Ariidae Bleeker 1858

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 28

Family Ariidae Bleeker 1858 ( Fig. 3F ). Sea Catfishes; Bagres, Cuminates, Congos

Description: Body elongate, rounded (cylindrical) to depressed; usually less than 100 cm in length; head large, rounded to depressed; usually three pairs of barbels, rarely two (no nasal barbels); top of head covered by a rough bony shield that is partly visible through the thin skin, with a bony process that extends back to meet a bone plate at the base of the dorsal fin; pectoral and dorsal fins with a strong spine; adipose fin present; anal fin with 14–40 soft rays; caudal fin deeply forked ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Mainly marine, many fresh or brackish water; worldwide, tropical to warm temperate oceans (Nelson et al. 2016). Four genera and eleven species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 2; Bryconidae (A), Characidae (B), Gymnotidae (C), Loricariidae (D), Heptapteridae (E), Ariidae (F), Batrachoididae (G), Syngnathidae (H), Eleotridae (I), Gobiidae (J), Synbranchidae (K), Centropomidae (L), Polynemidae (M) and Paralichthyidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).