An ariid catfish (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes) from marine Middle Miocene beds of Patagonia. Recent ariid biogeography in southern South America.

Abstract

The first record is given of a marine catfish from the Cenozoic of southern South America. The material comes from the Middle Miocene marine Puerto Madryn Formation at the Valdes Penfnsula, in east-central Patagonia. The southernmost geographic range of the family Ariidae in the West Atlantic coastal area is the San Matfas Gulf (northern Patagonia). Ariids are only occasionally reported from southern Patagonia. The ariids represent the southernmost living record of the order Siluriformes.