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Galeichthys ater Castelnau, 1861

Black seacatfish
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Galeichthys ater
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Ariidae (Sea catfishes) > Galeichthyinae
Etymology: Galeichthys: Greek, galeos = a shark + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Castelnau.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated. Subtropical; 34°S - 35°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southeast Atlantic: South Africa and Namibia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 24.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 45.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3976)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

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).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

A paternal mouth brooder.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Ferraris, Jr., Carl J. | Collaborators

Kulongowski, C., 2010. Revision of the ariid catfish genus Galeichthys Valenciennes (subfamily Galeichthyinae), with description of a new species from South Africa and designation of a neotype for G. ater Castelnau. Smithiania Bull. (12):9-23. (Ref. 85159)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 58010)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00427 (0.00167 - 0.01091), b=3.07 (2.85 - 3.29), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.48 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (35 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.