Bressou sea catfish

The Bressou sea catfish is a whiskered bottom fish of murky coastal water. It lives along the Atlantic coast of South America, from Guyana to Brazil, in the sea, in brackish estuaries and in coastal rivers. You will find it over soft mud in shallow water, down to about 50 metres, where visibility is usually poor. It feeds on bottom-living invertebrates. Most are about 30 cm long, and the biggest reach 50 cm. Breeding falls between September and November, and the males carry the eggs in their mouths. It is caught in small numbers and sold fresh in local markets.

Also known as: marine catfish

Sea catfish of this coast share the same shape and the same set of feelers, so check the top of the head. Just in front of the dorsal fin this species carries a broad, saddle-shaped bony plate with a rough surface. Its front edge is wavy and has no deep notch cut into the middle, which is what separates it from its close relatives.

A heavy-headed catfish, yellow to grey-yellow on the back and white underneath. It carries several pairs of barbels, the fleshy feelers around the mouth: three pairs on the snout, two pairs on the lower jaw and one pair at the corners of the mouth. The corner barbels are long and reach back as far as the base of the pectoral fin, the fin just behind the gills.