Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 25, 2026

Bronze catfish

The bronze catfish, also known as the giant catfish, the roundsnout sea catfish, or the two-line sea catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus Bagrus. It inhabits marine, brackish and freshwaters throughout the Indo-western Pacific. It reaches a maximum standard length of 62 cm (24 in).

Last revised
Jul 25, 2026
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Bronze catfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Ariidae
Genus: Netuma
Species:
N. bilineata
Binomial name
Netuma bilineata
(Valenciennes, 1840)
Synonyms2
  • Arius bilineatus (Valenciennes, 1840)
  • Arius andamanensis Day, 1871
  • Arius serratus Day, 1877
  • Arius dayi Dmitrenko, 1974
  • Bagrus bilineatus Valenciennes, 1840
  • Bagrus rhodonotus Bleeker, 1846
  • Netuma bilineatus (Valenciennes, 1840)
  • Netuna bilineata (Valenciennes, 1840)
  • Netuma osakae Jordan & Kasawa, 1925

The bronze catfish (Netuma bilineata), also known as the giant catfish, the roundsnout sea catfish, or the two-line sea catfish,3 is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae.4 It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus Bagrus.2 It inhabits marine, brackish and freshwaters throughout the Indo-western Pacific. It reaches a maximum standard length of 62 cm (24 in).4

The diet of the bronze catfish includes detritus such as loose scales and carcasses, as well as prawns and other crustaceans, and sea urchins.5

The bronze catfish is of minor interest to commercial fisheries.4

References

References

  1. Kaymaram, F.; Bishop, J.; Al-Husaini, M.; Almukhtar, M.; Alam, S. (2015). "Netuma bilineata (Persian Gulf assessment)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015 e.T197016A56996135. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  2. Synonyms of Netuma bilineata at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Common names of Netuma bilineata at www.fishbase.org.
  4. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Netuma bilineata". FishBase. May 2019 version.
  5. Food items reported for Netuma bilineata at www.fishbase.org.