Shieldhead Catfish
Plicofollis nella
- Usual depth5–8 m
- Water temperature25–29 °C
- Best monthsMarch, April, and July
- How commonRare
About this species
The smooth-headed catfish, also known as the shieldhead catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus Pimelodus. It inhabits marine and brackish waters in New Guinea, Australia, and southern and southeastern Asia. It reaches a maximum total length of 47 cm (19 in).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Smooth-headed catfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 1 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 5 records
- May: 1 records
- June: 1 records
- July: 3 records
- August: 2 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 0 records
- November: 0 records
- December: 3 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 5–8 m · Deepest record: 8.2 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Shieldhead Catfish, shieldheaded catfish
Names in 3 more languages
- Japanese
- Tokaihamagigi, トウカイハマギギ
- Thai
- ปลากดหัวแข็ง
- Simplified Chinese
- 內爾海鯰, 內爾褶囊海鯰, 成仔丁, 成仔魚, 白肉成, 臭臊成, 銀成
Other scientific names: Arius leiotetocephalus, Arius nella, Bagrus meyenii, Pimelodus nella, Tachysurus leiotetocephalus
Similar species
- Giant Sea Catfish
Netuma thalassina
- Manila sea catfish
Arius manillensis
- squirrelheaded catfish
Arius microcephalus
- Sagor catfish
Hexanematichthys sagor
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).
- 54 open-data records from 1929 to 2019.
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