Back Siluriformes Afrikaans سلوريات الشكل Arabic سلوريات الشكل ARZ Siluriformes AST Naxakimilər Azerbaijani Hito (catfish) BCL Сомападобныя Byelorussian মাগুর মাছ Bengali/Bangla Siluriformes Catalan Tàng-táik CDO
| Catfish Temporal range:
Upper Cretaceous – Recent | |
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| Eel-tail catfish | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Order: | Siluriformes
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| Type species | |
| Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758
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Catfish are an order of teleost fish, the Siluriformes. There are about 40 families in the order.
They are called catfish because their barbels look like the whiskers of a cat. They are very diverse. The heaviest is the Mekong giant catfish, up to 350 kg (770 lb). The longest is the wels catfish, up to 4 m (13 ft). There are also detrivores in the group. There are some tiny parasitic catfish called candiru. Some catfish are grown for food, in fish farms. Some catfish can be kept in aquaria.