The pronunciation of catfish is introduced as follows:

The pinyin for catfish is [nián].

Catfish (scientific name: Silurus asotus) is a fish in the family Catfishidae, genus Catfish. The anterior part of the body is thick and rounded, the tail is laterally compressed, and the head is broad and flat. The snout is short and broadly rounded. Two pairs of nostrils, the anterior nostril has a short tube near the end of the muzzle. Oral fissure large, superior, lower jaw slightly protruding. Both jaws with a row of downy teeth. There are 3 pairs of whiskers in juveniles, and only 1 pair of whiskers in adults, the maxillary whiskers are slightly longer than the head, and the mandibular whiskers are 1/3 to 1/5 as long as the maxillary whiskers.

The body is naked and scale-free, and the skin is smooth. The lateral line is straight and extends to the caudal base along the middle of the lateral side of the body. The mucous pores are well developed and arranged in rows above the lateral line. The dorsal fin is short, with only 5 soft bars; the anal fin is long and connected to the caudal fin posteriorly; the pectoral fin has a serrated hard spine. The body is dark gray or grayish yellow, the dorsal side of the body is grayish black, the abdomen is white, and the side of the body has irregular white spots or inconspicuous markings.

The catfish is a warm-water fish that mainly inhabits the middle and lower reaches of rivers and reservoirs, lakes and swamps. The catfish lives in aquatic plants in the static water or slow current. Catfish have sharp jaw teeth, short intestines and stomachs, and are a fierce carnivorous fish. Under natural conditions, the fry stage can feed on rotifers, water fleas, water worms and other fish fry. The seed stage and adult stage feeds on the bottom layer of miscellaneous fish, shrimp and aquatic insects.

The fish it feeds on are mostly small fishes, such as tiger fish, crucian carp, catfish, catfish, loach, crabs, etc. It also eats shrimps and aquatic insects. It is distributed in Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku), China, Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam and Russia. In China, it is distributed in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Zhejiang, almost all over the country in all waterways.