[3] It was described by Theodore Gill in 1863, originally under the genus Sciades.

[1] It inhabits marine and brackish waters in Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Panama.

It dwells at a depth range of 10 to 30 m (33 to 98 ft).

[3] The chili sea catfish feeds on fish scales.

[5] It is currently ranked as Least Concern by the IUCN redlist, although its importance to commercial fisheries is cited as a possible threat to its population.