Tete Sea Catfish, Ariopsis seemanni
Tete Sea Catfish, Ariopsis seemanni. Fish caught in coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, November 2017. Length 31 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Tete Sea Catfish, Ariopsis seemanni. Fish caught in coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, November 2017. Length 31 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Tete Sea Catfish, Ariopsis seemanni. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2021. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Bart, The Netherlands (worldangler.eu).
The Tete Sea Catfish, Ariopsis seemanni, is a member of the Sea Catfish or Ariidae Family, and is known in Mexico as bagre tete. Globally, there are twenty-two species in the genus Ariopsis, of which three are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.
The Tete Sea Catfish has an elongated and easily recognizable “catfish” body. They are iridescent silver dorsally and transition to white ventrally. Their fins are dusky with the exception of the pelvic fins, which are black with a white border. Their head is dominated by large protruding eyes. They have 3 sets of barbels that are used to probe the bottom for food. Their adipose fin is two-third the length of the dorsal base; their anal fin has 17 to 20 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their dorsal fin has 1 spine and 7 rays and contains a toxic venom; and, their pectoral fins have 1 strongly serrated spine and 10 or 11 rays. They have wide gill openings with 5 to 8 gill rakers on the first arch and 9 to 15 gill rakers on the second arch. They do not have scales and their skin is smooth to the touch. Their lateral line is complete.
The Tete Sea Catfish is a demersal species found in a variety of habitats. They are common in small schools in coastal marine and brackish waters at depths up to 23 m (75 feet) and are found in and around river mouths at elevations up to 31 m (100 feet). They are dimorphic with females being larger than males that reach a maximum of 35 cm (14 inches) in length. They have an acute sense of smell and are opportunistic feeders being active carnivorous scavengers and consuming benthic crustaceans and insect larvae. In turn they are preyed upon by a variety of sharks and Bottlenose Dolphins. In brackish environments they are also preyed upon by water snakes. Reproduction is oviparous with annual cycles. Following spawning and fertilization in the ocean, eggs are mouthbrooded by males and transported to freshwater environments where the fry are released. At maturity the small fish return to oceanic environments. They have the ability to produce sound, which is used as a defense mechanism, in courtship, and for spawning. They have lifespans of up to fifteen years. The Tete Sea Catfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Tete Sea Catfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific but has a limited distribution being found within La Paz Bay, Baja California Sur, and along the west coast of the mainland from Guaymas, Sonora, south to Guatemala.
The Tete Sea Catfish is most likely confused with the Cominate Sea Catfish, Occidentarius platypogon (long and thin dorsal fin; uniformly colored pelvic fins) and the Widehead Sea Catfish, Ariopsis guatemalensis (small eyes; strong and serrated pectoral spine).
From a conservation perspective the Tete Sea Catfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. They are sold commercially as a food fish and marketed fresh or salted and have been retained by subsistence fishermen for centuries. They are used by the aquarium trade at a modest level and have been given such attractive names as the Colombian Shark Catfish and the White Tip Shark Catfish. Juveniles are very attractive but will expire fairly quickly without high maintenance. They are not suitable for home aquariums as they are difficult to maintain, requiring large water volumes, brackish waters for juveniles, higher saline content as they mature, and strongly oxygenated water with good flow. They also prey on smaller tank mates. They are prone to mass mortality during cold water episodes. They are believed to play an important role in coastal ecosystems. They are unregulated throughout their range.