Cat Fish Facts

Cat Fish Facts

Common names 
Channel catfish-channel cat. snotted catfish, snotted cat.  lake catfish. Great Lakes catfish: northern catfish. fiddler.

Flathead catfish-flathead, bullhead, Mississippi cat, shovelhead cat, shovelnose cat, yellow cat, mud cat, Hoosier, goujon

1. These bottom dwellers derive their common name, catfish, from the "whiskers" on their snouts, but they share other traits with earthbound felines. 

2. Catfish prefer to rest during the day and prowl at night. Like their curious namesakes, catfish seek out and explore secluded spots. And flathead catfish will engage each other in  "cat" fights to rival any back alley tomcats. 

3. All members of  the family are scaleless, having instead a thick, tough skin. 

4. Catfish are darkly colored, reflecting  the murky depths where they linger. Channel catfish have blue to olive backs, whitish bellies and silvery sides mottled with distinctive black'spots of varying sizes the only species of this family to have such spots. The spots often disappear from older males, which are sometimes erroneously identified as another relative, the blue catfish. 

5. Another characteristic of Ictalurus punctatus is the ability to hear sounds with the help of the weberian apparatus (series of 4 or 5 modified vertebrae). This apparatus connects the swim bladder (an air-filled sac near the spinal column that helps maintain buoyancy) to the inner ear and conveys pressure changes and sound. 

6. Flathead catfish have light brown to yellow sides (hence the common name yellow cat) that may have darker brown or black areas. The belly is yellow to cream white. 

7. Both species have broad heads, but as its name implies, the flathead has the flattest and broadest. 

8. The two species can be easily distinguished by their caudal (tail) fins. The channel cat has a deeply-forked  tail while the flathead has a squared tail fin with only slight forks.

9. Catfish have eight whiskers, called barbels (fleshy sensors capable of  feeling and tasting). There is one barbel at each corner of the mouth; one adjacent to each nostril; and four protruding from the lower jaw.

10. A common misconception is that barbels sting if they are touched. While this is not true, catfish have three sharp spines (rigid supports) one in  their dorsal (back)  fin and one in each of the pectoral (side) fins with venomous mucus glands that secrete a painful but not dangerous poison. Handle catfish with care to avoid these spines. 

11. The pelvic (belly) fins and the anal (bottom rear) fin are supported by rays (soft, flexible supports). Catfish have an adipose (fatty tissue) fin on their backs just in  front of  the tail. 

12. Another distinctive feature of  the flathead is a protruding lower lip; the channel catfish's upper lip protrudes farther than its lower lip. 

13. After resting for most of  the day, catfish move into shallows and muddy backwaters  at night  to feed. 

14. Flatheads feed almost exclusively on live fish. While they will pursue fish, flatheads are known to wait motionless with their mouths wide open for fish to come to them. When a prey fish swims by, the flathead lunges forward and swallows it.

15. They have been widely introduced for sport fishing throughout the United States. 

16. People need to be careful handling the channel catfish because of the sharp spines and venom. Being cut by this fish is often compared to a paper cut.