Shovelnose Catfish, Sciades paucus (Kailola 2000)

Known only from the Roper River System, Northern Territory, to river systems of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Queensland, including the Flinders and Gilbert River systems.

Dorsal fin I, 7; Anal fin 16-19; Pectoral fin I, 9-11; Caudal fin 7+8.  

Body robust, compressed, tapering posteriorly; head profile rectangular and narrow; jaw symphyses inclined slightly upwards; mouth subterminal, broad; lips rubbery, thin at front of jaws and thick at corners; snout truncate in profile; head oblong; predorsal profile straight; nostrils ovate, placed well forward; eye rounded to almost oblong, 8.9-15.3% HL; dorsolateral; head shield granular, usually concealed by skin and mucus; gill openings broad; gill rakers on first arch 10-11; gill rakers on last arch 11-14; free vertebrae 47-50; palatal teeth villiform, in transverse band of 4 oblong patches (sometimes fused), inner patches slightly smaller than outer; barbels thin and short, rarely reaching beyond pectoral fin base and less than 25% SL. Scales are absent, covered in smooth skin. Fin spines sharp, thick, compressed; dorsal fin high; pectoral fin reaching to below posterior dorsal rays; adipose fin oblong and high, opposite middle of anal fin; anal fin moderately elevated anteriorly, with concave outer margin; caudal fin forked, lobes long, broad basally, slender distally; ventral fin moderately broad in females with thick pads on 5^th and 6^th inner rays; ventral fin in males and juveniles narrow.

Predominantly predatory but becoming a facultative omnivore during the dry season; feed on fish (often bony bream); aquatic and terrestrial insects and their larvae; beetles and crustaceans.

Large eggs are incubated in the mouth of the male for 5-6 weeks.

Arius paucus Kailola 2000, The Beagle. Rec. Mus. Art. Gall. N. Terr. 16: 127-144 Flinders River, near Maxwellton, QLD [20°47’S, 142°43’E]

Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2020