Sailfin Catfish

About this species

Paraplotosus butleri, commonly known as the sailfin catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Plotosidae. This fish is found in coastal reefs off northern Australia and the Western Pacific. It grows up to about 32.5 centimetres (12.8 in) SL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Paraplotosus butleri”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 6 records
February: 3 records
March: 8 records
April: 20 records
May: 14 records
June: 19 records
July: 15 records
August: 7 records
September: 14 records
October: 22 records
November: 20 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–17 m · Deepest record: 56.5 m

0–10 m: 29 records
10–20 m: 2 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–29 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 10 records
26–28 °C: 26 records
28–30 °C: 28 records

Photos

(c) Robert Webster, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Robert Webster, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jesse de Vries, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Sailfin Catfish

Similar species

Whitelip Catfish
Paraplotosus albilabris
Kimberley Catfish
Paraplotosus muelleri
Cobbler
Cnidoglanis macrocephalus
Striped eel catfish
Plotosus lineatus
Nakedhead Catfish
Euristhmus nudiceps
Elongate Catfish
Euristhmus lepturus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
173 open-data records from 1969 to 2021.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.