Bagre marinus • Ariidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Caught off the coast of Costa Rica
Caught off the coast of Texas
Caught off the coast of Costa Rica
Close-up of head
Dorsal view
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Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Bagre marinus** (Mitchill, 1815)
Common Name(s)	Bagre Cacumo (Spanish, Puerto Rican), Gafftopsail Catfish
Type Locality	New York, U.S.A.
Synonym(s)	Aelurichthys longispinis, Felichthys marinus, Galeichthys bahiensis, Galeichthys blochii, Galeichthys parrae, Silurus marinus
Pronunciation	BAG ray - mar in uss
Etymology	Bagre: From the Mozarabic bagre, taken from Greek, pagros, meaning fish (of the genus Dentex). Now used in Spanish vernacular to mean catfish.
Species Information
Size	600mm (23.6") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Overall gray with a blue sheen. Barbels on upper jaw noticeably flat. Long filaments on pectoral and dorsal fins reaching nearly to or beyond the anal fin. Caudal fin deeply forked with slightly longer upper lobe. Anal fin with concave margin.
General Remarks	Where plentiful, they are caught on longlines, bottom trawls, shore seines, cast nets, and hook and line. Not considered a food fish in North America, but eaten throughout the Caribbean and Northern South America where its flesh is considered tasty.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Occurs in the western Atlantic from Cape Cod to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Atlantic, West Atlantic (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) Atlantic, Caribbean Sea (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
pH	8.0 - 8.4
Temperature	10.0-20.0°C or 50-68°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	This is a true marine fish.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	An opportunistic feeder in the wild that would be expected to consume a wide range of aquarium fare.
Furniture	A marine aquarium containing a sand substrate and live rock to provide hiding places.
Compatibility	Other cold to cool water marine fishes that are too large for this fish to eat.
Breeding	Unreported. It is known that spawning in the wild occurs from May to June and that the male holds the large fertilized eggs in its mouth for up to two months until they hatch. The male does not eat during the incubation period.
Further Information
References	Trans. Lit. Phil. Soc. N. Y.v. 1 - pp433 Burgess W. E. (1989) An Atlas of Freshwater and Marine Catfishes: A Preliminary Survey of the Siluriformes. TFH. Cervigon F. (1991) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Fundacion Cientifica Los Roques. Murdy E. O., R. Birdsong, and J. A. Musick (1997) Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Smithsonian.
Registered Keepers	None. Add this species to your "my cats" page.
Breeding Reports	None.
More Resources	- Search Planet Catfish for more on Bagre marinus - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Bagre marinus on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Bagre marinus on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	7139 hits.
Last Update	2005 Nov 04 00:00 (species record created: 2001 Nov 11 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Bagre marinus (Mitchill, 1815)

Common Name(s)

Bagre Cacumo (Spanish, Puerto Rican), Gafftopsail Catfish

Type Locality

New York, U.S.A.

Synonym(s)

Aelurichthys longispinis, Felichthys marinus, Galeichthys bahiensis, Galeichthys blochii, Galeichthys parrae, Silurus marinus

Pronunciation

BAG ray - mar in uss

Etymology

Bagre: From the Mozarabic bagre, taken from Greek, pagros, meaning fish (of the genus Dentex). Now used in Spanish vernacular to mean catfish.

Species Information

Size

600mm (23.6") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Overall gray with a blue sheen. Barbels on upper jaw noticeably flat. Long filaments on pectoral and dorsal fins reaching nearly to or beyond the anal fin. Caudal fin deeply forked with slightly longer upper lobe. Anal fin with concave margin.

General Remarks

Where plentiful, they are caught on longlines, bottom trawls, shore seines, cast nets, and hook and line. Not considered a food fish in North America, but eaten throughout the Caribbean and Northern South America where its flesh is considered tasty.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Occurs in the western Atlantic from Cape Cod to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
Atlantic, West Atlantic (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico Show it on a map

(hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
Atlantic, Caribbean Sea (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)

8.0 - 8.4

Temperature

10.0-20.0°C or 50-68°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

This is a true marine fish.

Husbandry Information

Feeding

An opportunistic feeder in the wild that would be expected to consume a wide range of aquarium fare.

Furniture

A marine aquarium containing a sand substrate and live rock to provide hiding places.

Compatibility

Other cold to cool water marine fishes that are too large for this fish to eat.

Breeding

Unreported. It is known that spawning in the wild occurs from May to June and that the male holds the large fertilized eggs in its mouth for up to two months until they hatch. The male does not eat during the incubation period.

Further Information

References

Trans. Lit. Phil. Soc. N. Y.v. 1 - pp433
Burgess W. E. (1989) An Atlas of Freshwater and Marine Catfishes: A Preliminary Survey of the Siluriformes. TFH.
Cervigon F. (1991) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Fundacion Cientifica Los Roques.
Murdy E. O., R. Birdsong, and J. A. Musick (1997) Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Smithsonian.

Registered Keepers

None.

Add this species to your "my cats" page.

Breeding Reports

None.

More Resources

- Search Planet Catfish for more on Bagre marinus
Link

- BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts)
Look up AquaticRepublic.com

- Look up Bagre marinus on AquaticRepublic.com
Look up Fishbase

- Look up Bagre marinus on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search.
Link

- URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)

Hits

7139 hits.

Last Update

2005 Nov 04 00:00 (species record created: 2001 Nov 11 00:00)

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