Editing Catfish (section)

==Classification==
[[Genetic testing|Molecular evidence]] suggests that in spite of the great morphological diversity in the order, all catfish form a [[monophyletic]] group, originating from a [[common ancestor]].<ref name="Sullivan">{{cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=JP |author2=Lundberg JG |author3=Hardman M |year=2006 |title=A phylogenetic analysis of the major groups of catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using rag1 and rag2 nuclear gene sequences |journal=Mol Phylogenet Evol |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=636–62 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.044 |pmid=16876440|bibcode=2006MolPE..41..636S }}</ref> Catfish belong to a superorder called the [[Ostariophysi]], which also includes the [[Cypriniformes]] (carps and minnows), [[Characiformes]] (characins and tetras), [[Gonorynchiformes]] (milkfish and beaked salmons) and [[Gymnotiformes]] (South American knifefish), a superorder characterized by the [[Weberian apparatus]]. Some place Gymnotiformes as a sub-order of Siluriformes; however, this is not as widely accepted. Currently, the Siluriformes are said to be the [[sister group]] to the Gymnotiformes, though this has been debated due to more recent molecular evidence.<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Joseph S. |title=Fishes of the World |title-link=Fishes of the World |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]], Inc |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-471-25031-9}}</ref> {{As of|2007}} there were about thirty-six [[extant taxon|extant]] catfish families, and about 3,093 extant species have been described.<ref name="ferraris">{{cite journal |last1=Ferraris |first1=Carl J. Jr. |last2=Miya |first2=M |last3=Azuma |first3=Y |last4=Nishida |first4=M |year=2007 |title=Checklist of catfish, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types |url=http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01418p300.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[Zootaxa]] |volume=1418 |pages=1–628 |citeseerx=10.1.1.232.798 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414082401/http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01418p300.pdf |archive-date=2008-04-14 |access-date=22 June 2009}}</ref> This makes the catfish order the second or third most diverse [[vertebrate]] order; in fact, one out of every twenty vertebrate species is a catfish.<ref name="tol">{{cite web |last=Lundberg |first=John G. |author2=Friel, John P. |date=20 January 2003 |title=Siluriformes |url=http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Siluriformes&contgroup=Ostariophysi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070128012752/http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Siluriformes&contgroup=Ostariophysi |archive-date=28 January 2007 |access-date=18 April 2007 |publisher=[[Tree of Life Web Project]]}}</ref> 

The taxonomy of catfish is quickly changing. In a 2007 and 2008 paper, ''[[Horabagrus]]'', ''[[Phreatobius]]'', and ''[[Conorhynchos]]'' were not classified under any current catfish families.<ref name="ferraris" /> There is disagreement on the family status of certain groups; for example, Nelson (2006) lists Auchenoglanididae and Heteropneustidae as separate families, while the All Catfish Species Inventory (ACSI) includes them under other families. [[FishBase]] and the [[Integrated Taxonomic Information System]] lists Parakysidae as a separate family, while this group is included under [[Akysidae]] by both Nelson (2006) and ACSI.<ref name="Nelson" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Catfish Families |url=http://silurus.acnatsci.org/ACSI/taxa/Families.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502195241/http://silurus.acnatsci.org/ACSI/taxa/Families.html |archive-date=2 May 2007 |access-date=28 April 2007 |publisher=All Catfish Species Inventory}}</ref><ref>{{FishBase family|family=Parakysidae|year=2007|month=April}}</ref><ref>{{ITIS|id=553185|taxon=Parakysidae|access-date=10 September 2016}}</ref> Many sources do not list the recently revised family [[Anchariidae]].<ref name="Anchariidae">{{cite journal |last=Ng |first=Heok Hee |author2=Sparks, John S. |year=2005 |title=Revision of the endemic Malagasy catfish family Anchariidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes), with descriptions of a new genus and three new species |url=http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/04biol/pdf/ief16_4_02.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=303–323 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215172203/http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/04biol/pdf/ief16_4_02.pdf |archive-date=2007-12-15}}</ref> The family [[Horabagridae]], including ''Horabagrus'', ''[[Pseudeutropius]]'', and ''[[Platytropius]]'', is not shown by some authors but presented by others as a true group.<ref name="Sullivan" /> Thus, the actual number of families differs between authors. The species count is in constant flux due to [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] work as well as description of new species.<ref name="Nelson" /> Between 2003 and 2005, over one hundred species were named, a rate three times faster than that of the past century.<ref name="neotropdiversity">{{cite journal |last=Ferraris |first=Carl J. Jr. |author2=Reis, Roberto E. |author-link2=Roberto Esser dos Reis |year=2005 |title=Neotropical catfish diversity: an historical perspective |journal=Neotropical Ichthyology |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=453–454 |doi=10.1590/S1679-62252005000400001 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In June 2005, researchers named the newest family of catfish, [[Lacantuniidae]], only the third new family of fish distinguished in the last seventy years, the others being the [[coelacanth]] in 1938 and the [[megamouth shark]] in 1983. The new species in [[Lacantuniidae]], ''[[Lacantunia enigmatica]]'', was found in the [[Lacantun river]] in the Mexican state of [[Chiapas]].<ref name="rodiles">{{cite journal |last=Rodiles-Hernández |first=Rocío |author2=Hendrickson, Dean A. |author3=Lundberg, John G. |author4=Humphries, Julian M. |year=2005 |title=''Lacantunia enigmatica'' (Teleostei: Siluriformes) a new and phylogenetically puzzling freshwater fish from Mesoamerica |url=http://biostor.org/reference/15994 |url-status=live |journal=[[Zootaxa]] |volume=1000 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1000.1.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025015806/http://biostor.org/reference/15994 |archive-date=25 October 2012 |access-date=22 June 2009 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The higher-level phylogeny of Siluriformes has gone through several recent changes, mainly due to [[molecular phylogenetic]] studies. While most studies, both morphological and molecular, agree that catfishes are arranged into three main [[Lineage (evolution)|lineages]], the relationship among these lineages has been a contentious point in which these studies, performed for example by [[Rui Diogo]], differ.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Arcila |first1=Dahiana |last2=Ortí |first2=Guillermo |last3=Vari |first3=Richard |last4=Armbruster |first4=Jonathan W. |last5=Stiassny |first5=Melanie L. J. |last6=Ko |first6=Kyung D. |last7=Sabaj |first7=Mark H. |last8=Lundberg |first8=John |last9=Revell |first9=Liam J. |date=2017-01-13 |title=Genome-wide interrogation advances resolution of recalcitrant groups in the tree of life |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=0020 |bibcode=2017NatEE...1...20A |doi=10.1038/s41559-016-0020 |pmid=28812610 |s2cid=16535732}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Wei-Jen |last2=Lavoué |first2=Sébastien |last3=Mayden |first3=Richard L. |date=2013-04-09 |title=Evolutionary Origin and Early Biogeography of Otophysan Fishes (Ostariophysi: Teleostei) |journal=Evolution |volume=67 |issue=8 |pages=2218–2239 |doi=10.1111/evo.12104 |pmid=23888847 |s2cid=40056087 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Rivera-Rivera |first1=Carlos J. |last2=Montoya-Burgos |first2=Juan I. |date=October 2018 |title=Back to the roots: Reducing evolutionary rate heterogeneity among sequences gives support for the early morphological hypothesis of the root of Siluriformes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=127 |pages=272–279 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.004 |pmid=29885935 |s2cid=47014511 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2018MolPE.127..272R }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Diogo |first=Rui |date=2004-11-01 |title=Phylogeny, origin and biogeography of catfishes: support for a Pangean origin of 'modern teleosts' and reexamination of some Mesozoic Pangean connections between the Gondwanan and Laurasian supercontinents |journal=Animal Biologyn |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=331–351 |doi=10.1163/1570756042729546}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Rui. |first=Diogo |title=The origin of higher clades : osteology, myology, phylogeny and evolution of bony fishes and the rise of tetrapods |date=2007 |publisher=Science Publishers |isbn=9781578085590 |location=Enfield, NH |oclc=680560456}}</ref> The three main lineages in Siluriformes are the family [[Diplomystidae]], the denticulate catfish suborder [[Loricarioidea|Loricarioidei]] (containing the Neotropical "suckermouth" catfishes), and the suborder Siluroidei, which contains the remaining families of the order. According to [[morphology (biology)|morphological]] data, [[Diplomystidae]] is usually considered to be the earliest branching catfish lineage and the [[sister group]] to the other two lineages, Loricarioidei and Siluroidei.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Lei |date=April 2011 |title=GONORYNCHIFORMES AND OSTARIOPHYSAN RELATIONSHIPS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW - Edited by T. Grande, F. J. Poyato-Ariza and R. Diogo |journal=Journal of Fish Biology |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=1277–1278 |bibcode=2011JFBio..78.1277Y |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02907.x}}</ref> Molecular evidence usually contrasts with this hypothesis, and shows the suborder Loricarioidei as the earliest branching catfish lineage, and sister to a [[clade]] that includes the Diplomystidae and Siluroidei; this phylogeny has been obtained in numerous studies based on genetic data.<ref name="Sullivan" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nakatani |first1=Masanori |last2=Miya |first2=Masaki |last3=Mabuchi |first3=Kohji |last4=Saitoh |first4=Kenji |last5=Nishida |first5=Mutsumi |date=2011-06-22 |title=Evolutionary history of Otophysi (Teleostei), a major clade of the modern freshwater fishes: Pangaean origin and Mesozoic radiation |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=177 |bibcode=2011BMCEE..11..177N |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-11-177 |pmc=3141434 |pmid=21693066 |doi-access=free}}</ref> However, it has been suggested that these molecular results are errors as a result of [[long branch attraction]], incorrectly placing Loricarioidei as the earliest-branching catfish lineage.<ref name=":2" /> When a data filtering method<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rivera-Rivera |first1=Carlos J. |last2=Montoya-Burgos |first2=Juan I. |date=2019-08-13 |title=LSX: automated reduction of gene-specific lineage evolutionary rate heterogeneity for multi-gene phylogeny inference |journal=BMC Bioinformatics |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=420 |biorxiv=10.1101/220053 |doi=10.1186/s12859-019-3020-1 |pmc=6693147 |pmid=31409290 |doi-access=free}}</ref> was used to reduce lineage rate heterogeneity (the potential source of bias) on their dataset, a final phylogeny was recovered which showed the [[Diplomystidae]] are the earliest-branching catfish, followed by [[Loricarioidei]] and Siluroidei as sister lineages, providing both morphological and molecular support for [[Diplomystidae]] being the earliest branching catfish.<ref name=":2"/>

=== Present classification ===
The following classification is based on ''[[Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes]]'':<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last1=Fricke |first1=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

* Order '''Siluriformes'''
** Suborder [[Diplomystoidei]]
*** Family [[Diplomystidae]] <small>[[Carl H. Eigenmann|Eigenmann]]</small><small>, 1890</small> (diplomystid catfishes)
** Suborder [[Cetopsoidei]]
*** Family [[Cetopsidae]] <small>[[Pieter Bleeker|Bleeker]]</small><small>, 1858</small> (cetopsid catfishes)
** Suborder [[Loricarioidea|Loricarioidei]]
*** Family [[Nematogenyidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1862</small> (mountain catfishes)
*** Family [[Trichomycteridae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (pencil catfishes)
*** Family [[Callichthyidae]] <small>[[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]]</small><small>, 1835</small> (callichthyid armored catfishes)
*** Family [[Loricariidae]] <small>[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]]</small><small>, 1815</small> (suckermouth armored catfishes)
*** Family [[Scoloplacidae]] <small>[[Reeve Maclaren Bailey|Bailey]] & Baskin</small><small>, 1976</small> (spiny dwarf catfishes)
*** Family [[Astroblepidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1862</small> (climbing catfishes)
** Suborder [[Siluroidei]]
*** Genus ''[[Conorhynchos]]'' <small>Bleeker, 1858</small> (''[[incertae sedis]]'')
*** Family [[Chacidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (squarehead or angler catfishes)
*** Family [[Plotosidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (eeltail catfishes)
*** Family [[Ritidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1862</small> (velvet catfishes)
*** Family [[Ailiidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (Asian schilbeids)<ref name="Wang2016">{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Jing |last2=Lu |first2=Bin |last3=Zan |first3=Ruiguang |last4=Chai |first4=Jing |last5=Ma |first5=Wei |last6=Jin |first6=Wei |last7=Duan |first7=Rongyao |last8=Luo |first8=Jing |last9=Murphy |first9=Robert W. |last10=Xiao |first10=Heng |last11=Chen |first11=Ziming |year=2016 |title=Phylogenetic Relationships of Five Asian Schilbid Genera Including ''Clupisoma'' (Siluriformes: Schilbeidae) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=e0145675 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1145675W |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0145675 |pmc=4713424 |pmid=26751688 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
*** Family [[Horabagridae]] <small>Jayaram</small><small>, 2006</small> (imperial catfishes)
*** Family [[Bagridae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (bagrid catfishes)
*** Family [[Akysidae]] <small>[[Theodore Gill|Gill]]</small><small>, 1861</small> (stream catfishes)
*** Family [[Amblycipitidae]] <small>[[Francis Day|Day]]</small><small>, 1873</small> (torrent catfishes)
*** Family [[Sisoridae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (sisorid catfishes)
*** Family [[Pangasiidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (pangasid catfishes)
*** Family [[Siluridae]] <small>Rafinesque</small><small>, 1815</small> (sheatfishes)
*** Family [[Kryptoglanidae]] <small>Britz, Kakkassery & Raghavan</small><small>, 2014</small> (Indian cave catfishes)
*** Family [[Aspredinidae]] <small>[[Arthur Adams (zoologist)|Adams]]</small><small>, 1854</small> (banjo catfishes)
*** Family [[Auchenipteridae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1862</small> (intromittant catfishes)
*** Family [[Doradidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (thorny catfishes)
*** Family [[Heptapteridae]] <small>Gill</small><small>, 1861</small> (seven-finned catfishes)
*** Family [[Phreatobiidae]] <small>Reichel</small><small>, 1927</small> (cistern catfishes)
*** Family [[Pimelodidae]] <small>Bonaparte</small><small>, 1835</small> (long-whiskered catfishes)
*** Family [[Pseudopimelodidae]] <small>Fernández-Yépez & Antón</small><small>, 1966</small> (bumblebee catfishes)
*** Family [[Airbreathing catfish|Clariidae]] <small>Bonaparte</small><small>, 1845</small> (airbreathing or labyrinth catfishes)
*** Family [[Heteropneustidae]] <small>[[Sunder Lal Hora|Hora]]</small><small>, 1936</small> (airsac catfishes)
*** Family [[Ariidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (sea catfishes)
*** Family [[Anchariidae]] <small>[[Frank Glaw|Glaw]] & Vences</small><small>, 1994</small> (Malagasy catfishes)
*** Family [[Austroglanididae]] <small>Mo</small><small>, 1991</small> (rock catlets)
*** Family [[Cranoglanididae]] <small>[[George S. Myers|Myers]]</small><small>, 1931</small> (armorhead catfishes)
*** Family [[Ictaluridae]] <small>Gill</small><small>, 1861</small> (North American freshwater catfishes)
*** Family [[Lacantuniidae]] <small>Rodiles-Hernández, Hendrickson & Lundberg</small><small>, 2005</small> (Chiapas catfishes)
*** Family [[Amphiliidae]] <small>[[Charles Tate Regan|Regan]]</small><small>, 1911</small> (loach catfishes)
*** Family [[Malapteruridae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (electric catfishes)
*** Family [[Mochokidae]] <small>Regan</small><small>, 1912</small> (squeakers and upside-down catfishes)
*** Family [[Auchenoglanididae]] <small>Jayaram</small><small>, 1966</small> (flatnose catfishes)
*** Family [[Claroteidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1862</small> (grunter catfishes)
*** Family [[Schilbeidae]] <small>Bleeker</small><small>, 1858</small> (schilbeid catfishes)

=== Past classifications ===
Below is a list of family relationships by different authors. Lacantuniidae is included in the Sullivan scheme based on recent evidence that places it sister to [[Claroteidae]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lundberg |first=John G. |author2=Sullivan, John P. |author3=Rodiles-Hernández, Rocío |author4=Hendrickson, Dean A. |year=2007 |title=Discovery of African roots for the Mesoamerican Chiapas catfish, ''Lacantunia enigmatica'', requires an ancient intercontinental passage |url=https://webspace.utexas.edu/deanhend/www/pdfs/Lundberg_2007_African_roots_Lacantunia.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=156 |pages=39–53 |doi=10.1635/0097-3157(2007)156[39:DOARFT]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=4171034 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326130159/https://webspace.utexas.edu/deanhend/www/pdfs/Lundberg_2007_African_roots_Lacantunia.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009 |access-date=22 June 2009}}</ref>

{|
|-
|
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! colspan="2" | Nelson, 2006<ref name="Nelson" />
! colspan="2" | Sullivan et al., 2006<ref name="Sullivan" />
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="width:25%;" |
*Unresolved families
**Cetopsidae
**Pseudopimelodidae
**Heptapteridae
**Cranoglanididae
**Ictaluridae
*[[Loricarioidea]]
**Amphiliidae
**Trichomycteridae
**Nematogenyiidae
**Callichthyidae
**Scoloplacidae
**Astroblepidae
**Loricariidae
*[[Sisoroidea]]
**Amblycipitidae
**Akysidae
**Sisoridae
**Erethistidae
**Aspredinidae
*Doradoidea
**Mochokidae
**Doradidae
**Auchenipteridae
| style="width:25%;" |
*Siluroidea
**Siluridae
**Malapteruridae
**Auchenoglanididae
**Chacidae
**Plotosidae
**Clariidae
**Heteropneustidae
*Bagroidea
**Austroglanididae
**Claroteidae
**Ariidae
**Schilbeidae
**Pangasiidae
**Bagridae
**Pimelodidae
| style="width:25%;" |
*Unresolved families
**Cetopsidae
**Plotosidae
**Chacidae
**Siluridae
**Pangasiidae
*Suborder Loricarioidei
**Trichomycteridae
**Nematogenyiidae
**Callichthyidae
**Scoloplacidae
**Astroblepidae
**Loricariidae
*Clarioidea
**Clariidae
**Heteropneustidae
*Arioidea
**Ariidae
**Anchariidae
*Pimelodoidea
**Pimelodidae
**Pseudopimelodidae
**Heptapteridae
**''Conorhynchos''
*Ictaluroidea
**Ictaluridae
**Cranoglanididae
| style="width:25%;" |
*Doradoidea (sister to Aspredinidae)
**Doradidae
**Auchenipteridae
*"Big Asia"
**Sisoroidea
***Amblycipitidae
***Akysidae
***Sisoridae
***Erethistidae
**''[[Ailia]]'' + ''[[Laides]]'' (Asian schilbeids)
**Horabagridae (''[[Horabagrus]]'' + ''[[Pseudeutropius]]'' + ''[[Platytropius]]'')
**Bagridae (without ''[[Rita (fish)|Rita]]'')
*"Africa"
**Mochokidae
**Malapteruridae
**Amphiliidae
**Claroteidae
**Lacantuniidae
**Schilbeidae
|}
|}

=== Phylogeny ===
Phylogeny of living Siluriformes based on 2017<ref>{{cite journal |last=Betancur-Rodriguez |first=Ricardo |author2=Edward O. Wiley |author3=Gloria Arratia |author4=Arturo Acero |author5=Nicolas Bailly |author6=Masaki Miya |author7=Guillaume Lecointre |author8=Guillermo Ortí |year=2017 |title=Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |edition=4 |volume=17 |issue=162 |pages=162 |bibcode=2017BMCEE..17..162B |doi=10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3 |pmc=5501477 |pmid=28683774 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and extinct families based on Nelson, Grande & Wilson 2016.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Joseph S. |title=Fishes of the World |author2=Terry C. Grande |author3=Mark V. H. Wilson |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2016 |isbn=9781118342336 |edition=5}}</ref>
{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%
|label1='''Siluriformes'''
|1={{clade
  |1=†[[Andinichthyidae]]
  |2={{clade
    |label1=Loricaroidei
    |1={{clade
      |1={{clade
        |1=[[Nematogenyidae]] [[File:Contributions to the fauna of Chile (Nematogenys inermis).jpg|70 px]]
        |2=[[Trichomycteridae]] <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Trichomycterus punctatissimus.jpg|70 px]]</span>
         }}
      |2={{clade
        |1=[[Callichthyidae]] [[File:Hoplosternum littorale Orbigny.jpg|70 px]]
        |2={{clade
          |1=[[Astroblepidae]] [[File:Astroblepus sabalo.jpg|70 px]]
          |2=[[Loricariidae]] [[File:Loricariichthys anus Orbigny.jpg|70 px]]
           }}
         }}
       }}
    |2={{clade
      |label1=Diplomystoidei
      |1={{clade
        |1=[[Diplomystidae]]
        |2=†[[Bachmanniidae]]
         }}
      |label2=Siluroidei
      |2={{clade
        |label1=Hypsidoroidea
        |1=†[[Hypsidoridae]]
        |2={{clade
          |label1=Cetopsoidea
          |1=[[Cetopsidae]] [[File:Cetopsis plumbea.jpg|70 px]]
          |2={{clade
            |label1=Siluroidea
            |1=[[Siluridae]] [[File:Silurus glanis1.jpg|70 px]]
            |2={{clade
              |1={{clade
                |1={{clade
                  |label1=Arioidea
                  |1=[[Pangasiidae]]
                  |label2=Big African<br>catfishes
                  |2={{clade
                    |1=[[Mochokidae]] <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Synodontis multipunctatus J. Green.jpg|70 px]]</span>
                    |2=[[Claroteidae]]
                     }}
                   }}
                |2={{clade
                  |label1=Ictaluroidea
                  |1={{clade
                    |1=[[Plotosidae]]
                    |2=[[Ictaluridae]] [[File:Black bullhead fish (white background).jpg|70 px]]                      }}
                  |2={{clade
                    |label1=Clarioidea
                    |1=[[Clariidae]] [[File:Clarias gariepinus.jpg|70 px]]
                    |label2=Sisoroidea
                    |2={{clade
                      |1=[[Ailiidae]]
                      |2={{clade
                        |1=[[Sisoridae]] [[File:Bagrus yarrelli Sykes.jpg|70 px]]
                        |2=[[Bagridae]] <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Rita sacerdotum.jpg|70 px]]</span>
                         }}
                       }}
                     }}
                   }}
                 }}
              |2={{clade
                |label1=Doradoidea
                |1={{clade
                  |1=[[Aspredinidae]]
                  |2={{clade
                    |1=[[Doradidae]] <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Silurus costatus now in Platydoras sketch of Gronow 1754.jpg|70 px]]</span>
                    |2=[[Auchenipteridae]] [[File:Ageneiosus militaris Orbigny.jpg|70 px]]
                     }}
                   }}
                |label2=Pimelodoidea
                |2={{clade
                  |1=[[Heptapteridae]] <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Pimelodella gracilis.jpg|70 px]]</span>
                  |2={{clade
                    |1=[[Pseudopimelodidae]] [[File:Pseudopimelodus mangurus.jpg|70 px]]
                    |2=[[Pimelodidae]] [[File:Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum3.jpg|70 px]]
                     }}
                   }}
                 }}
               }}
             }}
           }}
         }}
       }}
     }}
   }}
 }}

===Evolution===
Catfish are believed to have a [[Gondwana]]n origin primarily centered around South America, as the most [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] living catfish groups are known from there. The earliest known definitive members lived in the [[Americas]] from the [[Campanian]] to [[Maastrichtian]] stages of the [[Late Cretaceous]], including the [[Andinichthyidae]], ''[[Vorhisia vulpes]]'' and possibly ''[[Arius (fish)|Arius]]''.<ref name=NT24/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stringer |first1=Gary |last2=Schwarzhans |first2=Werner |date=2021-09-01 |title=Upper Cretaceous teleostean otoliths from the Severn Formation (Maastrichtian) of Maryland, USA, with an unusual occurrence of Siluriformes and Beryciformes and the oldest Atlantic coast Gadiformes |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=125 |pages=104867 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104867 |issn=0195-6671|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021CrRes.12504867S }}</ref><ref name=Cavin2017/> A potential fossil record is known from the earlier [[Coniacian]]-[[Santonian]] stages in [[Niger]] of [[West Africa]],<ref name=Patterson1993>{{cite book|author=Patterson, C.|year=1993|chapter=Osteichthyes: Teleostei|editor=Benton, M.J.|title=The Fossil Record 2|pages=621–656|publisher=[[Chapman & Hall]]|location=London}}</ref> though this has been considered unreliable,<ref name=Cavin2017>{{Citation |last=Cavin |first=Lionel |title=Evolutionary Histories of Freshwater Fishes |date=2017 |work=Freshwater Fishes: 250 Million Years of Evolutionary History |pages=53–125 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-1-78548-138-3.50004-2 |access-date=2024-05-08 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.1016/b978-1-78548-138-3.50004-2 |isbn=978-1-78548-138-3}}</ref> and the putative earliest [[Loricariidae|armored catfish]] known from the fossil record, ''[[Afrocascudo]]'', lived during the [[Cenomanian]] age of the [[Late Cretaceous]] in [[Morocco]] of [[North Africa]] ([[Kem Kem Group]]).<ref name="Afrocascudo" /> The describers of ''Afrocascudo'' claimed that the presence of a derived loricariid so early on would indicate the extensive diversification of catfish, or at least loricarioids, prior to the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. As extant loricariids are only known from South America, much of this diversification must have occurred on the supercontinent of [[Gondwana|West Gondwana]] prior to its fragmentation into South America and Africa.<ref name="Afrocascudo" /> Britz and colleagues suggested that ''Afrocascudo'' instead represents a juvenile [[Obaichthyidae|obaichthyid]] [[Lepisosteiformes|lepisosteiform]], possibly a junior synonym of ''[[Obaichthys]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Britz, R.|author2=Pinion, Amanda K.|author3=Kubicek, Kole M.|author4=Conway, Kevin W.|year=2024|title=Comment on "A Saharan fossil and the dawn of Neotropical armoured catfishes in Gondwana" by Brito et al|journal=Gondwana Research|volume=133 |pages=267–269 |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2024.06.014|bibcode=2024GondR.133..267B }}</ref> The authors of the original study still stood by their original conclusion based on the absence of important [[Holostei|holostean]] characters, and noted that it could not be a juvenile, since the bones were completely ossified.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brito |first1=Paulo M. |last2=Dutheil |first2=Didier B. |last3=Keith |first3=Philippe |last4=Carnevale |first4=Giorgio |last5=Meunier |first5=François J. |last6=Khalloufi |first6=Bouziane |last7=Gueriau |first7=Pierre |year=2024|title=A reply to a comment on Brito et al., 2024, A Saharan fossil and the dawn of the Neotropical armoured catfishes in Gondwana by Britz, Pinion, Kubicek and Conway|journal=Gondwana Research|doi=10.1016/j.gr.2024.06.013}}</ref>

==== Fossil taxa ====
* Order '''Siluriformes'''
** Family †[[Andinichthyidae]] (Late Cretaceous to Paleogene of South America)<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Sergio Bogan |author2=Federico L. Agnolin |author3=Agustín Scanferla |year=2018 |title=A new Andinichthyidae catfish (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes) from the Paleogene of northwestern Argentina |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=e1449117 |bibcode=2018JVPal..38E9117B |doi=10.1080/02724634.2018.1449117 |s2cid=89841371 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11336/91672}}</ref>
** Suborder [[Diplomystoidei]]
*** Family †[[Bachmanniidae]] (Eocene of Argentina)<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Azpelicueta |first1=María De Las Mercedes |last2=Cione |first2=Alberto Luis |date=2011-03-17 |title=Redescription of the Eocene catfish Bachmannia chubutensis (Teleostei: Bachmanniidae) of southern South America |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2011.550351 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=258–269 |bibcode=2011JVPal..31..258A |doi=10.1080/02724634.2011.550351 |issn=0272-4634}}</ref>
** Suborder [[Siluroidei]]
*** Family †[[Astephidae]] (Paleocene to Oligocene of North America)<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Grande |first1=Lance |last2=and Lundberg |first2=John G. |date=1988-06-22 |title=Revision and redescription of the genus Astephus (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae) with a discussion of its phylogenetic relationships |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1988.10011694 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=139–171 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1988.10011694 |bibcode=1988JVPal...8..139G |issn=0272-4634}}</ref>
*** Family †[[Hypsidoridae]] (Eocene of North America)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lundberg |first1=John G. |last2=Case |first2=Gerard R. |date=1970 |title=A New Catfish from the Eocene Green River Formation, Wyoming |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1302580 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=44 |issue=3 |page=452 |issn=0022-3360 |jstor=1302580}}</ref>