More than half of all catfish species live in the Americas. They are most diverse in tropical South America, Asia, and Africa, with one family native to North America and one family in Europe. Catfish have inhabited all continents at one time or another. Many catfish are nocturnal, but others (many Auchenipteridae) are crepuscular or diurnal (most Loricariidae or Callichthyidae, for example).Įcology Distribution and habitat Įxtant catfish species live inland or in coastal waters of every continent except Antarctica. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels or 'whiskers'. Neither the armour-plated types nor the naked types have scales. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia, and the piraíba of South America, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. Catfish (or catfishes order Siluriformes / s ɪ ˈ lj ʊər ɪ f ɔːr m iː z/ or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish.

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