Catfish can be attributed to the oldest fish that inhabit the fresh waters of the planet. These scaleless creatures are undoubted champions in size and weight among their freshwater counterparts. You can often hear legends about cannibal catfish that have been living at the bottom of rivers for more than a century.
River catfish
Cats are freshwater predators that live mainly in rivers. This fish chooses a hole at the bottom of the river for its dwelling, which it leaves only to search for food or during spawning. Catfish feed on small fish, crustaceans and even frogs.
It is impossible to say exactly how many years a catfish lives, but fish farmers were able to compile a table of the ratio of weight and age of fish. For example, individuals weighing 10 kg lived for 5 years, 32 kg - 12 years, 128 kg - 50 years. Fishermen most often fall for fish weighing up to 30 kg, because catching catfish is not so easy. For these reasons, the question of how long catfish live remains open. Catfish have no scales at all, their body is covered with thick mucus to protect them from parasites. As you know, these fish grow upquite quickly: already in the fourth year of life, the catfish can be considered an adult mature fish.
Lake catfish
You can rarely meet catfish in lakes and ponds. In these reservoirs, they are most often accidental. Outwardly, lake catfish practically do not differ from river catfish; the only difference is the darker color of the skin. In the lake, these fish do not live as long as catfish live in rivers. It has to do with diet. Indeed, in stagnant lake water there is not much choice in food. It is because of this diet that lake catfish are not large in size. On average, the weight of such fish does not exceed 5 kg. The average life expectancy of catfish in such conditions is much less than that of river dwellers. The average age of river fish is 80 years. This is the answer to the question of how long catfish live in favorable conditions (lakes and ponds can hardly be classified as such). From this we can conclude that it will not be possible to find centenarians among lake catfish.
Aquarium catfish
Decorative and hybrid species of catfish are very popular among lovers of aquarium fish. The catfish is often referred to as an aquarium orderly due to its sedentary lifestyle and sucker-like mouth.
In the content of these fish are quite unpretentious and easily get along with other species without creating conflicts. The colors of catfish are never bright and beautiful - this is due to the fact that the fish disguise themselves as the bottom, where they spend most of their time. Catfish are active at night, so it is desirable to have shelters for these fish in the aquarium. For thissnags, stone castles, caves or other secluded places are suitable. How long do catfish live in an aquarium? It depends on the conditions in which the fish are kept. If you observe the temperature conditions and the feeding regime, then the catfish can live for about 8 years. But some hybrid species of such fish can live up to 10 years with good maintenance. They should be fed in the evening, but they can find their own food. For example, by filtering the bottom of the aquarium, catfish find food leftovers from other fish.
Catfish-centenarians
This freshwater fish is famous for its fatty and tasty meat, so the fishermen simply do not let the catfish grow. Under natural conditions, catfish can easily live for more than a hundred years. But humanity is constantly polluting water resources, thereby calling into question the normal existence of fish. Therefore, how long catfish live depends primarily on their living conditions.
In history there is a lot of evidence of giant catfish, whose weight reaches more than 300 kg. Accordingly, scientists suggest that the age of such individuals is more than 100 years. It can be assumed that there are older catfish, which, according to legend, prey on swimming dogs and even people, but this information has not yet been confirmed.
