Notarius Gill

Ricardo Betancur-R. & Arturo Acero P., 2006, A new species of Notarius (Siluriformes: Ariidae) from the Colombian Pacific., Zootaxa 1249, pp. 47-59 : 58

[[ Notarius Gill ]]

Updated key to described species of the genus Notarius from the eastern Pacific

[Modified from Betancur-R. and Acero P. (2004)]

The EP species of the genus Notarius are distinguished from other EP ariid taxa by the following combination of features: humeral process pointed, triangular to elongated (vs. fan-shaped in Galeichthys peruvianus Luetken ); three pairs of barbels present (vs. only two pairs in Bagre Cloquet ); fleshy furrow between posterior nostrils absent [vs. present in Sciades dowii (Gill) ]; no narrow groove in median depression of head (vs. present in ‘Arius’ platypogon Guenther , Ariopsis Gill , and Cathorops Jordan & Gilbert ); no granules or spinulations on anterior surface of head shield [vs. present in Cathorops dasycephalus ( Guenther) ]; presence of vomerine tooth patches (vs. absent in Cathorops , ‘Arius’ labiatus Boulenger and ‘Hexanematichthys’ henni Eigenmann ) and no gill rakers on rear surfaces of first two gill arches (vs. present in Cathorops , except for C. dasycephalus ).

1 Predorsal plate large, square or hexagonal and shaped like a forward pointing arrow... ..................................................................................................................... N. troschelii

- Predorsal plate narrow and crescent-shaped ................................................................. 2

2 Gill rakers on second arch 5-6; anal fin rays 23-28 .............................. N. lentiginosus

- Gill rakers on second arch 8 or more; anal fin rays 17-22 ........................................... 3

3 Epioccipital bones invading skull surface, where they cover a broad area; epioccipitals and supraoccipital forming a basally wide complex process that tapers drastically posteriorly(Fig. 1A); maxillary barbels long, their length in adult specimens 26.7-30.3% SL .............................................................................................................. N. insculptus

- Epioccipital bones not invading skull surface, or invading only a small area (Fig. 1B); complex process absent; maxillary barbels short, their length in adult specimens 25.6% SL or less .......................................................................................................... 4

4 Mouth width 8.4-11.8% SL; gill rakers on second arch 8-13; eye diameter 3.5-4.9% SL .................................................................................................................................. 5

- Mouth width 12.6-16.8% SL; gill rakers on second arch 13-16; eye diameter 2.5- 3.7% SL ......................................................................................................................... 7

5 Gill rakers on first arch 8-10 ............................................... N. planiceps /aff. planiceps

- Gill rakers on first arch 11-13 ....................................................................................... 6

6 Mandibulary barbel length 14.1-17.1% SL; anterior internarial distance 6.1-6.9% SL; caudal peduncle depth 7.0-7.4% SL ............................................. N. armbrusteri n. sp.

- Mandibulary barbel length 10.2-13.1% SL; anterior internarial distance 4.8-5.7% SL; caudal peduncle depth 6.1-6.7% SL .................................................................... N. biffi

7 Supraoccipital process elongated, its base width 1.6-1.7 in its length ........... N. cookei

- Supraoccipital process wide and triangular in shape, its base width 1.0-1.3 in its length ............................................................................................................ N. kessleri