Liang  Chen¹ , Lingfei  Jin²

1 Center for Tropical Marine Fisheries Research, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China;
2 Institute of Life Sciences, Jiyang Colloge of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Biological Evidence, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 4   
Received: 05 Jun., 2025    Accepted: 11 Jul., 2025    Published: 29 Jul., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Catfishes (order Siluriformes), arguably the most diverse and widely ranging freshwater fishes with a diversity of ecological niches on all but one continent, Antarctica. Their evolutionary origin and global dispersal are of particular importance for reconstructing freshwater biogeographic history and delineating lineage diversification patterns in aquatic habitats. Here, we build the phylogenetic framework of Siluriformes from mitochondrial and nuclear molecular information, date the divergence, and describe prevailing lineages with distinctive geographical signatures. By integrating fossil records, paleogeographic reconstructions, and modern biogeographic modeling approaches (such as DEC and BioGeoBEARS), this study proposes that South America may have been the evolutionary cradle of catfishes. It suggests that catfishes could have achieved transcontinental dispersal through ancient river connections, continental drift, and climatic fluctuations. In addition, the study explores regional adaptation and niche differentiation across various ecosystems, as well as the close interplay between local evolutionary responses and global expansion. This research provides a comprehensive perspective on the evolutionary history of catfishes and offers practical insights for freshwater biodiversity conservation and future biogeographic predictions.

Siluriformes; Phylogeny; Biogeography; Global dispersal; Freshwater fish evolution