Chili Sea Catfish, Notarius troschelii

Chili Sea Catfish, Notarius troschelii. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, April 2015. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

Chili Sea Catfish,  Notarius troschelii. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, April 2015. Length: 51 cm (20 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Canada.

The Chili Sea Catfish, Notarius troschelli, is a member of the Sea Catfish or Ariidae Family, that are also known as the Chilisea Catfish, and in Mexico as bagre chili. Globally, there are fourteen species in the genus Notarius, of which three are found in Mexican waters, all three in the Pacific Ocean.

Chili Sea Catfish have the standard “catfish” appearance with a robust body that is rounded anteriorly and compressed posteriorly. They are dark brown or blue dorsally with a silvery sheen, have silvery-white sides, and transition to white ventrally. Their fins are dusky. Their head is wide with a prominent snout, medium-sized eyes and a large mouth equipped with small teeth set in broad bands and 2 pairs of barbels with the outer pair longer than the inside pair. Their anal fin has 18 to 20 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their dorsal fin is serrated and has 1 venomous spine and 7 rays and is followed by an adipose fin set far back on the body; their pectoral fins are finely serrated and have 1 venomous spine and 10 or 11 rays. They have 7 to 10 gill rakers on the first arch and 10 to 13 on the second arch. They do not have scales and their skin is smooth to the touch. Their lateral line is complete.

The Chili Sea Catfish is a demersal species that is found in shallow turbid coastal waters and estuaries over sandy and muddy bottoms at depths between 10 m (33 feet) and 30 m (100 feet). They reach a maximum of 71 cm (28 inches) in length. They feed on small fish and a wide variety of benthic invertebrates including crabs, mollusks, and shrimp. The Chili 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 Chili Sea Catfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but is found only along the west coast of the mainland from the northern Sea of Cortez southward to Guatemala.

The Chili Sea Catfish is most likely confused with the Sculptured Sea Catfish, Notarius kessleri (thick lips; 11-13 gill rakes on the first arch; 13-15 gill rakers on the second arch).

From a conservation perspective the Chili Sea Catfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. They are an important commercial fish and are marketed fresh, frozen, dried or smoked. They can also be caught off the beach by recreational anglers. They are viewed as good table fare and have been a mainstay of subsistence fishermen for centuries. Caution: Care must be taken during handling to avoid being gaffed by the venomous spines found at the front of their first dorsal and pectoral fins which are often removed at the time of the catch.