriidae Bleeker, 1858
  12. subfamilyAriinae Bleeker, 1858
  13. genusNotarius Gill, 1863
  14. speciesNotarius grandicassis (Valenciennes, 1840)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Notarius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Notarius armbrusteri Betancur-R. & Acero P., 2006AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius kessleri (Steindachner, 1876)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius osculus (Jordan & Gilbert, 1883)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius planiceps (Steindachner, 1876)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius bonillai (Miles, 1945)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius cookei (Acero P. & Betancur-R., 2002)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius lentiginosus (Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1888)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius neogranatensis (Acero P. & Betancur-R., 2002)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Notarius troschelii (Gill, 1863)AriidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 113 records assigned to Ariidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Arius grandicassis Valenciennes, 1840 Valenciennes, 1840synonym
Arius stricticassis Valenciennes, 1840 Valenciennes, 1840synonym
Notarius parmocassis (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840)synonym
Notarius stricticassis (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840)synonym
Arius parmocassis Valenciennes, 1840 Valenciennes, 1840synonym
Arius vandeli Puyo, 1936 Puyo, 1936synonym

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=281766 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:47S7D. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.