The Claroteidae are a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

 (Order Siluriformes) found in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. This family was separated from Bagridae

Bagridae

Bagridae are a family of catfish that originate from Africa and Asia from Japan to Borneo. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes.Large Bagrids are important as food fish. Some species are kept as aquarium fishes....

. However, the monophyly

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 of the family is sometimes contested.

There are 13 genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 and 86 known species of Claroteids in two subfamilies, Claroteinae and Auchenoglanidinae. The subfamily Auchenoglanidinae is sometimes classified as a separate family Auchenoglanididae. This group was also often formerly placed in Bagridae. The monophyly of Auchenoglanidinae is uncontested; it contains the six genera Anaspidoglanis

Anaspidoglanis

Anaspidoglanis is a genus of catfishes of the family Claroteidae. It contains three species, A. akiri, A. boutchangai, and A. macrostomus....

, Auchenoglanis

Auchenoglanis

Auchenoglanis is a genus of catfishes of the family Claroteidae. It is represented by three living species, A. biscutatus, A. occidentalis and A...

, Parauchenoglanis

Parauchenoglanis

Parauchenoglanis is a genus of catfishes of the family Claroteidae.The range of the genus Parauchenoglanis stretches from the coastal lowlands of Benin and Nigeria to the Okavango and upper Zambezi River systems in Botswana and Zambia.-Species:Parauchenoglanis contains the following nine...

, Notoglanidium, Liauchenoglanis, and Platyglanis.

Two commonly known species are the giraffe catfish

Giraffe Catfish

The giraffe catfish, Auchenoglanis occidentalis, is an African catfish. It eats plants off the floor of lakes and streams.-Distribution and habitat:...

, Auchenoglanis occidentalis, and the African big eye catfish, Chrysichthys longipinnis.

Claroteids have a moderately elongate body, usually four pairs of barbels

Barbel (anatomy)

A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...

, an adipose fin, and strong pectoral and dorsal fin spines.