The Bagridae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

that are native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

('' Bagrus'') and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

(all other genera) from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. 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, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the z ...

covered by a layer of

taste bud Taste buds are clusters of 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, ...

-enriched

epithelium Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial ( mesothelial) tissues line the outer surfaces of man ...

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 The Claroteidae are a family of catfish (order Siluriformes) found in Africa. This family was separated from Bagridae. However, the monophyly of the family is sometimes contested. The 9 genera contain 65 known species of claroteids. The family ...

and Austroglanididae 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. In addition some authorities place the genus ''

Horabagrus ''Horabagrus'' is a genus of catfish in the family Horabagridae endemic to rivers in the Western Ghats in Kerala and Karnataka, India. ''H. brachysoma'' is an important food fish and members of this genus can be found in the aquarium trade. T ...

'' in the family

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

together with two genera which are currently normally regarded as being in the

Schilbeidae Schilbeidae is a family of catfishes native to Africa and Asia. These fish tend to swim in open water. Schilbid catfishes usually have dorsal fins with a short base and a spine, but '' Parailia'' lack a dorsal fin altogether. Most species also p ...

. 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 Fish of India Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker {{Bagridae-stub