Sisoroidea is a superfamily of

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 ...

es ( order Siluriformes). It contains the four

families 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. Ideal ...

Amblycipitidae, Akysidae,

Sisoridae Sisoridae is a family of catfishes. These Asian catfishes live in fast-moving waters and often have adaptations that allow them to adhere to objects in their habitats. The family includes about 235 species. Taxonomy The family Sisoridae is recog ...

, and

Erethistidae Erethistidae are a family of catfishes that originate from southern Asia. It includes about 45 species. Taxonomy This family includes species previously placed in Sisoridae. They were removed because they were thought to be more closely related ...

; many sources also include

Aspredinidae The Aspredinidae are a small South American family of catfishes (order Siluriformes) also known as the banjo catfishes, with about 43 species. Distribution Aspredinids are found throughout the major tropical rivers of South America (e.g., Magda ...

. With Aspredinidae, this superfamily includes about 42 genera and 230

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

Taxonomy

Sisoroidea is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

to the

Loricarioidea Loricarioidea is a superfamily of catfishes ( order Siluriformes). It contains the six families Trichomycteridae, Nematogenyiidae, Callichthyidae, Scoloplacidae, Astroblepidae, and Loricariidae. Some schemes also include Amphiliidae. This s ...

. The

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

of this superfamily is supported by a number of morphological characters. Amblycipitidae is the most basal family and is sister to the remaining families. Based on morphological data, Erethistidae is the sister group to Aspredinidae, with Sisoridae being the sister group of the clade formed by these two families. However, it has been proposed to move the erethistid genera back into Sisoridae. Also, some authors have removed Aspredinidae from Sisoroidea, having found it to be more closely related to Doradoidea (Doradidae, Auchenipteridae, and possibly Mochokidae) with morphological and molecular evidence.

Distribution

Sisoroidea includes almost exclusively

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 ...

tic catfish families with the exception of

, which is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

References

Siluriformes {{catfish-stub