How crazy are catfish growing rate? If it keeps growing, how many pounds can it grow?
In 2005, fishermen in northern Thailand accidentally caught an oversized Thai bearded catfish weighing 293 kilograms in the Mekong River, shocking the news that scientists determined it was the world's largest freshwater fish ever discovered.
I'm sure everyone has seen catfish, and its long beard is its characteristic, but do you know how crazy it grows? If you don't suppress it and keep growing, how many pounds can it grow? Today, I will take you to explore the secrets behind it.
What do you know about catfish?
Catfish are catfish in the order Catfish. It has no scales, a flattened head, a flattened tail, a mucus surface, four beards on its upper and lower jaws, a small dorsal fin, and an fin connected to the caudal fin.
Catfish mainly live in the middle and lower layers of rivers, lakes, reservoirs and pits, and are mostly active in coastal areas. Catfish are nocturnal animals that hide under grass, rocks or deep water during the day, and foraging at night.
Catfish are carnivorous fish with a large diet, and their predators are mostly small fish, such as crucian carp, carp, loach, etc., and also eat shrimp and aquatic insects. It begins to forage in the spring and overwinters in deep water or sludge after autumn, and its feeding is reduced.
Catfish have small eyes, weak vision, day and night, all rely on smell and two pairs of tentacles to hunt, very gluttonous, the hotter the weather, the greater the amount of food, cloudy days and frequent night activities.
In addition, catfish has delicate flesh, rich nutrition, and also has certain medicinal value.
Why do catfish grow to 293 kg?
First of all, catfish eat a large amount and have a special body structure, the mouth is the widest place in the whole body, in the face of small food, usually a mouth can swallow them.
Moreover, the catfish's big belly allows it to hold a lot of food, and the juveniles of about 500 grams alone swallow a large amount of crucian carp, carp, etc. Its own digestive ability is also very strong, and the food swallowed in the stomach can be digested quickly.
Secondly, catfish has a strong ability to adapt to the environment, it is suitable for living in water temperature 20~25 °C water, but its requirements for water quality are very low, in the stone gap near the river and the bottom of the root of the soil hole or stone hole can survive.
Therefore, with the right water temperature and sufficient food, catfish can survive, and its lifespan can reach 70 years.
Finally, catfish has strong fighting power, hundreds of sharp teeth in the mouth, it is mainly swallowed, the role of teeth is to prevent food from escaping.
Catfish hunt with their sense of smell and two pairs of tentacles, which leaves the prey with nowhere to escape. Adult catfish have few natural predators, and most fish will run away after seeing its large mouth, which also makes catfish more arrogant.
If it grows all the time, how many pounds can a catfish grow?
It stands to reason that catfish can grow all the time, and in the case of sufficient food, catfish can weigh fifty or sixty pounds in two or three years, and the body length can reach one meter, so the catfish may grow as big as a small shark.
However, the growth of catfish will be affected by the living environment and species, some catfish only weigh a few pounds, and some can reach hundreds of pounds.
And catfish also have a lifespan constraint, so it is almost impossible for catfish to grow all the time.
