African sea catfish
Arius africanus Günther, 1867
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 African sea catfish (Arius africanus), also known as the marine catfish, is a species of sea catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Albert Günther in 1867. It is found in tropical brackish and freshwater in Tanzania, Madagascar, and the Pangani River. It reaches a maximum standard length of 45 cm (18 in).
The diet of the African sea catfish consists of small finfish and invertebrates. It is of commercial interest to fisheries.
Wikipedia contributors, African sea catfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:30:33.260279+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Arius africanus Günther, 1867
- Name authority
- Günther, 1867
- Common name
- African sea catfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Ariidae
- Genus
- Arius
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSiluriformes
- familyAriidae Bleeker, 1858
- subfamilyAriinae Bleeker, 1858
- genusArius Valenciennes, 1840
- speciesArius africanus Günther, 1867
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Arius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Arius leptonotacanthus Bleeker, 1849 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius sumatranus (Anonymous [Bennett], 1830) | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius dispar Herre, 1926 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius gagora (Hamilton, 1822) | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius acutirostris Day, 1877 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius arenarius (Müller & Troschel, 1849) | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius arius (Hamilton, 1822) | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius brunellii Zolezzi, 1939 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius macracanthus Günther, 1864 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Madagascar sea catfishArius madagascariensis Vaillant, 1894 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius malabaricus Day, 1877 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arius manillensis Valenciennes, 1840 | AriidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Arius falcarius africana Günther, 1867 Günther, 1867 | synonym |
| Arius falcarius africanus Günther, 1867 Günther, 1867 | synonym |
| Tachysurus africanus (Günther, 1867) (Günther, 1867) | synonym |
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.
- Playfair, R. L., & Günther, A. (1867). The fishes of Zanzibar, with a list of the fishes of the whole east coast of Africa. London., i–xiv + 1–153, Pls. 1–21. 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:GQSB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.