Barbus Arulius: Siluriformes

Siluriformes Biography

Catfishes are a species rich and exceptionally diverse group of fishes ranking second or third among orders of vertebrates. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, 1998 et seq.) database treats 2,855 species of catfishes as valid. About 1 in 4 valid species of freshwater fishes, 1 in 10 fishes, and 1 in 20 vertebrates, is a catfish.Although most catfishes are of small to moderate size (5-20 cm), some aspredinids and trichomycterids are among the smallest vertebrates in the world, reaching sexual maturity at less than 10 mm in total length. Others are among the largest freshwater fishes in the world: Silurus glanis (European wels, to 5 m, 330 kg, the largest of catfishes), Pangasianodon gigas (giant Mekong catfish, to 3 m, 300 kg), and Brachyplatystoma filamentosum (Amazonian goliath catfish, to 3+ m, 200 kg).