Catfish

A catfish is any fish of the order Siluriformes. Its name comes from the slender barbels around its mouth, which resemble whiskers and help it locate food. Nearly 3,000 living species are known. Most inhabit fresh water, although some live in the sea, and they range from tiny aquarium species to giants of the world's rivers.

Channel catfish have taste receptors not only in the mouth and on the barbels but across the surface of the body, an adaptation that helps them find food in dark, muddy water.

The channel catfish

After a female channel catfish lays her eggs, the male drives her from the nest. He guards the egg mass, fans it to keep oxygenated water flowing over it, and continues to protect the newly hatched fry for several days.

The male hardhead catfish is a mouthbrooder. He carries the fertilised eggs in his mouth until they hatch and does not feed while tending them.

Catfish do not have true scales. Many species possess strong spines at the front of the dorsal and pectoral fins, and in some species these are associated with venom glands capable of causing painful injuries.

Africa's electric catfish can generate a discharge of up to 450 volts of electricity.

The walking catfish is an air-breathing species that can wriggle across damp ground to reach another body of water.

Several species of Synodontis catfish habitually swim upside down.

A Mekong giant catfish caught in Thailand in 2005 weighed 293 kilograms (646 pounds) and measured 2.7 metres (8 feet 11 inches). It held the record for the largest freshwater fish specimen until a 300-kilogram giant freshwater stingray was recorded in 2022.

On June 25, 1987, Ronald Reagan, then President of the United States, proclaimed that date National Catfish Day in recognition of farm-raised catfish.