Catfish Facts

The Walking Catfish Clarias batrachus

Clarias batrachus, otherwise known as the walking catfish, is capable of breathing air, allowing it to move over land to find a new body of water. Their gills are stiffened to prevent their collapse when out of water, and in part of the gill chamber are spongy arborecent organs. This area plus the skin is well supplied with blood vessels, which keeps the fish comfortable for a good length of time out of the water.

For more information on Clarias batrachus, visit Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

The Mekong Giant Catfish Pangasianodon gigas

On May 1, 2005 the largest freshwater fish ever recorded was captured in the Chiang Khong district of Northern Thailand in the Mekong River (hence the name). This catfish (pictured) weighed in at 646 pounds (293 kilograms), and measured to be almost nine feet long!

Pangasianodon gigas is listed critically endangered by the World Conservation Union. Much research is being done to help conserve this very massive species.

For addition pictures of the Mekong Giant Catfish, visit the National Geographic gallery.

For the full story, visit National Geographic News.

The Giant catfish did not survive the capture. Local villagers share the proceeds, feeding dozens of families!

New Species Discovered!

This little fellow has become big news for scientists. Lacantunia enigmatica, named after the Lacatún River from which it was found, has provided evidence to scientists on how much more research needs to be conducted in southern Mexico.

For the full story, visit National Geographic News.

New View of an Old Fish

3-D skeletal images, like the ones below of the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), can be found on the Digimorph website at http://digimorph.org.

To go directly to the channel catfish site, click here.