Blue Catfish, Neoarius graeffei (Kner & Steindachner 1867)

Other Names: Blue Salmon Catfish, Forktail Catfish, Fork-tail Catfish, Lesser Salmon Catfish, Salmon Catfish, Smaller Salmon Catfish

Summary:

A stout dusky grey catfish often with a bluish tinge and occasionally irregular blotches, a rounded to slightly truncate snout, and a relatively small eye.

Blue Catfish have venomous serrated fin spines that may inflict a very painful wound.

Cite this page as:

Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2023, Neoarius graeffei in Fishes of Australia, accessed 18 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2141

Blue Catfish, Neoarius graeffei (Kner & Steindachner 1867)

More Info

Distribution	Northern half of Australia, from the Houtman Abrolhos islands and the Ashburton River in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, north and east around to the Hunter River in New South Wales. (A specimen at Museums Victoria was collected from the mouth of the Betka River mouth, Victoria). The species also occurs along the southern coast of New Guinea. The species has not been recorded from Victoria, or the Hunter River region of New South Wales for many years). Occurs in freshwater and estuarine habitats, including swiftly to slow-flowing clear or turbid freshwaters, estuaries and inshore coastal marine environments.
Features	Dorsal fin I, 7; Anal fin 15-19; Pectoral fin I, 10-11; Caudal fin 15; Gill rakers 17-22. Body robust, elongate; anterior profile straight, moderately steep, elevated slightly before dorsal fin; head ovate; head shield finely and sharply granulated; snout rounded; upper lip moderately fleshy, extending beyond mouth gape; a shallow groove may be present on snout between posterior nostrils; head 3.2-3.8 in SL; eye oval, dorsolateral; 3 pairs of barbels around the mouth; maxillary barbels moderately long, extending past head to base of pectoral fin or just beyond (2.5-5.8 in SL); free vertebrae 45-48. Jaw teeth fine, sharp and depressible, arranged in a curved band of 6-9 irregular series; palatine teeth villiform, in transverse series of 4 oval patches, smaller inner patches may be fused in larger fish. Scales absent, covered in smooth skin. Dorsal and pectoral fin spines thick; pelvic fin spines stoutly serrate on back margin; pelvic fin shape variable, in males base narrow, fin rays rarely reaching anal fin origin; in females base broad, inner elements become thickened and develop a pad or hook with sexual maturity.
Size	To 60 cm, commonly to 35 cm SL
Colour	Dusky grey above, often with a bluish tinge, pale creamy to pinkish below. A small number of albino and irregularly pigmented specimens have been recorded.
Feeding	Feeds opportunistically on small fishes, prawns, insects, worms, plant material, detritus and small mammals. Almost half the Lesser Salmon Catfishes sampled from the Ashburton River, Western Australia, contained Spinifex Hopping Mice, Notomys alexis, presumably following collapse or flooding of one or multiple burrow systems along the river (Kelly et al. 2016).
Biology	Spawns occurs from the late dry to the end of the wet season. Females lay large eggs (to 14 mm in diameter). Male parents brood the developing eggs and young fry in their mouths for 4-6 weeks until the young are able to fend for themselves. The Blue Catfish can tolerate temperatures ranging up to 38 degrees C, and is an anadromous species, undertaking extensive breeding migrations. The species breeds annually during later Spring and early summer when water temperatures reach 26 degrees Celsius. The male parent incubates the developing eggs in its mouth.
Remarks	First Peoples names for this species: Mulurra (Bunuba language group in the Kimberley); Gooloomangarri (Gooniyandi language group in the Kimberley; Moolirr (Ngarinyin language group in the Kimberley); Barooloo (Nyikina language group in the Kimberley).
Similar Species	The Blue Catfish differs from the similar Highfin Catfish, Neoarius berneyi, in having a shorter dorsal fin, a slightly smaller eye and in the shape of the tooth patches on the roof of the mouth. The outer tooth patches are larger than the inner in N. graeffei, but are about the same size in N. berneyi.
Etymology	The species is named in honour of Swiss entomologist Eduard Gräffe, who was employed by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, the founder of the Museum Godeffroy. Gräffe curated a natural history collection containing several new species from the South Pacific (including this catfish).
Species Citation	Arius graeffei Kner & Steindachner, 1867, Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien 54(1)(1): 383 [28], Pl. 4 (fig. 12). Type locality: Samoa (doubtful).
Author	Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2023
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Blue Catfish, Neoarius graeffei (Kner & Steindachner 1867)

References

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