''Amphiarius'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

sea catfish The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a family of catfish that mainly live in marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family includes about 143 species. Fossil ...

es (

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Siluriformes) of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Ariidae The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a family (taxonomy), family of catfish that mainly live in Marine (ocean), marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family i ...

. It includes two

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, the Kukwari sea catfish, ''A. phrygiatus'', and the softhead sea catfish, ''A. rugispinis''.

Taxonomy

''A. phrygiatus'' and ''A. rugispinis'' were both originally described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840 as ''

Arius Arius (; ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaica, Cyrenaic presbyter and asceticism, ascetic. He has been regarded as the founder of Arianism, which holds that Jesus Christ was not Eternity, coeternal with God the Father, but was rather created b ...

'' species, where they have been traditionally placed. They have also been classified in the genus ''

Notarius A notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents (compare English "notary"). In the Roman Catholic Church there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries. Document ...

''. Since then, it has been recognized that these two species form a natural,

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

grouping and were suggested to represent a new, undescribed genus. The genus ''Amphiarius'' was finally erected for these two species in 2007.

Species

* ''

Amphiarius phrygiatus ''Amphiarius phrygiatus'', the Kukwari sea catfish, is a species of sea catfish which occurs in brackish estuaries with very low salinities, nearly entering freshwater, and is found on shallow muddy bottoms, ranging through Venezuela, Guyana, Sur ...

'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, 1840) (Kukwari sea catfish) * ''

Amphiarius rugispinis ''Amphiarius rugispinis'', the softhead sea catfish, is a species of sea catfish which is found along the northern coast of South America. It is found chiefly in turbid waters of estuaries and around river mouths; it originates from brackish and ...

'' (

, 1840) (Softhead sea catfish)

Distribution

''Amphiarius'' species are distributed in marine,

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

and

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

s of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and eastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Description

''Amphiarius'' are distinguished from all other ariids by the presence of accessory tooth plates that are small to moderate, roughly round, and laterally located.

Ecology

Like other ariid catfishes, ''Amphiarius'' species are

mouthbrooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

Relationship to humans

Both species are caught and marketed for human consumption.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2748438 Ariidae Catfish of Brazil Marine fish of Brazil Fish of French Guiana Fish of Guyana Fish of Suriname Fish of Trinidad and Tobago Fish of Venezuela Taxa named by Alexandre Pires Marceniuk Taxa named by Naércio Aquino de Menezes Catfish genera