Physical Characteristics
Key variations that differentiate this genus from all other families are the shape of the animal's skull, jaw muscles, gas bladder — which fish use to rise and sink in water. The gas bladder has paired diverticulae, while other catfish families either have no diverticulae or singular diverticulae. Some external characteristics that may help distinguish this fish include nostrils set far apart, the presences of nasal barbels, maxillary barbels placed above the lip distantly from the corner of the mouth, and a rounded caudal fin. This fish has four pairs of barbels. The maximum length of this species reaches 42.7 centimetres (16.8 in) SL. It is depressed (flattened) near the head and compressed (thin) near the tail. The head is blunt and rounded, and the mouth is usually not subterminal (down-turned). The adipose fin is large and thick. This fish has dorsal and pectoral fin spines.
Read more about this topic: Chiapas Catfish
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