PlanetCatfish.com

Silurus (and others),

I was wondering if you could give us an overview of how we went from Linnaeus' single family of "Silurus" (or was it already an order?) to the order "Siluriformes" and all the families within it today?

Who were the major "revisers" and what were the major milestones?

Is there a book (or even a website) on the history of ichthyology?

Thanks,
Dinyar

A very good summary is available in:
de Pinna, M. C. C. 1998. Phylogeentic relationships of Neotropical Siluriformes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi): historical overview and synthesis of hypotheses. Pp. 279-330. In L. R. Malabarba, R. E. Reis, R. P. Vari, Z. M. S. Lucena & C. A. S. Lucena (eds.). Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes.. Edipucrs, Porto Alegre. 603 pp.
The story is way too long to repeat here.
FWIW, Linnaeus had two genera of catfishes, <i>Silurus</i> and <i>Loricaria</i> (although he included <i>Hypostomus plecostomus</i> in <i>Acipenser</i>).