Cat-eLog Right Arrow 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. 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.

Jump to next section All catfish Families
1. LORICARIIDAE
Suckermouth Armoured Catfishes
Show all species of LORICARIIDAE		 loricariidae
2. CALLICHTHYIDAE
Armoured Catfishes
Show all species of CALLICHTHYIDAE		 callichthyidae
3. PIMELODIDAE
South American Antennae Catfishes
Show all species of PIMELODIDAE		 pimelodidae
4. MOCHOKIDAE
Upside Down Catfish
Show all species of MOCHOKIDAE		 mochokidae
5. DORADIDAE
Talking Catfishes
Show all species of DORADIDAE		 doradidae
6. BAGRIDAE
Asian Antennae Catfishes
Show all species of BAGRIDAE		 bagridae
7. AUCHENIPTERIDAE
Driftwood Catfishes
Show all species of AUCHENIPTERIDAE		 auchenipteridae
8. PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE
Bumblebee Catfish
Show all species of PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE		 No picture representing the pseudopimelodidae family available
9. CLARIIDAE
Walking Catfish
Show all species of CLARIIDAE		 clariidae
10. SISORIDAE
Sisorid Catfishes
Show all species of SISORIDAE		 sisoridae
11. ARIIDAE
Sea Catfishes
Show all species of ARIIDAE		 ariidae
12. ASPREDINIDAE
Banjo Catfishes
Show all species of ASPREDINIDAE		 aspredinidae
13. SILURIDAE
Sheath Catfishes
Show all species of SILURIDAE		 siluridae
14. ICTALURIDAE
North American Catfishes
Show all species of ICTALURIDAE		 ictaluridae
15. AMBLYCIPITIDAE
Loach Catfishes
Show all species of AMBLYCIPITIDAE		 amblycipitidae
16. PANGASIIDAE
Shark Catfishes
Show all species of PANGASIIDAE		 pangasiidae
17. AKYSIDAE
Asian Stream Catfishes
Show all species of AKYSIDAE		 akysidae
18. CLAROTEIDAE
Claroteid Catfishes
Show all species of CLAROTEIDAE		 claroteidae
19. AMPHILIIDAE
African Hillstream Catfishes
Show all species of AMPHILIIDAE		 No picture representing the amphiliidae family available
20. SCHILBEIDAE
Schilbe Catfishes
Show all species of SCHILBEIDAE		 schilbeidae
21. HEPTAPTERIDAE
Three-barbeled catfish
Show all species of HEPTAPTERIDAE		 No picture representing the heptapteridae family available
22. CETOPSIDAE
Whale Catfishes
Show all species of CETOPSIDAE		 cetopsidae
23. PLOTOSIDAE
Eel Tailed Catfish
Show all species of PLOTOSIDAE		 plotosidae
24. ANCHARIIDAE
Madagascan Catfishes
Show all species of ANCHARIIDAE		 No picture representing the anchariidae family available
25. MALAPTERURIDAE
Electric Catfishes
Show all species of MALAPTERURIDAE		 malapteruridae
26. CHACIDAE
Frogmouth Catfishes
Show all species of CHACIDAE		 chacidae
27. TRICHOMYCTERIDAE
Parasitic Catfish
Show all species of TRICHOMYCTERIDAE		 trichomycteridae
28. ASTROBLEPIDAE
South American Hillstream Catfish
Show all species of ASTROBLEPIDAE		 astroblepidae
29. LACANTUNIIDAE
Lacantún catfishes
Show all species of LACANTUNIIDAE		 No picture representing the lacantuniidae family available
30. SCOLOPLACIDAE
Spiny Dwarf Catfishes
Show all species of SCOLOPLACIDAE		 scoloplacidae
31. HYPSIDORIDAE

Show all species of HYPSIDORIDAE		 No picture representing the hypsidoridae family available
32. DIPLOMYSTIDAE
Patagonian Catfishes
Show all species of DIPLOMYSTIDAE		 No picture representing the diplomystidae family available
33. CRANOGLANIDIDAE
Armour head Catfish, Chinese Catfish
Show all species of CRANOGLANIDIDAE		 No picture representing the cranoglanididae family available
34. NEMATOGENYIDAE
Worm Catfishes
Show all species of NEMATOGENYIDAE		 No picture representing the nematogenyidae family available
35. HORABAGRIDAE

Show all species of HORABAGRIDAE		 No picture representing the horabagridae family available
36. ANDINICHTHYIDAE

Show all species of ANDINICHTHYIDAE		 No picture representing the andinichthyidae family available
37. AUSTROGLANIDIDAE
Southern Rock Catfish
Show all species of AUSTROGLANIDIDAE		 No picture representing the austroglanididae family available
38. KRYPTOGLANIDAE

Show all species of KRYPTOGLANIDAE		 No picture representing the kryptoglanidae family available
39. AILIIDAE

Show all species of AILIIDAE		 No picture representing the ailiidae family available
40. PHREATOBIIDAE

Show all species of PHREATOBIIDAE		 No picture representing the phreatobiidae family available
41. ASTEPHIDAE

Show all species of ASTEPHIDAE		 No picture representing the astephidae family available
42. HETEROPNEUSTIDAE

Show all species of HETEROPNEUSTIDAE		 heteropneustidae
Jump to next section Total of 42 families