Siluridae is the nominate family of catfishes in the order Siluriformes.

Silurids are apparently absent from much of central Asia.

[3] The family can be divided into two groups, a temperate North Eurasian clade and a more diverse subtropical/tropical South and Southeast Asian clade.

[3] The family Siluridae is very diverse, with not very many distinctive features among all species, but some major ones include gigantism, and smaller versions of attributes that catfish regularly have, such as smaller fins and whiskers.

[1] The largest species in this family is Silurus glanis, the Wels catfish,[1] which can grow to lengths over 3 m (9.8 ft) and weigh up to 300 lb (140 kg).