The beauty of an ordinary catfish is clearly no different. Its large, wide and flattened head makes up almost a sixth of the entire large, naked body covered with a thick layer of mucus. The huge mouth is armed with numerous, very small, but sharp teeth, forming a kind of brush. Two long whitish antennae hang from the upper jaw, and four short yellowish antennae hang from the protruding lower jaw. Small eyes are shifted to the upper lip. A strong, laterally flattened tail occupies more than half of the body length. The anal fin is very long, the caudal fin is small and has a rounded edge. The back of the catfish is usually black, and the belly is yellowish-white or somewhat reddish, dotted with bluish specks. The sides are blackish-green with olive-green spots, the fins are dark blue, on the paired ones there is a yellowish stripe in the middle. Lake catfish are always darker than river catfish, and their belly is gray-blue. In young individuals, the color of the body and fins is brighter than in old ones. By old age, catfish become completely ugly: a huge head acquires a dirty yellow color, a lot of water worms stick to it, abundantly covering the whole body.
common catfish |
In terms of size, the catfish undoubtedly ranks first among our river fish, second only to the anadromous beluga, which appears in fresh water only during the spawning period. It reaches a length of 5 m and a mass of 300 kg, and even a 400-kilogram catfish was once caught on the Oder.
The common catfish inhabits the rivers and lakes of Europe east of the Rhine River. To the north, it reaches the south of Finland, and to the south - to Asia Minor, the Caspian and Aral Seas and the rivers flowing into them. In Russia, it lives in the basins of the Baltic, Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, and also enters brackish water.
Lake catfish are always smaller than neighboring river catfish, and a slow-growing reed form is also found. Long-distance travel is extremely rare. For the most part, he spends decades, from youth to extreme old age, in the same hole, leaving it for a short distance only in search of food, and even then not always. But in the spring, during the flood, the catfish temporarily leaves its native pit and rises up the river, entering the floodplain and floodplain lakes, where it often spawns. The spring course of catfish in our rivers begins with the flood. Sensing warm water, these fish wake up from their deep winter sleep and come out of the pits into backwaters, lakes, and sometimes into the sea. At least a month passes between awakening and spawning. Throughout this period of wandering life, the catfish feeds intensively, rewarding itself for a long winter “fast”. Its main food is fish of all kinds and sizes, from the smallest to the largest. However, due to the peculiarities of its appearance, the catfish is not capable of prolonged pursuit of prey and almost always catches fish from ambush, rapidly breaking into a flock passing by or grabbing a solitary fish approaching too close. A powerful flexible tail helps this fish to make swift throws, with which it sometimes stuns up to several fish in a flock. Very large catfish are clumsy and clumsy, so they rarely get fish for lunch. Such giants often resort to a cunning trick: they go aground or stand ashore in a place where many juveniles scurry about, and lie there motionless, their huge mouths half open. As soon as a flock of small fish approaches the predator, it draws in water, and together with the unexpectedly strong whirlpool formed, the fish disappear into a huge mouth. Catfish hiding in ambush often use their long, fleshy, worm-like whiskers as a bait for prey. However, this method of obtaining food is not very reliable, so large fat catfish hunt mostly frogs, crayfish and mollusks.
A special weakness for frogs encourages catfish not only to visit river grassy backwaters, but also often linger in floodplain lakes, this is the basis for the most lucrative and original fishing for catfish - “to shred”, known back in ancient Greece: a fisherman lures fish with a special device ( "Klokushi"), making a sound resembling a croak. Large catfish do not give a descent to anything living, floating on the surface. They exterminate many waterfowl, especially chicks, and often drown swimming dogs.
Before sunset, small and medium-sized catfish leave their daytime shelter in search of food. Usually, catfish first goes around its hole several times, and then rises upstream, visiting mainly places abounding in fish. It happens that a hungry catfish, in search of food, moves far from its “home”, but by the morning it always comes back. Sometimes you can see dormant catfish floating downstream, putting their heads on the surface. Apparently, these are tired wanderers who have risen too high.
Catfish ripen in the fourth or fifth year of life. They spawn in coastal thickets. In areas abounding with catfish, their spawning is accompanied by an extraordinary surge and rolling blows, comparable to the noise made by a herd of horses driven into the water. These are catfish gathered in flocks chasing each other and wrapping themselves around like snakes. 3-4 males usually swim behind the female, of which she chooses one, and then, by joint efforts, the couple drives away the rest of the gentlemen and builds a primitive nest from the remains of vegetation. Here the female lays her large eggs, 2-3 mm in diameter. Depending on the size of the fish, the fecundity is 11-480 thousand eggs. The male guards the nest until all the juveniles hatch, driving away other fish with tail blows. The juveniles remain in the nest for the first time, feeding on silt and plant remains, but soon disperse, and already in the first year of life, they switch to a predatory lifestyle. Having fulfilled their parental duty, adult catfish return back to the pits.
The catfish is usually active in the evening and early in the morning, although it sometimes appears on the surface during the day. In most cases, the appearance of catfish during the day portends bad weather, a thunderstorm or a change in the weather. The catfish is especially restless during a night thunderstorm: even its most ancient inhabitants rise from the bottom of the pool, the largest and ugliest giants of the catfish kingdom, with their noisy night fuss giving rise to numerous stories about mermen and mermaids.
For wintering, catfish lies before all other fish. In some places, a flock of catfish lies in a continuous mass in one tier, and other fish often hibernate above them in several layers. At this time, the catfish is completely motionless, does not eat anything and sleeps in such a deep sleep that it does not have time to come to its senses and resist if a successful fisherman pulls it out onto the ice. This fish lives for a long time, more than 30 years.
Common catfish plays a significant role in the fishery. Its meat is very fatty, quite tasty, especially in young individuals. In the past, catfish skin was used in place of window panes. To do this, the raw skin was stretched on a board and the fat was removed from it with clay, then washed, stretched again and dried in the sun. Well-cooked leather, the so-called "pajus", is as white and transparent as glass, and so strong that it can withstand blows from a stick.
A close species lives in the Amur basin Soldatov's catfish(Silurus soldatovi). Unlike the common catfish, its anterior mandibular antennae are longer than the posterior ones. It feeds mainly on fish and reaches a length of 4 m. This rare species is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
Amur, or Far Eastern, catfish(Para-silurus asotus), common in the reservoirs of East Asia, is common in our Amur basin and the rivers of Primorye. This is a small catfish, up to 1 m long, it has only two pairs of antennae: two on the upper jaw and two on the lower. These catfish do not build nests, but scatter their eggs among aquatic vegetation. The caviar is not protected. Juveniles have three pairs of antennae, the second mandibular pair disappears when the fish reach a length of 7-9 centimeters. In 1932, 22 adult Amur catfish were released into Lake Shaksha in the Baikal basin. At present, this species has spread widely here, penetrating into the Selenga, and from there to the shallow waters of Lake Baikal.
Fish. - M.: Astrel. E.D. Vasiliev. 1999
See what "Common catfish" is in other dictionaries:
common catfish- This term has other meanings, see Som (meanings). ? Common catfish ... Wikipedia
common catfish- paprastasis šamas statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Silurus glanis English. catfish; European catfish; European wells; sheetfish; wels rus. European catfish; common catfish ryšiai: platesnis terminas –… … Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas
common catfish aspredo- paprastasis sterblinis šamas statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. aspredo aspredo engl. skin womb catfish rus. common catfish aspredo ryšiai: platesnis terminas – sterbliniai šamai … Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas
catfish- ordinary. common catfish (Silurus gianis), freshwater fish of the catfish family. Length up to 5 m, weight up to 300 kg. Body without scales, mouth large, with numerous bristle-like teeth. There are 3 pairs of antennae on the jaws. Fins without spines. anal… … Agriculture. Big encyclopedic dictionary
COM- common (Silurus glanis), freshwater fish of this family. som. Length up to 5 m, weight up to 300 kg. Body without scales, mouth large, with numerous bristle teeth. Common catfish. There are 3 pairs of antennae on the jaws. Fins without spines. Anal fin... ... Agricultural Encyclopedic Dictionary
catfish- Silurus glanis (L.) Of all our freshwater fish, the first place in size undoubtedly belongs to the catfish. In this respect, only one beluga surpasses it, but, as you know, it is an anadromous fish that enters rivers only for ... Life and fishing of freshwater fish Fish of Russia. Directory
Common catfish (European, river) is a large freshwater fish that does not have scales. This predator, living in rivers and lakes, is the largest freshwater fish, second in size only to the beluga. True, it is an anadromous fish that enters rivers for spawning.
Classification:
- Class - Pisces (Fish).
- Family - Siluroidea (Catfish).
- Order - Siluriformes (Catfishes).
- View - Esox lucius (common catfish).
- Genus - Siluridae (Common catfish).
Spreading
Common catfish is common in lakes and rivers in Europe, with the exception of Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain and England. Representatives of the species are found in southern Sweden and Finland. The range of catfish in the south is limited by the coastal waters of the Aegean and Black Seas, in Asia it is limited by the Aral Sea. The common catfish, the photo of which you can see below, lives in the rivers flowing into the Baltic, Caspian and Black Seas.
European catfish is a sedentary fish. He spends almost his entire life in the same hole, occasionally leaving it in search of food. Only during the spawning period, in spring, the catfish leaves its home and moves upstream, entering floodplain lakes and river floodplains for spawning.
Common catfish does not tolerate muddy water at all. For this reason, these fish go to the mouths of tributaries during floods - in search of clean water. For the same reason, during the flood, he most often prefers to be in floodplain lakes or in the floodplain of the river.
Common catfish: structure
This fish is distinguished by unusual external data. It is unlikely that anyone will call him an outstanding handsome man among the underwater inhabitants. A huge head by weight is ¼ of the total mass of the fish, a large mouth contains many sharp, but small teeth, disproportionately small eyes are close to the back of the head. A pair of rather long whiskers is found on the upper lip, and on the chin there are two more pairs of small antennae. This is what an ordinary catfish looks like. The appearance of this predator is not the most attractive.
The body in the anterior part is rounded, strongly compressed in the posterior part and from the sides. It smoothly passes into the tail fin. The dorsal fin is short, located rather close to the head. The anal, longer fin is connected to the caudal. At first glance, it seems that the huge one smoothly passes into the tail.
Color
Catfish size
At the beginning of this article, we already said that the common catfish is a large fish, but many of our readers do not even suspect how much. Often the length of the body reaches four meters, and the weight is one hundred and eighty kilograms. And this is not the limit. There are much larger specimens. Catfish grow very quickly in the first five or six years. Gradually, their growth slows down, and by the age of eight, the fish weighs seventeen kilograms.
Instances with a maximum weight are extremely rare. For example, in the nineteenth century, giants were recorded, more than three meters long and weighing 220 kg. In 1856, an ordinary catfish weighing about 400 kg and almost five meters long was caught on the Dnieper.
Currently, specimens no more than 1.6 meters long are more common. For modern anglers, it is considered a great joy and great luck to be able to catch a fish one and a half meters long and weighing more than twenty kilograms. The maximum weight of individuals of this species, recorded in our time, is a length of 2.78 meters and a weight of 144 kg.
Lifestyle
The common catfish is a well-known homebody: it does not migrate from its usual habitat. As a rule, spawning and feeding areas are located next to it. These fish prefer a solitary lifestyle, they gather in large flocks in cold weather. They fit into deep holes and stop feeding until spring.
Common catfish is a large predator leading a bottom lifestyle. He feels most comfortable in quiet parts of the reservoir. He needs holes, snags, caves.
Common catfish hunts from an ambush. Hiding in a secluded place, he makes a swift throw and catches his prey. In shallow water, where you can see the course of young fish, a flock of catfish usually hunts. They line up against the current, open their mouths and swallow flocks of small fish. During the day, ordinary catfish lie in a hole or cave, and go hunting only at night or at dusk. A mustache and sensitive skin help him detect a victim.
In October-November, the common catfish stops eating and lies in the pits before the rest of the fish, while it buries its head in the silt. Since at this time the catfish do not pose any danger to other underwater inhabitants, other large fish, most often carp, are placed on them in the same pits for wintering.
Food
Since the common catfish is a predator, it is quite natural that the basis of its diet is fish, and of all sizes and types. Large individuals weighing more than 30 kg are rather clumsy and clumsy creatures. They, as a rule, catch fry, which are drawn into the mouth along with water. Sometimes they, hiding in a secluded corner, lure larger fish with a mustache that resembles worms under water.
Large specimens prey on any living creature that floats on the water: waterfowl and their chicks, small animals.
In addition, catfish also eats:
- crayfish;
- leeches;
- river mollusks;
- crawling out;
- frogs.
reproduction
Like most common catfish, it matures very quickly and becomes sexually mature in the fourth year of life. The ability to reproduce in this species of catfish occurs when the fish reaches a size of about 60 cm and a weight of 3 kg. Such parameters are typical for a five-year-old catfish. Depending on the region in which the common catfish lives, reproduction (spawning) can occur in summer or spring.
This process requires a water temperature of +17...+20 °C. Under favorable conditions, female European catfish throw two portions of caviar - up to 30 thousand eggs. The heavier and larger the female, the more caviar she throws. The size of the eggs is no more than three millimeters.
Preparing for spawning, the female builds a nest at the bottom of a lake or river. As a rule, this is a rounded shallow hole, overgrown with aquatic plants. It is located in shallow water, at a distance of at least seventy centimeters from the surface of the water.
The caviar is large and sticky, so it instantly sticks to the walls and bottom of the nest.
Eggs develop very quickly - 3-10 days. From eggs, larvae are first formed. Then it dissolves and fry are born, no more than 15 mm long. All this time the male guards the nest. The young grow very quickly, especially in the southern rivers. In the first year of life, the fry grows up to 40 cm and gains about 500 grams. However, there is a high percentage of death of individuals at a young age. Only 5% of the young of this species of catfish survive up to a year.
Life after spawning
After breeding, catfish return to their usual habitats - deep pits. The more inaccessible and deeper the pit, the more shelters and snags in it, the more numerous and larger the catfish living in it. At the same time, silence and the presence of shelters in the habitats of fish are more important than the depth of the reservoir. Young specimens, weighing less than 15 kg, swim at a depth of three meters, usually near dams, under overhanging banks or under the roots of washed trees.
Common catfish: life expectancy
This fish is long-lived. Scientists claim that they can live up to fifty years. But not every ordinary catfish lives to such a venerable age. How long do these fish live in natural conditions? The average life expectancy is (under favorable conditions) thirty to thirty-five years.
catfish catching
This is a very exciting process for both professional anglers and amateurs. Summer is the best time to fish for this fish. A good bite happens in windless warm weather after sunset and before dawn. Catfish feed constantly, but not with the same greed. At dawn, before sunrise and at night, catfish peck quite actively. And if it drizzles a little rain, then fishing is possible throughout the day.
It is more profitable to throw gear not over the pit itself, but in the way of the catfish's night hunting. Usually he goes the same way. The best place is the riffles, which are especially rich in live bait, which can be any fish with a long survivability. An excellent bait, according to fishermen, is a loach, but sometimes the catfish plucks it, as the fish is strung by the lips.
Often, large fish are used as bait, although this is not entirely justified. Offal of fish and poultry, leeches, fried poultry, a piece of catfish meat are not of interest. But the smell of scorched wool or feathers is very attractive for this fish. For bait, you can use crayfish during their molt, when the shell is very soft.
Perhaps the most favorite delicacy of a catfish is a frog. The most interesting way of catching is based on this preference of his - shredding. For catching catfish, donks are used, throwing bait into the intended feeding places of this fish.
The rod must be tied to a stake driven into the ground or strong branches, since the bite of even four-kilogram specimens is very sharp and the rod breaks off in a matter of seconds. Experienced anglers claim that the bite can be so powerful that the rod (test 190 g) 1.9 meters long, like a spring, takes off into the air and a completely new monofilament (0.3) breaks at the same moment.
Economic importance
Common catfish is a commercial species. Its value lies not only in tender and fatty meat: excellent glue was obtained from this fish, and in ancient times the washed skin of catfish was used as “glass” in windows. In the thirties of the last century, its catches in some reservoirs reached 4.2 thousand tons, but today they have decreased significantly.
conservation status
Unfortunately, due to uncontrolled fishing, including poaching, the number of common catfish has decreased almost everywhere. In many reservoirs where it used to live in large numbers, catfish has become a rare guest. In this regard, in many regions it is under protection. At the edges of the range, catfish is especially rare, for example, in Karelia in 1995 it was listed in the Red Book as an endangered rare species.
River catfish or common catfish is the largest fish in our reservoirs. Lives only in deep holes. River catfish is the most amazing fish among freshwater fish.
River catfish (silurus glanis) is a freshwater fish from the catfish family. It lives in rivers (closer to the channel), but is found in ponds and lakes. In recent years, he has chosen the Cheboksary reservoir. Lives in warm water, prefers pools and pits with flooded trees, snags, avoids muddy bottom. Such a pattern was noticed, the larger the catfish, the deeper the pit. Somovya pit has one exit towards the shallows, and the second towards the main channel. No more than two catfish live in such pits.
It hunts at dusk and at dawn. In rare cases, it can hunt during the day. Fish are very sensitive to weather changes. At night, often in a strong thunderstorm, the catfish rises to the very surface. Why this happens, only he knows. This fish does not like habitat changes and can live in its hole all its life. In late autumn, catfish gather in small flocks of up to ten fish, and move to wintering pits. They spend the winter burying their heads in mud and do not feed at all.
How many years can river catfish live, to what size can it grow?
There is no exact answer to these questions. Using the data of L.P. Sabaneev, made a small tablet.
|
Fish weight in kilograms |
Age of the fish in years |
I fully admit that somewhere in a deep hole a catfish weighing more than 200 kilograms lives, but no one has seen it. On the middle Volga, fishermen most often come across catfish weighing from 10 to 40 kilograms. In isolated cases, there are specimens weighing up to 80 kilograms, but this is very rare. There is another reason that a fish weighing 100 kilograms or more is almost impossible to catch. It is unlikely that one or two anglers will be able to pull out such a hulk!
This is how medium-sized catfish unbend imported tees made of durable steel.
I think that the stories that catfish feed on dogs passing by and drunken fishermen are an ordinary fairy tale.
This fish doesn't have fangs like a crocodile and doesn't chew its food! Large catfish suck the fish along with the water and immediately swallow it. On the middle Volga, zhor in catfish begins in the month of May and continues after the end of spawning in July, partly in August.
What does river catfish eat?
Catfish feed mainly on molluscs, tadpoles, and fish fry. Adult catfish prefer fish such as roach, rudd, ruff, bream, minnow . The diet is supplemented by lizards and mice that accidentally fell into the water, he likes frogs, bivalve mollusks, crayfish, and can suck in gaping chicks of waterfowl. Large catfish, due to their sluggishness, do not chase nimble fish, but prefer, like a pike, to wait for a victim in snags at the bottom, moving their whiskers. Apparently, the fish takes such a mustache for worms, so it comes close to the predator.
River catfish: description
The catfish has a very large head, accounting for a quarter of the entire fish by weight. The mouth is large. The mouth contains many small and sharp teeth. The eyes are disproportionately small, shifted towards the back of the head. A long pair of whiskers grows on the upper lip, and two more pairs of small antennae are located on the chin.
In the anterior part, the body is rounded, and in the posterior part, it is strongly compressed from the sides and smoothly passes into the caudal fin. The short dorsal fin is close to the head. The long anal fin connects to the caudal fin. The impression is that the catfish has a large head smoothly into the tail.
This fish has tender and fatty meat. They catch catfish with bottom fishing rods, spinning, on a "kwok" or with a line. The rules allow the use of bait with up to 10 hooks. In recent years, line fishing has become very popular. All summer the channels between the islands are blocked by ropes with hooks.
The best baits are live bait and creeps. The catfish perceives the frog and barley meat less willingly.
Catfish ( Silurus) is the largest predatory fish that lives in freshwater lakes and rivers. It belongs to the class of ray-finned fish, the catfish order, the catfish family.
Catfish fish - description, characteristics and photos
The catfish fish has a long, flattened and rather powerful body, which is devoid of scales and covered with a layer of mucus, which provides gliding and maneuverability of the fish in the water. The wide head of the catfish usually has a flattened shape. On it are small, slightly blind eyes of a catfish. The wide mouth of the fish is "armed" with small, but present in large numbers of teeth. Almost all catfish have one feature: long mustaches are located on the jaws of this predatory fish. Catfish's whiskers are the most important tactile organ with which the fish finds food. Depending on the species, which scientists number about 500, the appearance of the catfish, its color and size can vary significantly.
How long does a catfish live?
The life expectancy of a catfish, which lives in natural and environmentally acceptable conditions, reaches 30, 50, or even 60 years. There are data from ichthyologists who have recorded individuals that have reached the age of 75 years.
What does catfish eat?
Catfish in nature prefers to lead a bottom lifestyle, lying in pits with a large accumulation of silt deposits. In nutrition, he is unpretentious: catfish happily eats plant remains, small fish, larvae, shells, crayfish or birds accidentally caught in a pond, and other living creatures. Catfish also feed on carrion. Often he "hunts" prey near old and forgotten fishing nets. A large hungry catfish can even eat or that accidentally entered the water.
Where does catfish live?
Catfish is quite widespread in the waters of Europe and Asia, while living in rivers flowing into the seas, it often swims into their salty waters. Unfortunately, in such conditions, only one species of catfish, the channel catfish, can exist for a long time, the rest of the individuals from this family are not adapted to such a “salty” life.
Types of catfish - photos and names
There are many interesting and unusual representatives in the catfish family.
- Common catfish (European) ( Silurus glanis)
can reach a length of up to 5 meters and weigh up to 400 kg. It lives in the rivers and lakes of Europe and Russia. Cases of attacks on people are described.
- American catfish (pygmy catfish) ( Ameiurus nebulosus)
lives in the waters of South America. The length of the American catfish does not exceed a meter, weight - 7-10 kg. The mouth of this variety is surprisingly arranged: the teeth are arranged in several rows, and each row differs in their size - from smaller to larger. This feature allows the American catfish to capture prey, as if with a steel vice.
- Malapterurus electricus)
lives in the waters of Africa and the rivers of the Arab countries. Its ability to generate powerful charges of electricity helps to successfully hunt even large prey. There is evidence that electric catfish killed animals that accidentally wandered into a pond for a drink with a discharge of current.
Numerous aquarium varieties are widely known among catfish: tarakatum, platidoras, glass catfish, cuckoo catfish, shifter catfish and others. And their variety of colors is simply amazing:
Glass Indian catfish
Common (European) catfish (lat. Silurus glanis) is a freshwater scaleless predator of the catfish order, catfish family.
According to the legends of the ancient Slavs, catfish was considered a favorite fish of the water spirit - water, so they were afraid of catfish, they called it "devil's horse" and bypassed quiet backwaters.
What does a catfish look like
The body length of the catfish is 1.3 - 1.5 m, weight - 15 - 20 kg. Under favorable environmental conditions, individual individuals grow up to 3 - 5 m and weigh 220 - 400 kg.
The catfish is distinguished by a large, flattened head with a wide mouth and a protruding lower jaw. Fleshy lips cover many small, cone-shaped teeth.
On the sides of the upper jaw there is a pair of long, mobile mustaches of a light shade, reaching to the end of the pectoral fins. The lower jaw is endowed with two pairs of short, yellowish antennae. Small, high-set eyes are shifted to the corners of the mouth.
The body of the catfish is rounded at the head and compressed from the sides, closer to the tail. The dorsal fin runs in the middle, acquiring a thick, jagged ray at the base with age. The long, powerful tail is almost half the length of the body and ends in a rounded caudal fin.
The pelvic fins are shortened, and the pectoral fins are wide and mobile, helping the predator to deftly create water vortices, disorienting a potential prey. The anal fin is long, fused with the caudal fin.
Catfish muzzle. 
The lack of scales is compensated by a large number of sebaceous glands. Intensively secreted fat covers the body of the catfish with a thick layer of mucus.
The color of the back depends on the area and can vary from light sand color to almost black. The sides are brownish-green, spotted, the belly is dirty-gray or yellowish-white. Juveniles are distinguished by an intense skin color, and males are more variegated than females.
Range and lifestyle
Catfish lives in well-warmed rivers with a weak current, although they often live in lakes, ponds and large reservoirs.
Catfish are by nature solitary and prefer a sedentary, sedentary lifestyle. Summer dwellings are arranged near washed-out shores, under snags, at the base of destroyed coastal structures and bottom potholes. At sunset, the catfish goes hunting, and with the first rays of the sun it returns to its shelter. For the winter, 10 - 12 individuals gather and lie down on the bottom, in deep pits.
Common catfish is common in rivers flowing into the Black and Baltic. Azov, Caspian and Aral seas. In the European part of Russia, it is found from the Neva to the Volga, Terek and Ural. The most numerous populations inhabit the deltas of the Don and Dnieper. The upper reaches of the rivers are bypassed.
What does European catfish eat?
Catfish are typical predators, patiently guarding their prey in ambush. The catfish feels the approach of the prey with its skin and sensitive whiskers, makes a short throw and grabs the prey. During the migrations of young small fish species, several catfish stand against the current and successfully absorb flocks of passing fish.
Catfish with prey. 
The predator's diet depends on age and size: juveniles eat larvae and fry, aquatic insects, leeches and small crustaceans. An adult catfish prefers bottom fish (carp, perch, young sturgeon, sprat, sprat) as a dietary basis, and large insects, crayfish and frogs as a supplement. With age, waterfowl and their chicks, rodents and, if you're lucky (catfish, of course), small domestic animals also appear on the menu.
Reproduction features
In warm waters, puberty of catfish occurs at the age of 3-5 years, in cooler waters by 4-6 years. Depending on the range, spawning takes place in spring in the southern water bodies and summer in the northern ones, when the water temperature reaches 17 - 23 degrees.
Before spawning, a pair of catfish equip a nest, choosing a small hole in shallow water, in a quiet backwater or shady pool. The fertility of the female depends on the age and size of a particular individual, but up to 30 thousand eggs are spawned per 1 kg of weight. In warm waters, the female spawns 2 portions of caviar, in cool waters only one. The diameter of the eggs is from 1 to 3 mm.
Catfish in the Dnieper River. 
Sticky eggs stick to the walls of the nest and are securely guarded by the male. After 3 days, larvae appear, after another week the yolk sac dissolves and quite independent, nimble fry, up to 15 mm long, swim out into the wild.
Catfish grow quickly, by the second year of life, the young grow to 30 - 40 cm and gain weight up to 500 g. Unfortunately, only 5% of the offspring survive to a year. Under favorable circumstances, the life expectancy of a mustachioed predator is 30 - 35 years.
Catfish in the Baltic Sea, Estonia. 
Due to the sharp decline in the population in Karelia, catfish received the status of a rare species and is listed in the Red Book of Karelia.
Albino catfish
Like other animals, albinos can be found among catfish. Here is a photo of such a catfish.
Other types of catfish
Here is a photo of a catfish from the Clariidae family. In Russia, they are often bred in aquariums, where they reach a size of 30 centimeters. In nature, they reach much larger sizes.
