Subfamily Cetopsinae Cetopsidium Cetopsis Denticetopsis Paracetopsis Subfamily Helogeneinae Helogenes The Cetopsidae are a small family of catfishes (order Siluriformes), commonly called the whale catfishes.

[1] Helogeneinae was previously a family-level group, but now it has been reclassified as a subfamily of Cetopsidae.

East of the Andean Cordilleras, the Cetopsinae occur in the Aroa and Yaracuy River basins along the Caribbean versant of northern Venezuela, through the Orinoco River system and the coastal rivers of the Guianas, south through the Amazon basin to the southern portions of the Río de la Plata basin.

[4] The family Cetopsidae includes species of small- to medium-sized catfishes which share an anal fin with a long base, the lack of nasal barbels, and, usually, a lack of dorsal and pectoral fin spines.

In Cetopsinae, the swim bladder is highly reduced and is enclosed in a bony capsule.

[1] Many species are characterized by small eyes obscured by a thick, overlying integument that make them appear blind.