Curious Catfish Facts Explained: What Do Catfish Eat?

The catfish is of the order Siluriformes, named because of their barbles which look like the whiskers of a cat.

There are many types of catfish like blue catfish, bullhead catfish, flathead catfish, channel catfish, which are available in different sizes and behavior. A few of the largest species of catfish that are alive are the Mekong Giant Catfish, the Wels Catfish, and the Paraiba Catfish (which lives in South America).

Catfish shows a variety of feeding habits and are also a diverse group of fishes. Some of them grow to be a herbivore or a scavenger, some of them even possess the ability to swallow one fish as a whole or even some other prey as well.

Currently, there is an estimation of 29,000 catfish species present in the world.

Catfish's entire body is covered with taste buds because there are no scales on its skin and can detect chemicals in the water and respond to touch. These sensory organs are present on barbels.

Catfish are freshwater fish and are found in freshwater lakes, rivers, ponds, farm ponds, channels.

Catfish feed on swallowing as they had no teeth to chew it swallows plant matter, algae, small fish, insects, fish eggs, aquatic birds, frogs, snails, and some very large behemoth swallows an entire fish as the main food source and are the main food for these species.

Catfish are also used as food diets by humans as food catfish are enriched with lean protein, vitamins, healthy fats, minerals, and vitamins.

Catfish is very popular among humans and even Environmental Protection Agency has listed them under the most consumed fish because of its low mercury content.

People also keep these aquatic animals species in captivity with crustaceans and pellets to feed them. Catfish shows a variety of feeding habits.

You can also check why do fish jump and why do fishes die when taken out of water articles on our website.

What do catfish like to eat?

The entire body of catfish species is covered with taste buds because of no scales and its whiskers (like a cat) are the most prominent and play a vital role in catching prey.

The catfish diet consists of algae, small fish, insects, aquatic plants, fish eggs, snails, frogs, and sometimes the catfish, which becomes a large Behemoth can even swallow one entire small or medium fish in one go which is like the main food source or the primary intake or diet.

The Young Channel Catfish mainly likes to consume aquatic insects like dragonfly larvae, water beetles, and fly larvae. After reaching adulthood, the catfish begins to consume aquatic plants, small fish, seeds, invertebrates, crawfish, algae, and snails.

There have been cases when this Channel catfish even attained a length of 18 in (45.72 cm).

They prefer to eat very small live fish as their diet. Catfish also like to eat crabs and crayfish.

Flathead catfish eat live fish as their prey as it hid behind submerged water and swallows whole fish they can catch around their mouth.

Bullheads catfish and channel cats also search for live food but they also eat decaying fish or algae along the way. Most catfish are voracious predators, meaning they look for food everywhere throughout the water column, from the depths to the top.

Catfish discovered their food in murky waters as well because their strong odor detecting organs and taste receptors along their bodies assist catfish in finding food is low. Young catfish eat little can be of a very small insect and algae.

Catfish reproduce by depositing eggs, which the male catfish guards, and newly hatched fry until they are grown and strong enough to go out on their own, looking for food.

In their youth, the catfishes prefer eating those food items, which they can capture easily like aquatic insects, worms, and invertebrates. Catfish species are very popular and also have a top place in the preference of humans for eating fish.

Do catfish eat algae?

Catfish like to eat algae along as they are bottom feeders and algae are found in the bottom of ponds or rivers or canals so most are algae eaters.

A few catfish species like to eat algae and wood while another parasitic is live off the blood of other fish, frogs, aquatic birds animals like rodents. Twig catfish are known to love eating algae the most and even now the availability of these fishes is increasing a lot.

They are very much flexible in eating different types of food.

They are one of the ideal candidates for a large aquarium as they occupy the lower portions of it, which most of the species don't use and they eat frozen pellets as their diet in aquariums because catfishes do not usually prefer to eat anything else other than these pellets.

Catfish are freshwater fish and are found in freshwater, farm ponds, channels.

Catfish shows a variety of feeding habits and are also a diverse group of fishes. The sensory organs are present on barbels.

Do catfish eat other fish?

Catfish eat other smaller fish species, which are available in their habitat whether it is a river, pond, shallow water body, which includes perch, bluegill, shad, small carp, drum, and all kinds of baitfish.

Catfish also eat other catfishes while they are catfishing crustaceans, fish, or plant matter. Catfish eat dead fishes also sometimes and the reason anglers or fish catchers use these dead fishes as baits are because they smell strong and catfishes are known to smell their bait more knowingly than others.

Catfishes really like to eat live small fishes normally.

A young catfish is also called a fiddler, and feeds on crawfish, snails, crustaceans, green algae, aquatic birds, aquatic plants matter, small fish, seeds, larvae, and these are also the main baits used by anglers. Catfish grow best in warm water.

These fishes are considered to be better night hunters. Some species of catfish move to the shallow water from the deeper water to get food to feed at night, which helps them find and catch very easily.

The best example of this is the Whisker fish which very comfortably prey during the night by swimming in the shallow water. Flathead catfish eat live fish.

Can catfish eat humans?

Catfish are big and might have the tendency to feed on humans, not completely. Actually, it's quite controversial.

They are suspected to drown even live victims. Many a time in the news also, Goonch catfish are accused of feeding on the corpses of fishermen.

These fishes can even attain a length of 10 ft (3.04 m). In one of the cases, a body was also inside the deal Wels catfish.

But to date, no one is able to guess if the victim was swallowed alive or dead. In the continent of North America, one new species of catfish was found some time ago.

In the whole world, there are many Catfish species that can even kill humans quite easily. The venom of catfish poisons humans and later breaks down the entire nervous system.

Between India and Nepal, in the Great Kali river, a large catfish was found in the year 2008 and was accused to have eaten a lot of swimmers in the rivers. But still, there is no clear evidence till now that a catfish can eat humans, nobody has seen it live.

What do catfish eat in a pond?

Catfish when young are called fiddlers, a freshwater species, primarily feed on snails, aquatic insects, green algae, seeds, small fish, and aquatic plants.

Channel catfish also accept commercial pellet food. Catfish tend to grow best in warm water. The algae of ponds can be called one of the favorites of catfishes with the small fishes.

Catfish eat shad, or sponge baits while in a pond, but the crayfish is the most preferred of the catfish diet. In summer, catfish feed more actively and can be taken just about anywhere in the pond as long as the bait is on or near the bottom.

The spring baits are worms, liver, and shrimp. Flathead catfish eat live fish. North America and Europe have many species of catfishes.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for what do catfish eat, then why not take a look at what do insects eat or catfish facts?