Bunocephalus is a genus of banjo catfish in the family Aspredinidae, native to lowland rivers and streams across South America, with the atlas's 14 species recorded from Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Venezuela, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Argentina. Most species stay small, from under 1.5 in to about 5 in, and take their common name from a body shape unlike almost any other catfish: a broad, flattened head and forebody tapering sharply into a long, thin tail, giving an outline often compared to the neck and body of a banjo. They are typically found resting on sand, silt, or leaf litter in slow-moving water, where their mottled, sand-toned coloring makes them extremely difficult to spot, and they are largely sedentary, nocturnal fish that rely on camouflage and ambush rather than active pursuit to feed on small invertebrates.
Species covered here include the banjo catfish proper under several binomials (Bunocephalus aleuropsis, B. aloikae, B. chamaizelus, B. coracoideus, B. doriae, B. hartti, B. hertzi, and B. larai all share that common name), along with the camouflaged catfish (B. amaurus), Colombian banjo catfish (B. colombianus), Kneri banjo catfish (B. knerii), and craggy banjo catfish (B. verrucosus). A few turn up occasionally in the oddball catfish trade, valued for their calm temperament and near-invisibility against a sandy substrate rather than for any bright coloring. Most of the genus is assessed as Least Concern, with two species listed as Near Threatened, consistent with a widespread but under-surveyed group of lowland stream fish.