Hi, I’m Vlad and I love fishing. Today I’d like to share with you some interesting facts about wels catfish which is one of the biggest freshwater fish. It has long barbels. They look like cat’s whiskers. That’s why it was named so. Catfish has got up to four pairs of barbels. Greatest concentration of sensory organs is located on them.
There are more than 3,000 species of catfish and they can be found on all continents except on the Antarctica.
Wels catfish live in the Dnipro River in Ukraine.
Catfish are grown on farms in ponds. Their meat is consumed as delicacy around the world. They are tasty when they weigh to 15 kilos. Bigger fish is very fatty and not recommended to eat.
Wels catfish have large, flat head, a wide mouth and a long body with smooth black skin. They can be more than two metres long and weigh up to 300 kilograms. But usually they are 1.5 metres long.
Catfish are meat-eaters. Their diet is based mostly on fish, insects, worms and frogs and even ducks. Their mouth contains lines of a lot of small teeth.
These fish are bottom dwellers. They feed on the bottom of the water.
Female deposits up to 30,000 eggs in some dark places. Eggs hatch after 5 to 10 days. Father takes care of the eggs and young fish.
Wels catfish can live for at least fifty years.
Their main predators are people. Catfish are not endangered species.
I was lucky to catch a catfish.
Vocabulary
wels catfish – сом європейський
barbels – вуса
whiskers – вуса
pair – пара
sensory organs – органи чуття
is located – знаходиться
species – вид
except – крім
is consumed as delicacy – вживається як делікатес
weigh – важити
fatty – жирний
smooth black skin – гладка чорна шкіра
bottom dwellers – мешканці дна
female deposits – самка відкладає
hatch – вилуплюватись
take care of – піклуватись
predators – хижаки
endangered species – зникаючий вид
Hi Vlad. It was very intreresting to read about wels catfish because I have never seen them. As for me, it is a frightening fish. I like fishing with my parents on the River Dnipro near Tarasova Hill. You were lucky to catch a catfish! I will be happy if I ever catch such a fish!!!
Hi Vlad, I was interested in your story about the catfish. And you know that a large catfish is able to suck prey at a distance of more than a meter, drawing it along with the flow of water. In this he remotely resembles a whale. Catfish are also housewives. He usually spends his whole life in one pit, unless extraordinary circumstances force him to look elsewhere. The catfish is considered to be the most voracious predator.