Genus · Catfish

Anadoras

Anadoras is a genus with 4 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Catfish section, recorded from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and 4 more countries. Adult sizes run from 4.5 in to 6 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
4
Adult sizes
4.5–6 in
IUCN assessed
4 of 4
Recorded from
7 countries

About the genus

Anadoras is a genus of thorny catfishes in family Doradidae, the group popularly called talking catfishes for the audible sounds many species produce by rubbing their pectoral spines against the shoulder girdle. The atlas covers 4 species distributed across a wide swath of South America - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru - in the lowland rivers and floodplain channels of the Amazon, Orinoco, and Parana-Paraguay systems. Like other doradids they carry rows of bony lateral scutes down the flanks and stiff, lockable spines in the dorsal and pectoral fins, an armor-and-anchor defense against predators.

Two species in the atlas - A. insculptus and A. weddellii - carry the common name talking catfish directly, a nod to the stridulating sound they make when handled or disturbed, audible even outside the water. Anadoras is more a subject for catfish specialists than the general trade, kept for its nocturnal habits, armored look, and undemanding omnivorous diet rather than color. Conservation status stays mostly reassuring at this scale - three species assessed Least Concern and one Not Evaluated - though doradids as a family face pressure from Amazon basin habitat change and the fisheries that target larger relatives.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern · 3 Not Evaluated · 1

The 4 species

Every Anadoras recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

(Cope, 1872)

6 in SL · LC

(Miranda Ribeiro, 1912)

Talking catfish

LC

(Steindachner, 1908)

4.5 in SL · NE

(Castelnau, 1855)

Talking catfish, Weddell's thorny catfish

6 in SL · LC

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Anadoras. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/anadoras/

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