Pterygoplichthys species, released by aquarium fishkeepers, have also established feral populations in many warm waters around the world. Flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris, is also a North American pest on Atlantic slope drainages. Walking catfish have also been introduced in the freshwater areas of Florida, with the voracious catfish becoming a major alien pest there. Representatives of the genus Ictalurus have been introduced into European waters in the hope of obtaining a sporting and food resource, but the European stock of American catfishes has not achieved the dimensions of these fish in their native waters, and have only increased the ecological pressure on native European fauna. These nicknames are not standardized, so one area may call a bullhead catfish by the nickname 'chucklehead', while in another state or region, that nickname refers to the blue catfish. In the Southern United States, catfish species may be known by a variety of slang names, such as 'mud cat', 'polliwogs', or 'chuckleheads'. Numerous species from the families Ariidae and Plotosidae, and a few species from among the Aspredinidae and Bagridae, are found in salt water. One such species is Phreatobius cisternarum, known to live underground in phreatic habitats. Representatives of at least eight families are hypogean (live underground) with three families that are also troglobitic (inhabiting caves). They are found in fresh water environments, though most inhabit shallow, running water. They are the only ostariophysans that have entered freshwater habitats in Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea. More than half of all catfish species live in the Americas. They are most diverse in tropical South America, Asia, and Africa, with one family native to North America and one family in Europe. Catfish have inhabited all continents at one time or another. Many catfish are nocturnal, but others (many Auchenipteridae) are crepuscular or diurnal (most Loricariidae or Callichthyidae, for example).Д®cology Distribution and habitat Д®xtant catfish species live inland or in coastal waters of every continent except Antarctica. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels or 'whiskers'. Neither the armour-plated types nor the naked types have scales. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia, and the piraГba of South America, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. Catfish (or catfishes order Siluriformes / s ЙЄ Л€ lj КЉЙ™r ЙЄ f Й”Лђr m iЛђ z/ or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish.

Coastal spine and pain