Hardhead catfish – (FISH-e_nursery) See facts

Name of animal-plant: Hardhead catfish

Species name: Arius felis

fish-sharks-sealife

The hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis) is a species of sea catfish from the northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and similar to the gafftopsail catfish (Bagre marinus). It is one of four species in the genus Ariopsis. The common name, hardhead catfish, is derived from the presence of a hard, bony plate extending rearward toward the dorsal fin from a line between the catfish’s eyes. It is an elongate marine catfish that reaches up to 28 in (70 cm) in length and 12 lb (5.5 kg) in weigth. The average weight is less than 1 lb (450 g), but they commonly reach up to 3 lb (1.4 kg). They are often a dirty gray color on top, with white undersides.

Animal type: FISH

A fish is any member of a group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a sister group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups. Tetrapods emerged within lobe-finned fishes, so cladistically they are fish as well. However, traditionally fish are rendered paraphyletic by excluding the tetrapods (i.e., the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals which all descended from within the same ancestry). Because in this manner the term “fish” is defined negatively as a paraphyletic group, it is not considered a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology. The traditional term pisces (also ichthyes) is considered a typological, but not a phylogenetic classification.

Subcategory: e_nursery

Hardhead catfish photoHardhead catfish photoHardhead catfish photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fact:

All animals and plants are given a species name based on a technical term in biological taxnomy. The species name consists of two words and is based on Latin.

Latin-species-two-word-chart

The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs and  the second part identifies the species within the genus. In this animals case it is: Arius felis

Photos by FWC Research, OGNelson, starwood0013,