English: Catfish.
Genera: 42 families.
Synonym: Nematognathi.
Region: Southeast Asia, Eurasia, South America.
Use: considerable commercial importance; farmed or fished for food.
ZoologyRay-finned fish; nocturnal; they mostly have prominent barbels, like cat's whiskers; neither the armour-plated types nor the naked types have scales; defined by features of the skull and swimbladder.
Size: size
Food: detritivores, dead material on the bottom.
Families • Ailiidae
• Akysidae
• Amblycipitidae
• Amphiliidae
• Anchariidae
• Ariidae
• Aspredinidae
• Astroblepidae
• Auchenipteridae
• Austroglanididae
• Bagridae
• Callichthyidae
• Cetopsidae
• Chacidae
• Clariidae
• Claroteidae
• Cranoglanididae
• Diplomystidae
•
Doradidae • Erethistidae
• Heptapteridae
• Heteropneustidae
• Horabagridae
• Ictaluridae
• Kryptoglanidae
• Lacantuniidae
• Loricariidae
• Malapteruridae
• Mochokidae
• Nematogenyiidae
• Pangasiidae
•
Pimelodidae • Plotosidae
• Pseudopimelodidae
• Schilbeidae
• Scoloplacidae
• Siluridae
• Sisoridae
• Trichomycteridae