Wels catfish
Silurus glanis
— Where the name comes from
Sílouros was the Greek name of a large river fish, perhaps this one, and glanis that of another river fish mentioned by Aristotle: Linnaeus put two ancient names together for the same animal. It is the largest freshwater fish in Europe and gives its name to the whole catfish order.
— Facts
- Group
- Fish · Actinopterygii · Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Catfishes
- Habitat
- Large slow rivers, deep lakes, canals
- Range
- Eastern and central Europe; introduced to Italy, France and Spain
- Size
- 150–200 cm, up to 270 cm; 20–100 kg, records over 130
- Diet
- Fish, ducks, rodents, carrion
- Lifespan
- 30 years, some over 60
— Characteristics
- 01
It has six barbels and poor eyesight: it hunts in the dark by touch and smell.
- 02
The skin is naked, without a single scale.
- 03
It senses vibrations in the water with an extremely fine lateral line.
— What sets it apart
In the river Tarn in southern France some catfish have learned to beach themselves. They approach the edge where pigeons come down to drink, launch themselves out of the water to seize one and writhe back in: filmed and published in 2012, the technique succeeds about one attempt in three and is practised only by certain individuals in that stretch of river. It is a hunting method invented locally by an introduced fish, on prey that forms no part of its evolutionary history.
