12 Facts About Catfish

Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food.

Catfish have inhabited all continents at one time or another.

Catfish have a variety of body shapes, though most have a cylindrical body with a flattened ventrum to allow for benthic feeding.

Catfish have a maxilla reduced to a support for barbels; this means that they are unable to protrude their mouths as other fish such as carp.

Catfish have one of the greatest ranges in size within a single order of bony fish.

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Catfish can produce different types of sounds and have well-developed auditory reception used to discriminate between sounds with different pitches and velocities.

Catfish are able to produce a variety of sounds for communication that can be classified into two groups: drumming sounds and stridulation sounds.

Catfish are easy to farm in warm climates, leading to inexpensive and safe food at local grocers.

Catfish raised in inland tanks or channels are usually considered safe for the environment, since their waste and disease should be contained and not spread to the wild.

Catfish have widely been caught and farmed for food for hundreds of years in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Catfish is high in vitamin D Farm-raised catfish contains low levels of omega-3 fatty acids and a much higher proportion of omega-6 fatty acids.

Catfish belong to a superorder called the Ostariophysi, which includes the Cypriniformes, Characiformes, Gonorynchiformes and Gymnotiformes, a superorder characterized by the Weberian apparatus.