[3] It was described by Franz Steindachner in 1876, originally under the genus Arius.

[1] It inhabits rivers, estuaries, and marine waters on the Pacific coast, from Mexico to Panama, at a maximum depth of 60 m (200 ft).

[4] It reaches a maximum total length of 60 cm (24 in).

[3] It is currently ranked by the IUCN redlist as being of Least Concern, due to a lack of known major threats for the species.

[4] The flathead sea catfish feeds off of benthic invertebrates.