The internet is full of fabulous facts about everything from current events to the history basket weaving and catfish fun facts. As we research for our daily content on food trucks, food carts and street food, we stumble upon some items of knowledge that we just did not know.

We have decided when these fun facts pop up, that we would share them with our readers in our section titled “Did You Know?”

For today’s Did You Know we will look at Catfish fun facts.

Catfish Fun Facts: Catfish are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbs, which resemble a cat’s whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa.

  • Catfish are raised in fresh water ponds only about four to six feet deep.
  • Farm raised catfish are taught to eat feed pellets that float on top of the water.  Wild catfish are bottom feeders.
  • One catfish can lay up to 4,000 eggs a year per pound of body weight.
  • The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
  • Young catfish are called “sac fry”  because they still live off of the food supplied by the yolk sacs.
  • When catfish reach 4 inches long they are called “fingerlings” (the size of an index finger).
  • Catfish are harvested in nets when they weigh about one to one and a half pounds.
  • About 95% of the nation’s farm-raised catfish is raised in Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana.
  • Catfish is now the 5th most popular fish in America.
  • Catfish is available all year round.
  • The largest confirmed record in the U.S. was a blue catfish weighing 150 pounds in 1879.

Key Dates

  • June 25th is National Catfish Day.
  • August is National Catfish month.

Catfish Fun Facts We Missed

Let us know if we missed any catfish fun facts in the comment section or our food truck forum. We always love to add to these lists. If we can verify that the facts is just that, a fact, we will give the reader credit in the article.

Reference: Wikipedia: Fun Facts about Catfish.

Find all of the National Food Holidays to spice up your food truck menu specials throughout the year.