Nine continuous head and body measurements and standard length (SL) were collected from individuals in each catfish radiation (claroteine and Synodontis), totalling 198 specimens. The claroteine dataset consisted of 135 specimens for 13 species, including three separate populations of Lophiobagrus cyclurusfrom Burundi, Kigoma and Zambia. The Synodontis dataset consisted of 63 specimens in 8 species (minimum 2, maximum 14, median 8.5 samples per species). Please refer to Peart et al. (2024) Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, Supporting Information Table S1 for the full list of samples included.