Highfin Catfish, Neoarius berneyi (Whitley 1941)

Other Names: Berney's Catfish, Fork-tail Catfish, High-fin Catfish, Lesser Salmon Catfish

Summary:

A silvery-bronze to dark grey catfish becoming paler below, with a tall dorsal fin, about equal to the head in length.

The robust dorsal and pectoral fin spines are venomous and may inflict a very painful wound.

Cite this page as:

Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2023, Neoarius berneyi in Fishes of Australia, accessed 19 Mar 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2140

Highfin Catfish, Neoarius berneyi (Whitley 1941)

More Info

Distribution	Occurs in the Mary River system in the Northern Territory, through the Gulf of Carpentaria drainage in Queensland. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the Fly River system of New Guinea. Inhabits freshwater rivers and streams, preferring slow-moving, turbid waters, occasionally occurring amongst mangroves in brackish estuarine habitats.
Features	Dorsal fin I,7; Anal fin 16-19; Pectoral fin I,9-11; Gill rakers 15-20. Body stout, head ovate, snout rounded and slightly pointed, especially noticeable in juveniles; a crescent-shaped groove often present on snout between posterior nostrils; head 3.2-3.8 in SL; eye rounded, large (mean 4.3 in HL); 3 pairs of barbels around the mouth; barbels long and slender reaching back past the dorsal fin (2.1-3.1 in SL); gill rakers developed on the back of all gill arches; palatal teeth villiform, in transverse band of 3-4 patches, smaller inner patches at an oblique angle with outer patches, all patches joined on mid-line in larger fish. Scales absent, covered in smooth skin. Dorsal fin tall, fin height equal to head length.
Size	To around 45 cm TL
Colour	Silvery-bronze to dark grey overall and paler below.
Feeding	Omnivorous, feeds on prawns, insects, fish, worms, plant material and detritus.
Biology	Usually spawns in Spring during the late dry season from September to October, sometimes extending into February, during the middle of the wet season. Males incubate the developing eggs in their mouths. Eggs large, 1.1-1.4 cm diameter.
Similar Species	The similar Blue Catfish, *Neoarius graeffei, differs 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 Mr. Frederick L. Berney, the well-known ornithologist, who made a valuable collection of fishes in Central Queensland nearly thirty years ago.”
Species Citation	Tachysurus (Pararius) berneyi Whitley, 1941, Aust. Zool. 10(1): 9, fig. 8(5). type locality: pools of Flinders River, near Hughenden and Richmond, Queensland.
Author	Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2023
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Highfin Catfish, Neoarius berneyi (Whitley 1941)

References

Allen, G.R. 1982. Inland Fishes of Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 86 pp. 6 figs 20 pls. (as Arius berneyi)

Allen, G.R. 1989. Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Neptune, New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications 240 pp., 63 pls. (as Arius berneyi)

Allen, G.R. 1991. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of New Guinea. Madang : Christensen Research Institute 268 pp. (as Arius berneyi)

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp. (as Arius berneyi)

Allen, G.R., Storey, A.W. & Yarrao, M. 2008. Freshwater Fishes of the Fly River Papua New Guinea. Tabubil, Papua New Guinea : Ok Tedi Mining 216 pp.

Burgess, W.E. 1989. An Atlas of Freshwater and Marine Catfishes — a preliminary survey of the Siluriformes. Neptune City, New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications 783 pp. (as Arius berneyi)

Ferraris, C.J. 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418: 1–628.

Hammer, M. & Kennard, M. 2019. Arius berneyi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T169360A2477670. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T169360A2477670.en. Accessed on 12 October 2023.

Kailola, P.J. 2000. Six new species of fork-tailed catfishes (Pisces, Teleostei, Ariidae) from Australia and New Guinea. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 16: 127-144. (as Arius berneyi)

Kailola, P.J. 2004. A phylogenetic exploration of the catfish family Ariidae (Otophysi: Siluriformes). The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 20: 87-166. (as Ariopsis berneyi)

Larson, H.K. & Martin, K.C. 1990. Freshwater Fishes of the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences Handbook Series Number 1. Darwin : Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences 102 pp. 73 figs. (as Arius berneyi)

Leggett, R. & Merrick, J.R. 1987. Australian Native Fishes for Aquariums. Artarmon : J.R. Merrick Publications 241 pp. 142 figs.

Marceniuk, A.P. & Menezes, N.A. 2007. Systematics of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes), with a redefinition of the genera. Zootaxa 1416: 1-126. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1416.1.1

Marceniuk, A.P., Menezes, N.A. & Britto, M.R. 2012. Phylogenetic analysis of the family Ariidae (Ostariophysi: Siluriformes), with a hypothesis on the monophyly and relationships of the genera. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 165: 534–669. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00822.x

Marceniuk, A.P., Oliveira, C. & Ferraris, C.J. Jr. 2023. A new classification of the family Ariidae (Osteichthyes: Ostariophysi: Siluriformes) based on combined analyses of morphological and molecular data. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society zlad078: 1-51. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad078

Merrick, J.R. & Schmida, G.E. 1984. Australian Freshwater Fishes Biology and Management. Sydney : J.R. Merrick 409 pp. figs 280 col. figs.

Pusey, B.J., Burrows, D.W., Kennard, M.J., Perna, C.N., et al. 2017. Freshwater fishes of northern Australia. Zootaxa 4253(1): 1-104 https://doi.org/10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4253.1.1

Pusey, B.J., Kennard, M.J. & Arthington, A.H. 2004. Freshwater Fishes of North-eastern Australia. Collingwood, Victoria : CSIRO Publishing 684 pp. (as Arius berneyi)

Pusey, B.J., Kennard, M.J., Douglas, M. & Allsop, Q. 2016. Fish assemblage dynamics in an intermittent river of the northern Australian wet-dry tropics. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 27: 78-88.

Roberts, T.R. 1978. An ichthyological survey of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea with descriptions of new species. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 281: 1-72 figs 1-39 (described as Arius cleptolepis, type locality - Elevala River, Upper Fly River, Papua New Guinea)

Szelistowski, W.A. 1989. Scale-feeding in juvenile marine catfishes (Pisces: Ariidae). Copeia 1989(2): 517-519.

Whitley, G.P. 1941. Ichthyological notes and illustrations. The Australian Zoologist 10(1): 1-50 figs 1-32 pls 1-2. See ref at BHL