[3] It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1840, originally under the genus Arius.

[1] It inhabits rivers and marine waters ranging between Africa and India in the Indo-western Pacific.

[3] The blacktip sea catfish feeds on finfish and benthic invertebrates.

[5] It is harvested for its meat, which is marketed both fresh and dried-salted.

Due to a lack of known significant threats to the species, it is currently ranked as Least Concern by the IUCN redlist.