'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 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.

All catfish Families
1.	LORICARIIDAE Suckermouth Armoured Catfishes Show all species of LORICARIIDAE
2.	CALLICHTHYIDAE Armoured Catfishes Show all species of CALLICHTHYIDAE
3.	PIMELODIDAE South American Antennae Catfishes Show all species of PIMELODIDAE
4.	MOCHOKIDAE Upside Down Catfish Show all species of MOCHOKIDAE
5.	DORADIDAE Talking Catfishes Show all species of DORADIDAE
6.	BAGRIDAE Asian Antennae Catfishes Show all species of BAGRIDAE
7.	AUCHENIPTERIDAE Driftwood Catfishes Show all species of AUCHENIPTERIDAE
8.	PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE Bumblebee Catfish Show all species of PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE
9.	CLARIIDAE Walking Catfish Show all species of CLARIIDAE
10.	SISORIDAE Sisorid Catfishes Show all species of SISORIDAE
11.	ARIIDAE Sea Catfishes Show all species of ARIIDAE
12.	ASPREDINIDAE Banjo Catfishes Show all species of ASPREDINIDAE
13.	SILURIDAE Sheath Catfishes Show all species of SILURIDAE
14.	ICTALURIDAE North American Catfishes Show all species of ICTALURIDAE
15.	AMBLYCIPITIDAE Loach Catfishes Show all species of AMBLYCIPITIDAE
16.	PANGASIIDAE Shark Catfishes Show all species of PANGASIIDAE
17.	AKYSIDAE Asian Stream Catfishes Show all species of AKYSIDAE
18.	CLAROTEIDAE Claroteid Catfishes Show all species of CLAROTEIDAE
19.	AMPHILIIDAE African Hillstream Catfishes Show all species of AMPHILIIDAE
20.	SCHILBEIDAE Schilbe Catfishes Show all species of SCHILBEIDAE
21.	HEPTAPTERIDAE Three-barbeled catfish Show all species of HEPTAPTERIDAE
22.	CETOPSIDAE Whale Catfishes Show all species of CETOPSIDAE
23.	PLOTOSIDAE Eel Tailed Catfish Show all species of PLOTOSIDAE
24.	ANCHARIIDAE Madagascan Catfishes Show all species of ANCHARIIDAE
25.	MALAPTERURIDAE Electric Catfishes Show all species of MALAPTERURIDAE
26.	CHACIDAE Frogmouth Catfishes Show all species of CHACIDAE
27.	TRICHOMYCTERIDAE Parasitic Catfish Show all species of TRICHOMYCTERIDAE
28.	ASTROBLEPIDAE South American Hillstream Catfish Show all species of ASTROBLEPIDAE
29.	LACANTUNIIDAE Lacantún catfishes Show all species of LACANTUNIIDAE
30.	SCOLOPLACIDAE Spiny Dwarf Catfishes Show all species of SCOLOPLACIDAE
31.	HYPSIDORIDAE Show all species of HYPSIDORIDAE
32.	DIPLOMYSTIDAE Patagonian Catfishes Show all species of DIPLOMYSTIDAE
33.	CRANOGLANIDIDAE Armour head Catfish, Chinese Catfish Show all species of CRANOGLANIDIDAE
34.	NEMATOGENYIDAE Worm Catfishes Show all species of NEMATOGENYIDAE
35.	HORABAGRIDAE Show all species of HORABAGRIDAE
36.	ANDINICHTHYIDAE Show all species of ANDINICHTHYIDAE
37.	AUSTROGLANIDIDAE Southern Rock Catfish Show all species of AUSTROGLANIDIDAE
38.	KRYPTOGLANIDAE Show all species of KRYPTOGLANIDAE
39.	AILIIDAE Show all species of AILIIDAE
40.	PHREATOBIIDAE Show all species of PHREATOBIIDAE
41.	ASTEPHIDAE Show all species of ASTEPHIDAE
42.	HETEROPNEUSTIDAE Show all species of HETEROPNEUSTIDAE
Total of 42 families