I saw what looked like a catfish on Leadbetter Beach on 6/20/26. Seagulls had eaten most of the flesh, but the head was still intact. I've read that ocean catfish exist, but have not heard that they are in Santa Barbara. Does the fish in the attached photo look like a catfish to you? The seagull's head gives an idea of the scale.

Thanks,
David Bothman

David Bothman, Santa Barbara - July 12, 2026

Curator Response

Hi David,

Thank you for sharing this interesting find! Well spotted. That's a catfish for sure, and a fairly big one. It's tough to identify given the condition, but the only catfish we might see here is the Chihuil Sea Catfish (Bagre panamensis in the family Ariidae, the sea catfishes). They are rare in Southern California and mostly known from Mexico. Given the ocean heat wave and the projected strong El Niño, it is not at all surprising that some warmer water fishes are coming up to our coast. We'll probably see other weird things as well. Sometimes we get butterflyfishes and hammerhead sharks!

Museum staff recommend that you submit this observation to iNaturalist. That would be a great way to contribute to the documentation on the range of this species, and in the process you'd get more eyes evaluating the images and potentially confirming my identification. If you’re not on an iNaturalist user yet, it’s really easy to join, as this video by Museum research and education staff demonstrates. It looks like your observation would be the northernmost record of this species on iNaturalist.

Stay curious,

Research Associate Chris Thacker, Ph.D.