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The Doradidae are a family of catfishes also known as thorny catfishes, raphael catfishes or talking catfishes. These fish are native to South America, occurring in most river basins, though they are absent from the Pacific Coast drainages and from coastal drainages south of the Río de la Plata.[4] About 70% of the valid species occur in the Amazon basin; the Orinoco basin harbors about 22 species and ranks second in species richness.[4] Conversely, only two species of doradids have been described from Brazilian eastern coastal basins: Wertheimeria maculata from the Jequitinhonha and Pardo rivers and Kalyptodoras bahiensis from the Paraguaçu River.[4]

Doradids are omnivores.[5]

Description

Doradids are easily recognized by a well-developed nuchal shield (on the “nape”) in front of the dorsal fin, as well as well-developed bony lumps along the lateral line that form thorny scutes,[6] though are mainly recognized through specifics of their skeletal and swim bladder anatomy.[2] Doradids typically have three pairs of barbels (no nasal barbels), an adipose fin, and four to six rays on the dorsal fin with a spine on the anterior (first) ray.[7] Additionally, a clade within the family developed fimbriae on their maxillary barbels, which appear as branches along the length of the appendage. In species of Ossancora, the fimbriae occur on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces (top and bottom) of the maxillary barbels.[2]

Thorny catfish typically have prominent serrations on their leading fin-spines of their dorsal and/or pectoral fins. Some species lack such serrations: Anadoras and some Amblydoras lack serrations on the leading (anterior) edge of their dorsal fins, while Leptodoras juruensis, some Platydoras, and all species outside of Doradinae lack serrations on the trailing (posterior) edge. In all thorny catfish, the pectoral fin-spines have serrations on both the anterior and posterior edge.[2] These fish are sometimes called “talking catfish” because of their ability to produce sound: they do so by moving their pectoral spine or vibrating their swim bladder using specialized sonic muscles.[8][7][clarification needed]

Sizes range from 3.5 cm (1.4 in) SL in Physopyxis lyra to 120 cm (47 in) FL and 20 kg (44 lb) in Oxydoras niger.[4]

Taxonomy

As of 2025, 31 genera and 106 species are in this family.[9] Wertheimeria is considered to be the sister taxon to all other doradids.[4] This family is monophyletic and contains the subfamilies Doradinae, Astrodoradinae and Wertheimerinae.[2]

The following cladogram is based on a 2014 study of catfish morphology:[2]

Doradidae

See also

References

  1. ^ Birindelli, J.L.O.; Sabaj Pérez, M. (2011). “Ossancora, new genus of thorny catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Doradidae) with description of one new species” (PDF). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 161 (1): 117–152. Bibcode:2011PANSP.161..117B. doi:10.1635/053.161.0109.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Birindelli, J.L.O. (2014). “Phylogenetic relationships of the South American Doradoidea (Ostariophysi: Siluriformes)”. Neotropical Ichthyology. 12 (3). doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20120027.
  3. ^ Ferraris, Carl J. Jr. (2007). “Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types” (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  4. ^ a b c d e Eler, Eduardo S.; Dergam, Jorge A.; Vênere, Paulo C.; Paiva, Lílian C.; Miranda, Gabriela A.; Oliveira, Alessandro A. (2007). “The karyotypes of the thorny catfishes Wertheimeria maculata Steindachner, 1877 and Hassar wilderi Kindle, 1895 (Siluriformes: Doradidae) and their relevance in doradids chromosomal evolution”. Genetica. 130 (1): 99–103. doi:10.1007/s10709-006-0023-4. PMID 16897457. S2CID 9573024.
  5. ^ Milhomem, Susana Suely Rodrigues; de Souza, Augusto Cesar Paes; Nascimento, Aline Lira do; Carvalho, Jaime Ribeiro Jr.; Feldberg, Eliana; Pieczarka, Julio Cesar; Nagamachi, Cleusa Yoshiko (2008). “Cytogenetic studies in fishes of the genera Hassar, Platydoras and Opsodoras (Doradidae, Siluriformes) from Jarí and Xingu Rivers, Brazil”. Genetics and Molecular Biology. 31: 256–260. doi:10.1590/S1415-47572008000200017.
  6. ^ Higuchi, Horácio; Birindelli, José L. O.; Sousa, Leandro M.; Britski, Heraldo A. (2007). “Merodoras nheco, new genus and species from Rio Paraguay basin, Brazil (Siluriformes, Doradidae), and nomination of the new subfamily Astrodoradinae” (PDF). Zootaxa. 1446: 31–42. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1446.1.3. S2CID 86157696. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  7. ^ a b Nelson, Joseph S.; Grande, Terry C.; Wilson, Mark V. H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  8. ^ Ladich, Friedrich (July 2001). “Sound-generating and -detecting motor system in catfish: Design of swimbladder muscles in doradids and pimelodids”. The Anatomical Record. 263 (3): 297–306. doi:10.1002/ar.1105. PMID 11455539.
  9. ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). “Genera in the family Doradidae”. Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 31 October 2025.