The Bagridae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

that are native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

('' Bagrus'') and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

(all other genera) from Japan to

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. It includes about 245 species. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes. Many large bagrids are important as a source of food. Some species are also kept as aquarium fishes.

Physical characteristics

The dorsal fin is preceded by a spine. The adipose fin is present and can have a relatively long base in some species. The pectoral fin spine can be serrated. The body is completely naked (they have no scales). The maximum length is about . Fishes of the family Bagridae have four pairs of well-developed

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whiskerlike sensory organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some s ...

covered by a layer of

taste bud Taste buds contain the taste receptor cells, which are also known as gustatory cells. The taste receptors are located around the small structures known as papillae found on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate, upper esophagus, the c ...

-enriched epithelium.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of this family has changed rapidly. Nelson (2006) comments how "the family is very different from that recognized in Nelson (1994)". Claroteidae and

Austroglanididae ''Austroglanis'' is the only genus in the catfish family Austroglanididae. This family was split off from the Bagridae catfish family. All three species of catfishes in the family Austroglanididae are endemic to southern Africa (South Africa and ...

contain species that were previously bagrids. Auchenoglanididae is considered by some sources to be a subfamily of Claroteidae and by others to be its own family, sister to

Heptapteridae The Heptapteridae, or three-barbeled catfishes, are a family of catfish that originate from the Americas. Most species are restricted to South America, but ''Imparfinis lineatus'', '' Nemuroglanis panamensis'' and ''Pimelodella chagresi'' are na ...

. In addition some authorities place the genus '' Horabagrus'' in the family

Horabagridae Horabagridae is a proposed family of catfishes containing three genera, ''Horabagrus'', ''Platytropius'' and ''Pseudeutropius''. ''Horobagrus'' has been more usually assigned to the family Bagridae and sometimes it has been suggested it is close ...

together with two genera which are currently normally regarded as being in the Schilbeidae. It is unclear whether or not the family is monophyletic, and what its relationship to other catfishes might be.

References

Catfish families Catfish of Africa Catfish of Asia category:fish of India Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker {{Bagridae-stub