Ictaluridae

The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are important food fish and sometimes as a sport fish. It includes about 51 species. They include fish commonly known as bullheads, madtoms, channel catfish, and blue catfish.

Taxonomy

The family Ictaluridae is strongly supported as a monophyletic group. Ite is closely related to the Asian family Cranoglanididae. These two families are sister taxa in the superfamily Ictaluroidea.

Though the family includes three genera of blind, subterranean, and troglobitic catfishes, Trogloglanis, Satan, and Prietella, none of these three genera is closely related. Instead, Satan is closely related to Pylodictis, Prietella to Noturus, and Trogloglanis possibly to Ictalurus, although it may not be closely related to any of the other ictalurids.Ameiurus is sister to a clade formed by Satan, Pylodictis, Noturus, and Prietella.

Distribution and habitat

Ictalurids originate from North America from southern Canada to Guatemala. Both bullheads and madtoms tend to be found in small streams and ponds, but are also known in larger bodies of water. Channel catfish, bullheads, and madtoms are "bottom feeders" with widely varied diets that include scavenging.