Cat-eLog Right All 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. 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 too 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.

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1.AILIIDAE

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Common member of the family Ailiidae
2.AKYSIDAE
Asian Stream Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Akysidae
3.AMBLYCIPITIDAE
Loach Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Amblycipitidae
4.AMPHILIIDAE
African Hillstream Catfishes
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Common member of the family Amphiliidae
5.ANCHARIIDAE
Madagascan Catfishes
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Common member of the family Anchariidae
6.ANDINICHTHYIDAE

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No picture representing the Andinichthyidae family available
7.ARIIDAE
Sea Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Ariidae
8.ASPREDINIDAE
Banjo Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Aspredinidae
9.ASTEPHIDAE

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Common member of the family Astephidae
10.ASTROBLEPIDAE
South American Hillstream Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Astroblepidae
11.AUCHENIPTERIDAE
Driftwood Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Auchenipteridae
12.AUCHENOGLANIDIDAE

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Artistic impression of typical member of the Auchenoglanididae
13.AUSTROGLANIDIDAE
Southern Rock Catfish
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Common member of the family Austroglanididae
14.BAGRIDAE
Asian Antennae Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Bagridae
15.CALLICHTHYIDAE
Armoured Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Callichthyidae
16.CETOPSIDAE
Whale Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Cetopsidae
17.CHACIDAE
Frogmouth Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Chacidae
18.CLARIIDAE
Walking Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Clariidae
19.CLAROTEIDAE
Claroteid Catfishes
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Common member of the family Claroteidae
20.CRANOGLANIDIDAE
Armour head Catfish, Chinese Catfish
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Common member of the family Cranoglanididae
21.DIPLOMYSTIDAE
Patagonian Catfishes
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Common member of the family Diplomystidae
22.DORADIDAE
Talking Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Doradidae
23.HEPTAPTERIDAE
Three-barbeled catfish
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Common member of the family Heptapteridae
24.HETEROPNEUSTIDAE

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Artistic impression of typical member of the Heteropneustidae
25.HORABAGRIDAE

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Common member of the family Horabagridae
26.HYPSIDORIDAE

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Common member of the family Hypsidoridae
27.ICTALURIDAE
North American Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Ictaluridae
28.KRYPTOGLANIDAE

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Common member of the family Kryptoglanidae
29.LACANTUNIIDAE
Lacantún catfishes
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Common member of the family Lacantuniidae
30.LORICARIIDAE
Suckermouth Armoured Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Loricariidae
31.MALAPTERURIDAE
Electric Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Malapteruridae
32.MOCHOKIDAE
Upside Down Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Mochokidae
33.NEMATOGENYIDAE
Worm Catfishes
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Common member of the family Nematogenyidae
34.PANGASIIDAE
Shark Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Pangasiidae
35.PHREATOBIIDAE

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Common member of the family Phreatobiidae
36.PIMELODIDAE
Long-Whiskered or Antennae Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Pimelodidae
37.PLOTOSIDAE
Eel Tailed Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Plotosidae
38.PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE
Bumblebee Catfish
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Common member of the family Pseudopimelodidae
39.RITIDAE

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Common member of the family Ritidae
40.SCHILBEIDAE
Schilbe Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Schilbeidae
41.SCOLOPLACIDAE
Spiny Dwarf Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Scoloplacidae
42.SILURIDAE
Sheath Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Siluridae
43.SISORIDAE
Sisorid Catfishes
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Sisoridae
44.TRICHOMYCTERIDAE
Parasitic Catfish
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Artistic impression of typical member of the Trichomycteridae
Down Total of 44 families