Callichthyidae: Neotropical catfishes

Callichthyidae are found in most South American river drainages: Paranà-Paraguay, São Francisco, Atlantic Coastal basins in Brazil, the Amazon, Orinoco, Maracaibo, Magdalena, as well as in a few rivers in Panama. They present their highest diversity in the headwaters of the Amazon drainage and in the rivers draining the Guianan shield, an ecological success that even outdoes the dwarf cichlid genus Apistogramma.
 
Callichthyid links. Robert Reis' former pages devoted to the Callichthyidae — their phylogeny and geographical distribution — offering a catalogue of 130 Corydoras species have been pulled, but his abbreviated introduction, cladistics and references are in the Tree of Life Web Project. Callichthyid catfishes are well represented at ScotCat and at Planet Catfish.