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The name catfish comes from the feelers, or barbels, that increase from each part of the top of jaw of the fish and, in a few species, from the reduced chin also, suggesting the whiskers of a cat. The dorsal and pectoral fins are often surrounded with sharp spines, in some instances poisonous, which are found in protection and may inflict extreme wounds. People of a few catfish individuals in South America are covered with bony plates. A American species, the sheatfish, or wels, is the greatest catfish, apparently reaching a fat of 290 kg (650 lb) and an amount of nearly 4 michael (almost 13 ft).

The blind catfish, found in caverns in western Pennsylvania, has atrophied eyes, and the electrical catfish of the Nile Water and warm central Africa is capable of providing an electrical shock. Yet another odd catfish, the alleged strolling catfish, initially happened in eastern India and Southeast Asia. In 1968, it was discovered near Boca Raton, Florida, subsequent its transfer by tropical-fish dealers.

Their maximum period is 56 cm (22 in). In "strolling" to regions of greater water in dry spells, this catfish actions across land (between figures of water) by way of a slithering action combined with a thrashing of their tail. Furthermore, a strong backbone in each pectoral cid digs in to the bottom to help balance and push the fish. It is able to breathe air in the shape of an altered gill arc that forms an air chamber.
Some species of catfish are believed to be among the greatest freshwater fish in the world. A specimen of giant catfish, (Pangasianodon gigas) netted in 2005 in the Mekong Water in northern Thailand, supposedly weighed 293 kilogram (646 lb) and measured 2.7 m (9 ft) in length.

Of the numerous species of North National catfishes, the bullhead is frequently fished for eating. Of greatest industrial value are fishes in the Mississippi River area and the Gulf claims, some of which consider as much as 70 kilogram (as significantly as 150 lb). The orange catfish, or chucklehead, and the station catfish, the skin of that will be esteemed as similar to that particular of dark bass, kind the significant area of the harvest.

Catfishes currently account fully for about one-half of the aquaculture production in the United States. Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, California, and Louisiana all have intensive catfish facilities; there are always business69 a complete around 60,700 hectares (about 150,000 acres) of catfish farms in these and different states. The United States production of farm-raised catfishes improved from significantly less than 90 million kilogram (less than 200 million lb) in 1985 to a lot more than 200 million kilogram (more than 450 million lb) in 1992, and professional income of farmed catfishes were estimated at about 200 million kg (about 450 million lb) in 1993. New technologies such as for instance genetic improvement, recirculating systems, and control of disorders may continue to promote the growth of the industry.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION:
Catfishes constitute the get Siluriformes. The 2 underwater individuals are Ariidae and Plotosidae. The sheatfish is categorized as Silurus glanis, the blind catfish as Gronias nigrilabris, the electrical catfish as Malapterurus electricus, and the strolling catfish as Clarias batrachus. Bullhead belong to the family Ictaluridae. The orange catfish is categorized as Ictalurus furcatus, and the station catfish as Ictalurus punctatus.

Route Catfish
The channel catfish is just a commercially essential food fish. Its tasty skin has been compared to dark bass. Formerly present in freshwater revenues and ponds in main and eastern parts of the United Claims and southern Europe, route catfish have already been introduced generally through the entire United States. Catfish farming, or raising catfish commercially in large ponds, is increasing quickly in the southeastern United States.

Brown Bullhead
Appreciated for food and activity, the brown bullhead, a North National species of catfish, lives in lots of freshwater streams in the western United States. Usually measuring significantly less than 46 cm (18 in) extended, the brown bullhead displays the conventional whiskerlike feelers that provide the catfish their name. The brown bullhead is known as the most commercially crucial of all catfish.