Description of Arius neogranatensis, a new species of sea catfish from Colombia, with an identification key for Caribbean ariid fishes

A new species of sea catfish (family Ariidae) from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Arius neogranatensis n. sp., is described. It can be easily distinguished from other tropical western Atlantic ariid species by the presence of three pairs of barbels, one maxillary and two mental; supraoccipital process broader at base than distally, its base width slightly shorter than its length, 1.1-1.2 in supraoccipital process length; predorsal plate narrow and crescent-shaped; teeth on palate villiform, forming a U-shaped pattern of four closely adjacent patches, the lateral pair largest and subtriangular; and by the lack of a fleshy furrow between the nostrils, a longitudinal fleshy groove in the median depression of the head, and gill rakers on rear surfaces of first two gill arches. So far the species is known only from brackish waters in a small sector of the central northern coast of Colombia.