widehead sea catfish

Open encyclopedia reference

The blue sea catfish (Ariopsis guatemalensis), also known as the widehead sea catfish, is a species of sea catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Albert Günther in 1864, originally under the genus Arius. It is found in tropical marine, brackish and freshwater along the Pacific coast in Central America, ranging from Mexico to Panama as well as Nicaragua. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 20 m (0 to 70 ft). It reaches a maximum total length of 37 cm (15 in).

The blue sea catfish is rated as Least Concern by the IUCN redlist, due to its wide distribution, frequency in some areas, and lack of observed population decline. It is noted, however, that "extensive disturbance" of estuarine areas may pose localized threats to the species.

Wikipedia contributors, Blue sea catfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:04:42.475320+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Ariopsis guatemalensis (Günther, 1864)

Name authority

(Günther, 1864)

Common name

widehead sea catfish

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Siluriformes

Family

Ariidae

Genus

Ariopsis

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · 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. genusAriopsis Gill, 1861
13. speciesAriopsis guatemalensis (Günther, 1864)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 113 records assigned to Ariidae.

Names & synonyms

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

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=293651 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:GMXB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.