Thorny Catfishes

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. About 70% of the valid species occur in the Amazon basin; the Orinoco basin harbors about 22 species and ranks second in species richness. 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.

Doradids are omnivores.