There are about 3,000 species of catfish worldwide, belonging to over Forty taxonomic groups. However, the “whiskers” which provide species their feline appearance are what all species have in prevalent.
These are not genuine whiskers, but rather extremely sensitive structures around the mouth. Although they are not as common, catfish can still be found. These barbels are utilized by catfish to identify food nearby.
Since most catfish are bottom feeders, this is really beneficial. They consume other little creatures that dwell in the shadowy depths of the water as well as plants. When their vision is impaired, the barbels aid in their ability to sense vegetation and potential prey.
Scaly fish are also called catfish. Every one of the several species either has nothing on their skin or a special plate armor.
It’s remarkable enough that there are so similar to catfish families with such a high degree of similarity. However, catfish are not limited to their own type. Numerous additional fish have characteristics in common with catfish.
These 17 animals share a characteristic with at least one species that similar to catfish:
- Atlantic mudskipper
- Banggai cardinalfish
- Blue tilapia
- Common barbel
- Common carp
- Doctor fish
- Dusky flathead
- European sturgeon
- Greenland cod
- Green moray eel
- Mandarinfish
- Northern snakehead
- Nurse shark
- Siamese algae eater
- Stonefish
- Striped red mullet
- Yoyo loach
1. Atlantic Mudskipper
Scientific name: Periophthalmus barbarus
Similarity: Catfish and Atlantic mudskippers have the ability to “breathe” out of the water.
Being a fish that spends little time in the water, the Atlantic mudskipper is unique. It really lives out of the water 90% of the time, breathing in airborne oxygen through a unique skin cavity mucosa.
This reminds me of certain fishes that similar to catfish species, such the wandering catfish, Clarias batrachus. Adjacent to their gill cavities are unique organs protected by a respiratory membrane.
2. Banggai Cardinalfish
Scientific name: Pterapogon kauderni
Similarity: Both catfish and cardinalfish are “mouthbrooders.”
A tropical fish found in the Banggai Islands is called the Banggai cardinalfish. Similar to catfish in the Ariidae family, these are mouthbrooder fish.
Until they hatch, both species of fish harbor their eggs inside their mouths.
The young can remain in their parents’ jaws for a while even after they hatch. Cardinalfish are paternal mouthbrooders, just similar to catfish. Instead of the females carrying the eggs and young, it is the males.
3. Blue Tilapia
Scientific name: Oreochromis aureus
Similarity: In addition to being a common and plentiful food source, fish also have a very comparable flavor.
American soul food has a long history similar to catfish, which is still a popular dish today. Tilapia is also a highly popular food source due to its ease of production.
Additionally, because of their similar tastes, the two fish are frequently used in cookery as stand-ins for one another.
4. Common Barbel
Scientific name: Barbus barbus
Similarity: The “whiskers” that catfish and barbels have close to their lips are used for bottom eating.
The whiskery appendages near the fish’s mouth are referred to as the “barbel” in the fish’s name. The fish uses these barbels as sensory organs to aid in their food search.
Long barbels are another feature that gives catfishes their feline look. In order to find food at the bottom of their environments, where it is difficult to see, both fish use their barbels.
5. Common Carp
Scientific name: Cyprinus carpio
Similarity: All across their bodies are taste receptors found in carp and catfish.
The taste buds on catfish’s mouths are not their only organ. Their bodies are covered in an amazing amount of taste receptors. This helps them find food in the murky waters.
Although it doesn’t have as many as similar to catfish, common carps have taste buds all throughout their bodies. They have significantly smaller whiskery barbels than catfish, though.
6. Doctor Fish
Scientific name: Garra rufa
Similarity: Catfish and doctor fish, often known as red garra, are bottom feeders that have noticeable whiskers, or “barbels.”
Small fish with delicate yet persistent eating habits are known as doctor fish. Because of their tiny size and preference for eating with scratchy plates in their mouths, they are also known as “nibble fish.”
In certain spas, they’re even utilized as organic exfoliators, sucking and nibbling away at dead skin.
However, they’re more frequently seen along riverbeds, where they hunt for food with their tiny barbels, much similar to catfish.
7. Dusky Flathead
Scientific name: Platycephalus fuscus
Similarity: Flatheads and catfish have similar eating habits in addition to having the same morphology.
These fish are named for their flat heads, which resemble catfish heads in form. They have a similar brownish coloration and are both quite pointed.
Furthermore, similar to catfish, flatheads enjoy feeding near the bottom of their respective ecosystems. Catfish prefer to feed on aquatic vegetation, algae, and tiny crustaceans.
Although they are a bit more aggressive, flatheads still prefer to remain near the bottom. Sometimes they will be half submerged in the mud as they wait for their victim to pass by. The tiny fish and crustaceans that pass by will then be ambushed by them.
8. European Sturgeon
Scientific name: Acipenser sturio
Similarity: Another fish with a lengthy body that similar to catfish with conspicuous barbels by its mouth.
Sturgeons may live for as long as fifty years, if not more. During that time, they can grow up to a maximum length of twenty feet.
In addition, the wels catfish is renowned for its size and lifespan. They have a 20–30 year lifespan and may reach a height of nine feet. One lived to be eighty years old in the wild.
Long barbels that are located close to the mouths of sturgeons and catfish aid in their ability to locate food.
9. Greenland Cod
Scientific name: Gadus ogac
Similarity: This cod eats at the ocean’s bottom similar to catfish and has a barbel resembling that of a catfish.
The fish known as greenland cod, or ogac, lives on the icy Arctic continental shelf. They use a single, long barbel to feed along the ocean’s bottom.
The primary food source for a Greenland fish is crustaceans like shrimp and crabs. They do not, however, consume smaller organisms like plankton.
Vertebrates from the bottom of their ecosystems are also a favorite food of catfish. They will also consume many smaller fish and crustaceans, as well as plant algae.
10. Green Moray Eel
Scientific name: Gymnothorax funebris
Similarity: Moray eels and catfish both have skin, slime, or plates instead of scales.
Catfish and eels are among the few fish species without scales. Similar to Catfish can have armored dermal plates like sharks, or they might have merely skin.
Similarly, green moray eels lack scales. Rather, their skin is shielded and covered in a thick mucus. Their skin is really brown, which is what gives them their green hue.
Sea also: 9 Amazing Fish Similar To Crayfish (With Photos)
11. Mandarinfish
Scientific name: Synchiropus splendidus
Similarity: Mandarin fish and catfish lack the typical scales found on fish.
It’s simple to understand where the mandarinfish’s Latin name came from given its striking hues.
But scales aren’t the source of their brilliance. Rather, a coating of bitter slime covers the mandarinfish’s colorful skin.
As already mentioned, similar to catfish also lack typical scales. While some of them have no skin protection at all, others have armored plates at best.
12. Northern Snakehead
Scientific name: Channa argus
Similarity: Like walking catfish, snakeheads may live and move for days without water.
The fact that so many fish species are able to breathe outside of water may surprise you. Another species that can walk and breathe on land is the northern snakehead.
Their lips are used to take in oxygen through a suprabranchial organ, which is a unique chamber. The organ that walking catfish utilize is the same one.
13. Nurse Shark
Scientific name: Ginglymostoma cirratum
Similarity: Nurse sharks have two barbels in addition to non-traditional armor scales, similar to catfish.
Nurse sharks possess more than just sharp teeth in their jaws. They’ve covered their bodies as well. These so-called “dermal denticles” resemble plaques more than actual scales.
This is similar to armored catfish, such the suckermouth, except that its armor isn’t scales at all.
Nurse sharks and catfish have barbels in their mouths. Catfish can have several pairs, whereas nurse sharks only have one.
14. Siamese Algae Eater
Scientific name: Crossocheilus oblongus
Similarity: To feed near the bottom of their environments, these algae-eating fish and catfish both use barbels.
A Siamese algae eater’s diet consists primarily of algae, as one might anticipate from its name. They are bottom feeders both in the wild and in captivity. They really contribute to the cleanliness of aquariums.
Both similar to catfish and other bottom feeders have barbels next to their lips that aid in their food-scavenging.
15. Stonefish
Scientific name: Synanceia verrucosa
Similarity: Although certain catfish contain deadly venom, stonefish are the most dangerous fish.
In the water, it is quite difficult to notice the stonefish. Its skin is so tough that it looks like a lump of rock or coral.
Given that it is the most poisonous fish in the world, this makes it very deadly. It injects venom through the spines on its dorsal fin instead of biting or stinging.
Unexpectedly, certain fishes similar to catfish carry venoms as well as the potential to be fatal. More than half of the catfish species with venomous spines have been known to cause deaths.
16. Striped Red Mullet
Scientific name: Mullus surmuletus
Similarity: a kind of goatfish that similar to catfish in having a noticeable barbel mustache.
Primary food sources for striped red mullets include crustaceans. In fact, they can be referred to as “specialist” fish because of how limited their diet is.
These mullets have extremely sensitive barbels that enable them capture the exact prey they desire. These aid them in sifting through the water’s muddy bottom.
This is similar to bottom feeders like catfish. Deeper in the water, when vision is reduced, catfish and mullets require the additional sensory assistance that their barbels offer.
17. Yoyo Loach
Scientific name: Botia almorhae
Similarity: The unique body structure of loaches and catfish is used to enhance sound.
Yoyo loaches belong to the class Cypriniformes, which depends on sophisticated hearing and feeding mechanisms that evolved throughout time. The Weberian apparatus is the name of one of them.
The configuration of the ribs and vertebrates is such that it enhances the sound pressure changes that the gas bladder transmits to the inner ear.
Additionally, the unique bone arrangement similar to catfish renders them extremely sensitive to changes in sound in the water.
Conclusion:
There are many additional fish species with comparable characteristics in addition to the enormous number of catfish that exist worldwide. Many eat similar to catfish and have the same characteristic whisker-like protrusions that set them apart.
Certain similarities, including poisonous spines and specialized hearing structures, are less evident. All seventeen of the species on this list, common or unusual, have certain similar to catfish.