Helicophagus is a genus of shark catfish in family Pangasiidae, the same family as the well-known Pangasius catfish, native to major Southeast Asian river systems in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The atlas covers 3 species, ranging from smaller individuals up to roughly 27.5 in, all sharing the pangasiid body plan: a streamlined, laterally compressed, shark-like silhouette, a forked tail, an adipose fin, and long sensory barbels suited to life in big, often turbid rivers such as the Mekong and Chao Phraya systems.
Unlike some of their pangasiid relatives, Helicophagus species have essentially no presence in the aquarium trade — their size alone rules them out of home tanks, and none of the three carries an established common name of the kind that signals hobby interest. They are mainly of interest to ichthyologists and to the region's inland fisheries, which depend on Mekong-basin catfish as a food resource. Conservation data are thin: one species is Data Deficient and the other two are rated Least Concern, reflecting how little targeted survey work has gone into non-commercial pangasiids of this size.