'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. | SCOLOPLACIDAE Spiny Dwarf Catfishes Show all species of SCOLOPLACIDAE |  | ||
| 30. | LACANTUNIIDAE Lacantún catfishes Show all species of LACANTUNIIDAE | | ||
| 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. | PHREATOBIIDAE Show all species of PHREATOBIIDAE | | ||
| 36. | AILIIDAE Show all species of AILIIDAE | | ||
| 37. | KRYPTOGLANIDAE Show all species of KRYPTOGLANIDAE | | ||
| 38. | AUSTROGLANIDIDAE Southern Rock Catfish Show all species of AUSTROGLANIDIDAE | | ||
| 39. | ANDINICHTHYIDAE Show all species of ANDINICHTHYIDAE | | ||
| 40. | HORABAGRIDAE Show all species of HORABAGRIDAE | | ||
| 41. | ASTEPHIDAE Show all species of ASTEPHIDAE | | ||
| Total of 41 families | ||||