🐟Wels catfish
The wels catfish, also called sheatfish or just wels, is a large species of catfish native to wide areas of central, southern, and eastern Europe, in the basins of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. It has been introduced to several countries in Western Europe, Mediterranean and Asia as a prized sport fish. Its modern day range spans from the United Kingdom in the west to western China in the east.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2024.
- Body mass
- 168 kg
- Body length
- 2.73 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 60 years
Everything we know about the Wels catfish
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass168 kgrecord 130 kg · FishBaseAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Body length2.73 mmaximum recordedFishBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Maximum lifespan60 yearsrecord 80 years · FishBaseAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Trophic level4.36FishBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: FishBase · v25.04, estimate table · CC BY-NC 4.0
DietcarnivoreaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
From trophic level 4.36 (FishBase): <2.2 herbivore, 2.2–2.8 omnivore, >2.8 carnivore.
Danger to humanspotential pestFishBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Volume l168 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Wels catfish yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- superclassRay-finned fish · Actinopterygii
- suborderSiluroidei
- familySiluridae
- genusSilurus
All 13 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassRay-finned fish · Actinopterygii
- classActinopteri
- subclassNeopterygii
- superorderCharaciphysae
- orderSiluriformes
- suborderSiluroidei
- familySiluridae
- genusSilurus
More about the Wels catfish
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