Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 8, 2026

Citharinidae

The Citharinidae, the lutefishes, are a small family of characiform fish. They are freshwater fish native to Africa, and are sufficiently abundant to be significant food fishes.

Last revised
Jul 8, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
176 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Citharinidae
Citharinus latus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Suborder: Citharinoidei
Family: Citharinidae
Günther, 18641
Genera

See text

The Citharinidae, the lutefishes, are a small family of characiform fish. They are freshwater fish native to Africa, and are sufficiently abundant to be significant food fishes.2

They are deep-bodied, silvery fish, measuring up to 84 cm (33 in) in length and weighing up to 18 kg (40 lb).3 They are filter feeders.2

Genera

The family contains three genera:4

References

References

  1. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  2. Weitzman, S.H.; Vari, R.P. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Citharinidae". FishBase. October 2011 version.
  4. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Citharinidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 3 June 2025.