Catfish

Catfish are carnivores (meat-eaters). Their diet is based mostly on fish, insects, worms, frogs and newts. Catfish are bottom dwellers (they feed on the bottom of the water). Cultivated species of catfish are trained to eat pellets that float on the surface of the water (against their natural instinct). Though they may not sound exciting, catfish are incredible survivors as a breed of fish. They’re able to live and even thrive in temperatures from just above freezing to nearly 100°F and can be found living inland and in the coastal waters of every continent minus Antarctica. 

Catfish are an extremely diverse group of ray-finned fish that get their nickname from their feline-looking whiskers, which are actually barbels that act as a defense mechanism (unlike other fish that have scales to defend them). Catfish can live in a number of conditions, with species that live in saltwater, freshwater and brackish water. Some catfish prefer stagnant water and others call rivers and streams with fast-moving currents their homes, it all depends. Some species of catfish are nocturnal(sleep during the day) while others are diurnal (active during the day).

Channel catfish, a categorization that includes more than 45 species, account for all the commercial food fish production in the United States. There are nearly as many regional nicknames for the fish as there are species. In the United States alone they’re known as mud cats, polliwogs, chuckleheads, big bullheads, shovelheads, scoopers and flatties, to name a few.