Scientific name:
Siluriformes

Natural spread:
global occurrences

the catfish forms a tribal-historically old group of fishings. they are in all continents, excluded the Antarctica, spread subsequently. The large majority of the approximately 2000 known types carries longer, occasionally even very long Barteln, that these fish make distinctive, at the head. The body either is completely bare or from hard bone-plates covered; Sheds are missing in every case. Many catfish carry a dorsal fin between back-fin and tail fluke. The fore rays of breast often are -, stomach and back-fin thorn-nicely reinforces. The mouth of the catfish is only very little before-extensible; the upper jaw is strongly reduced with many types. it merely still then serves as base-surface for the Barteln.

Another characteristic characteristic for all catfish is the Webersche appliance, that however, also the carp-fish show. The Webersche appliance, a stale-leading bone-bridge between swimming-blister and inner-ear, increases the sensitivity for sound-attractions considerably. Sound-production and sound-reception play a big role, especially for the reunion of the sexes, at all with the night-active catfish.

The armor-catfish possess a suction-mouth, with whose help they can hold on to stones of tearing brooks. The here portrayed South American Punktschilderwels (Plecostomus punctatus) regulates the light-idea of the eye with a rag-shaped, movable fort-sentence of the iris.