PlanetCatfish • The Catfish Families

The Catfish Families

'Carpe Diem ' does not mean 'fish of the day'!
Often the mere sight of Latin combined into pairs of tongue twisting scientific names laid out before the hobbyist will cause them, if unfamiliar with this form of organization, to recoil in horror or at best throw up their hands in exasperation. That said, this form of classification remains the best we have and is often useful in getting the basics right for the care of a certain fish. In an attempt to help, we present here an introductory guide to catfish families. The descending order of this list loosely corresponds to the availability of the species. Notes are given about some of the features used to tell different families apart, click here if you need some help with these anatomical terms. In addition if you're not to sure about classification (terms like family, species, genus etc) click here. For an excellent introduction / overview, check out this article, failing all that, try the glossary.

1. LORICARIIDAE or Suckermouth Armoured Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

2. CALLICHTHYIDAE or Armoured Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

3. PIMELODIDAE or South American Antennae Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

4. MOCHOKIDAE or Upside Down Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

5. DORADIDAE or Talking Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

6. BAGRIDAE or Asian Antennae Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

7. AUCHENIPTERIDAE or Driftwood Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

8. PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE or (Show the species belonging to this family)

9. CLARIIDAE or Walking Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

10. SISORIDAE or Asian Hill-Stream Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

11. ARIIDAE or Sea Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

12. ASPREDINIDAE or Banjo Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

13. SILURIDAE or Sheath Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

14. ICTALURIDAE or North American Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

15. AMBLYCIPITIDAE or Loach Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

16. PANGASIIDAE or Shark Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

17. AKYSIDAE or Asian Stream Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

18. CLAROTEIDAE or Claroteid Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

19. AMPHILIIDAE or African Hillstream Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

20. SCHILBEIDAE or Schilbe Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

21. HEPTAPTERIDAE or (Show the species belonging to this family)

22. CETOPSIDAE or Whale Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

23. PLOTOSIDAE or Eel Tailed Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

24. ANCHARIIDAE or Madagascan Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

25. MALAPTERURIDAE or Electric Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

26. ERETHISTIDAE or Moth Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

27. CHACIDAE or Frogmouth Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

28. TRICHOMYCTERIDAE or Parasitic Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

29. ASTROBLEPIDAE or South American Hillstream Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

30. SCOLOPLACIDAE or Spiny Dwarf Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

31. LACANTUNIIDAE or Chaipas Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

32. HYPSIDORIDAE or (Show the species belonging to this family)

33. DIPLOMYSTIDAE or Patagonian Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

34. CRANOGLANIDIDAE or Armour head Catfish, Chinese Catfish (Show the species belonging to this family)

35. NEMATOGENYIDAE or Worm Catfishes (Show the species belonging to this family)

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