Callichthyidae is a family of catfishes, called armored catfishes due to the two rows of bony plates along the lengths of their bodies. It contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish, such as many species in the genus Corydoras.
Gouramis, or gouramies, are a group of freshwater anabantiform fish that comprise the family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeasterly towards Korea. The name "gourami", of Indonesian origin, is also used for fish of the families Helostomatidae and Anabantidae.
Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish, with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are noted for the bony plates covering their bodies and their suckermouths. Several genera are sold as "plecos", notably the suckermouth catfish, Hypostomus plecostomus, and are popular as aquarium fish.
Corydoras is a genus of freshwater catfish in the family Callichthyidae and subfamily Corydoradinae. The species usually have more restricted areas of endemism than other callichthyids, but the area of distribution of the entire genus almost equals the area of distribution of the family, except for Panama where Corydoras is not present. Corydoras species are distributed in South America where they can be found from the east of the Andes to the Atlantic coast, from Trinidad to the Río de la Plata drainage in northern Argentina. Species assigned to Corydoras display a broad diversity of body shapes and coloration. Corydoras are small fish, ranging from 2.5 to 12 cm in SL., and are protected from predators by their body armor and by their sharp, typically venomous spines.
Vandellia is a genus of catfishes native to South America. The species in this genus are the most well-known of the parasitic catfishes also known as candiru, known for their alleged habit of entering the human urethra.
The Aspredinidae are a small South American family of catfishes also known as the banjo catfishes, with about 43 species.
Bubble nests, also called foam nests, are created by some fish and frog species as floating masses of bubbles blown with an oral secretion, saliva bubbles, and occasionally aquatic plants. Fish that build and guard bubble nests are known as aphrophils. Aphrophils include gouramis and the synbranchid eel Monopterus alba in Asia, Microctenopoma (Anabantidae), Polycentropsis (Nandidae), and Hepsetus odoe in Africa, and callichthyines and the electric eel in South America. Most, if not all, fish that construct floating bubble nests live in tropical, oxygen-depleted standing waters. Osphronemidae, containing the Bettas and Gouramies, are the most commonly recognized family of bubble nest makers, though some members of that family mouthbrood instead. The nests are constructed as a place for fertilized eggs to be deposited while incubating and guarded by one or both parents until the fry hatch.
Callichthys is a small genus of freshwater catfish in the Callichthyinae subfamily of the armored catfish family, and consists of 4 species from South America. The genus Callichthys is distributed in most freshwater drainages of South America.
The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or labyrinth fish, or colloquially as gouramies. Some labyrinth fish are important food fish, and many others, such as the Siamese fighting fish and paradise fish, are popular as aquarium fish.
Megalechis is a small genus of freshwater catfish in the Callichthyinae subfamily of the armored catfish family.
Hoplosternum littorale is a species of catfish belonging to the Callichthyinae subfamily of the family Callichthyidae. It is known as tamuatá in Brazil, atipa in French Guiana, hassa in Guyana, kwi kwi in Suriname, cascadu or cascadura in Trinidad and Tobago, and busco or currito in Venezuela.
The gilded catfish or jau is a South American catfish of the family Pimelodidae. It is also known as manguruyu or black manguruyu.
Acanthopoma annectens is a species of catfish of the family Trichomycteridae, and the only species of the genus Acanthopoma. This fish grows to about 12 centimetres (4.7 in) SL and originates from the upper and middle Amazon River. This species is parasitic, attacking like a leech and leaving wounds all over the fish which it attacks; it spreads a bundle of opercular and inter-opercular spines into the wound and remains there and is difficult to remove. It may invade parts of wading or swimming animals but apparently exist in these passages only for a short while, as they quickly die from a lack of oxygen.
Paravandellia is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.
Hemiodontichthys is a monotypic genus in the family Loricariidae, under the order Siluriformes, containing a single species, Hemiodontichthys acipenserinus, also known as the Pinocchio whiptail catfish, Pinocchio catfish, Pinocchio cat or the knob-nosed whiptail. This shy, bottom-dwelling catfish is native to the Guianas, Brazil, Bolivia and Perú in South America.
Trichogenes longipinnis, is a species of catfish of the family Trichomycteridae. T. longipinnis is endemic to coastal streams in the Atlantic forest between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo States in southeastern Brazil.
Bagarius is an Asian genus of catfishes of the family Sisoridae. It includes five to six extant species and potentially one extinct fossil species, B. gigas.
The bayad, is a species of bagrid catfish from Africa.
Batrachocephalus mino, the beardless sea catfish, is the only species of catfish in the genus Batrachocephalus of the family Ariidae. This species occurs in marine and brackish waters of Bay of Bengal, and parts of the western central Pacific, in coastal waters, estuaries, and lower reaches of rivers. It is distributed from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, to Indonesia.
Neoarius graeffei, or blue salmon catfish, is a species of catfish found in freshwater rivers of Australia and Papua New Guinea. This species is most identifiable by its large, shark-like dorsal fin that is led by a poisonous spine. Like other catfish, the blue salmon catfish is known to use electrical pulses to sense prey in the water. This prey sensing mechanism may be the reason that these catfish are known to eat the land dwelling hopping mouse at a high rate.
