Galeichthys is a genus of sea catfishes in the family Ariidae, the only genus in the subfamily Galeichthyinae. It includes four predominantly marine species distributed in Southern Africa and northwestern South America: Those fish have three pairs of barbels: a pair of fleshy and cylindrical maxillary barbels and two pairs of mental barbels. The base of the adipose fin is as long as the base of the anal fin. The name Galeichthys comes from Greek galeos 'shark' and ichthys 'fish'.