When I’m not blogging for mental_floss, I can usually be found wearing bright orange rubber pants and gutting, cutting and selling fish at my local Whole Foods (and winning awards for it). Sometimes, my two worlds collide and I find some scientific research involving my ocean-dwelling friends that begs for a blog post. This is one of those times.
1. Catfish are seriously terrifying
The order Siluriformes (we know its members as catfish) is diverse group. It contains 34 recognized families, which contain over 400 genera, which contain some 3,000+ known species. Some of these catfish have long been known to be venomous, but the number of venomous species and their distribution on the evolutionary tree have only recently been examined and documented.
Jeremy Wright, from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, recently published the results of a histological and toxicological investigation into venomous catfish.[1] He cataloged 158 venomous species and looked into the biological effects of their venom (the venoms have neurotoxic and hemolytic[2] properties and can produce “severe pain, ischemia, muscle spasms and respiratory distress” (though a single species’ venom may not produce all of these effects). Wright’s results allowed him to estimate the total number of venomous species and he writes that his results indicate that approximately 1250-1625+ catfish species should be presumed venomous. If his numbers are accurate, venomous catfish may outnumber the combined total of all other venomous vertebrate species.
I, for one, welcome our poisonous catfish overlords and am immediately switching to oyster po’ boys.
2. Pipefish will break a few eggs to make an omelet
Male pipefish, like their seashorse cousins, take on a lot of child care responsibility. After conceiving, females hand over a hundred or so fertilized eggs to the males, who carry and nourish them until they hatch. For a while, it was great fodder for “best animal dads” stories around Father’s Day time, but then some researchers studying broad-nosed pipefish noticed that a few eggs (or sometimes the whole batch) tend to “reduce” or disappear after the father is left to babysit.[3]
Researchers radioactively labeled a batch of eggs prior to their transfer to a male so they could trace nutrient uptake from these eggs and found that the labeled amino acids wound up in the father’s brood pouch, liver and muscle tissues. The research suggests that the blood vessels in the fathers’ brood pouches allow them siphon away nutrients from their eggs. This seems to be done for the father’s own use, and not for the redistribution of nutrients among the other eggs since the labeled amino acids weren’t observed in the rest of the eggs!
1Jeremy J Wright. “Diversity, phylogenetic distribution, and origins of venomous catfishes.” BMC Evolutionary Biology 2009, 9:282. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-282.
2Hemolytic venoms have the particularly gruesome effect of breaking down the flesh. The blood vessels exposed to the venom lose their ability to contain the blood, the clotting effect is suppressed, and the flesh in the area fills with fluid and dies.
3Gry Sagebakken, Ingrid Ahnesjö, Kenyon B. Mobley, Inês Braga Gonçalves, Charlotta Kvarnemo. “Brooding fathers, not siblings, take up nutrients from embryos.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Published online before print November 25, 2009. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1767
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Seems to me I recall a story about people in the south who go fishing by sticking their arm into a hole in the water and wait for a giant catfish to swallow their hand. Then they just pull the fish out. These people are either the bravest or stupidest people on the planet!
All hail the catfish overlords!
posted by RJ on 12-29-2009 at 10:47 am
I can personally vouch for the toxicity of one species of catfish. Though labeled mildly toxic I was once impaled in the soft area of the hand between the thumb and palm by the dorsal fin of a saltwater species. It was a large Hardhead Catfish (Arius felis). Within 5 minutes of being finned I felt that my entire arm was going to explode. The pain lasted about 30 minutes. It wasn’t even worth the pain to land the fish as they’re not even worth eating. :(
reCAPTCHA: the octopi
posted by Steve S on 12-29-2009 at 10:53 am
RJ- It’s called “noodling”. YouTube it! It’s definitely not something I’d like to do on a Sunday afternoon…
posted by Jane on 12-29-2009 at 10:59 am
RJ, what you’re referring to is called \noodling\. I think they’re NUTS! Ever seen the mouth of a 200 pound alligator snapping turtle? They sometimes like to hide out in those holes, too. I’d like to keep all my fingers, thank you!
posted by Steve S on 12-29-2009 at 11:03 am
I have always been amazed by the slimy bellies of catfish.
I received a good sized scrape from a catfish as I was trying to remove a hook on a pier over the Mississippi Sound at night when I was a kid and someone told me to rub the scratch on the catfish’s stomach.
The jellylike film instantly stopped the burning sensation that was by then spreading through my hand.
I don’t know if it was the power of suggestion or not, but I’ve heard from fishermen for years that rubbing your cut on the belly of the fish that scratched or stabbed you works like a charm.
And I prefer fried shrimp poboys.
I like my catfish sliced thin, soaked in lemon juice, fried and served with french fries and Abita Amber.
posted by Steve on 12-29-2009 at 11:11 am
I’ve actually gone noodling before and the trick is to slowly wave your fingers around in the hole as if they were live bait. Once the fish bites (feels like someone grabbing you with sandpaper gloves) you jam your hand thru the gill slit and haul it up before it decides to try to keep you under. There have been several drownings where the \noodler\ couldn’t get back to the surface in time.
posted by Jerry on 12-29-2009 at 1:30 pm
Oh yeah, and if noodling doesn’t work you can always try “freestyle fishing”. This involves either half-sticks of dynamite or the generator out of an old crank style phone. Either way the fish will now come to you. ;-)
posted by Jerry on 12-29-2009 at 1:32 pm
(the other)Steve, I later learned about rubbing the belly on the wound and it does work. The catfish may have an antidote in their slime that protects them when aggressively spawning.
posted by Steve S on 12-29-2009 at 2:59 pm
Just FYI, for those of you considering following Jerry’s suggestions, all of the above are typically illegal in Southern states. Noodling is definitely illegal, as it’s done during spawning season. And snapping turtles/alligators aren’t the only worries: don’t forget about the Cottonmouths (aka water moccasins).
posted by Megan on 12-29-2009 at 4:41 pm
I think that anyone who fishes for catfish has gotten “stung” at one time or another. Most of them have a a top fin with some venom. My stings have all been like like a super bee sting, unpleasant but not dangerous. Yes, I know bee stings can be fatal but fresh channel catfish battered and fried up in some bacon grease on a lake side picnic. “Summertime and the living is easy, fish are jumping.”
posted by Papoon for president on 12-29-2009 at 8:46 pm
Steve and Steve,
Catfish skin secretions are definitely antimicrobial and have been shown to accelerate the healing of wounds. Not sure if they act as an antidote to their own venom, though.
posted by Matt Soniak on 12-29-2009 at 8:58 pm
As someone who lives in the south I never seen anyone noodleing to catch a fish that just stupid personally I would rather have a pole,line and bait to catch a fish it may be slow work but slow and steady wins the race.
posted by Kari on 12-29-2009 at 9:21 pm
A list of two, Matt?
Seriously, two?
posted by drunko on 12-30-2009 at 2:22 am
Ya know, I didn’t notice that word “two” in that there title. Please forgive me at this late hour.
Note to editor/moderator: I will not be offended if you choose to omit this and my previous comment.
posted by drunko on 12-30-2009 at 2:30 am