It is covered in the sense of taste. Its taste buds are not only in the mouth: they line the barbels, the lips, the fins and practically all of the skin, with tens of thousands spread over the body. It is, literally, a swimming tongue.
From Channel Catfish
That lets it locate food in murky water and at night without seeing it, following a chemical trail just as a dog follows a scent.
From Channel Catfish
It is the mainstay species of freshwater aquaculture in the United States, with an industry worth billions of dollars in the southern states.
From Channel Catfish
Its barbels are covered in taste buds: it literally tastes the water and the bottom to find food in complete darkness.
From Giant River-catfish
It is one of the most commercially valuable catfish in southern Asia, and its population has fallen because of dams that cut off its spawning migrations.
From Giant River-catfish
It is one of the largest catfish in the Indian subcontinent: it reaches a metre and a half.
From Giant River-catfish
Its electric organ, derived from the pectoral musculature, wraps around almost the whole body and produces discharges of several hundred volts.
From African Electric Catfish
Its eyes are very small and it hunts and navigates almost entirely by its electrical discharges.
From African Electric Catfish

Ecosystems