Berney'S Catfish

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 16 - 19

Occurs in rivers and smaller streams, frequently in slow-flowing, turbid conditions (Ref. 5259), and also in lakes and lagoons (Ref. 2847). Feeds on aquatic plants, benthic crustaceans, insect larvae, bottom detritus (Ref. 5259) and also fishes (Ref. 2847).

Occurs in rivers and smaller streams, frequently in slow-flowing, turbid conditions (Ref. 5259, 44894), and also in lakes and lagoons (Ref. 2847). Sometimes found in brackish estuaries (Ref. 44894). Feeds on aquatic plants, benthic crustaceans, insect larvae, bottom detritus (Ref. 5259) and also fishes (Ref. 2847).

Arius cleptolepis

USNM 217069, Holotype, Fly 75–3, 309 mm.

USNM 217070, Paratype, Fly 75–5, 218 mm.

USNM 217071, Paratypes, Fly 75–6, 6: 141–375 mm.

USNM 217072, Paratype, Fly 75–20, 225 mm.

Arius cleptolepis is common in lakes, lagoons, and large rivers in the Middle Fly, and is also present in lowland habitats in the Upper Fly. It is narrow headed and narrow mouthed, and distinguished from all other ariids in rivers of central-southern New Guinea in having a shallow transverse pit or groove on dorsum of snout between posterior nostrils, and palate with a large, median tooth patch, discernible in all specimens. Head shield strongly granulated, with a moderate dorsomedian groove, narrow posteriorly, broadening anteriorly. Oral tooth bands of distinctive shape, entirely included when mouth is closed. Maxillary barbel black, extending posteriorly to middle of pectoral spine. Gill rakers on first gill arch 18–19; well-developed gill rakers present on posterior faces of first and second gill arches. Roof of pharynx with small folds or valves suggestive of large structures in Nedystoma dayi. Eyes lateral, 15–22 in specimens 141–375 mm (negatively allometric). Pectoral fin with 10–11 segmented rays. Anal fin with 16–17 pterygiophores. Caudal fin deeply forked, upper lobe longer than lower lobe. Free vertebral centra posterior to Weberian apparatus 43–44 (6: 141–375 mm). Color in life: dorsum black or bluish black, ventrum whitish.

Arius cf. stirlingi Ogilby, 1898

Two large Arius gillnetted at Fly 75–21 and –29, 1.1 and 1.2 m (not preserved), differed from all other Ariidae known from the Fly. Tooth band of upper jaw largely exposed when mouth closed. Eyes dorsolateral, small. Color in life: dorsum greenish or bluish gray, ventrum yellow. R. Moore also caught two large catfish of this description in the Fly without seeing smaller individuals of the same species. The stomachs of the two individuals caught by me were empty, and their gonads were inactive. Additional specimens of what may be the same species, including smaller specimens, have been collected recently in the Purari River by Allan Haynes and are at the Fisheries Research Station, Kanudi. This catfish, perhaps the largest Indo-Pacific ariid, is tentatively identified as Arius stirlingi. Weber (1913a:540–541, figs. 16, 17) and Weber and de Beaufort (1913:297–300, figs. 122, 123) provided a detailed description of two small specimens from the Lorentz River; a photograph of one of these specimens is reproduced as Figure 16b. Ogilby's type material, from northern Australia, cannot be located in the fish collections of the Australian Museum or of the Queensland Museum, where it is most likely to have been deposited, and may have been lost (pers. comm., John Paxton and Rolland McKay).

Hemipimelodus crassilabris Ramsay and Ogilby, 1887

USNM 217073, Fly 75–13, 1:457 mm.

USNM 217074, Fly 75–15, 2: 484–500 mm.

Hemipimelodus Bleeker, 1858 (type-species Hemipimelodus borneensis Bleeker, 1858, by original designation), as currently understood, comprises riverine species in India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea that agree with each other mainly in lacking palatal teeth. Most of the species have been revised by Desoutter (1977). Three species referable to Hemipimelodus were obtained during the 1975 Fly survey, one of them undescribed. They do not appear to be very closely related to each other or to the type-species.

Hemipimelodus crassilabris, type-species of the monotypic genus Pachyula Ogilby, 1898, which has not been recognized by subsequent ichthyologists, is endemic to the rivers of central-southern New Guinea. It is immediately distinguished from all other ariids in the Australian Region by its excessively thickened, fleshy lips. It differs from all other Hemipimelodus in New Guinea in having eyes strongly dorsolateral and very small, barbels very short, mouth small, and tooth bands of distinctive shape (Figure 20f). Head evenly rounded from side to side. Eye 27–40 in specimens 156–500 mm (negatively allometric). Maxillary barbel failing to reach base of pectoral spine. Gill rakers of first gill arch 18; gill rakers present on posterior face of first and second gill arches. Pectoral fin with 10 or 11 segmented rays. Anal fin pterygiophores 17–18. Free vertebral centra posterior to Weberian apparatus 45–48 (4: 157–500 mm). Color in life: dorsum dull gray or pale bluish brown, ventrum pale, barbels pale; fins pale or dusky.

I have compared my three large specimens from the Upper Fly with the 156-mm holotype from the Strickland River (Australian Museum B.9961) and find they are similar in all respects.

Neoarius berneyi, the highfin catfish, Berney's catfish, Berney's shark catfish, or the lesser salmon catfish, is a freshwater sea catfish that is commonly kept in aquariums. The origin of the name Neoarius berneyi is Greek, with the genus name Neoarius coming from the words neos meaning new and arios, meaning warlike or hostile, in reference to the well developed fin spines, and the species name, berneyi, comes from the ornithologist F. L. Berney.