Pimelodus is a genus of catfishes order Siluriformes of the family Pimelodidae. Pimelodus is a non-monophyletic assemblage; it is defined by a set of non-derived characters. Species level taxonomy of Pimelodus is still poorly known as well as the phylogenetic relationships within and of the genus. The high number of species currently included in Pimelodus, allied to the wide variability in morphology and color pattern of those taxa, pose difficulties for a complete systematic revision of the genus.