| It’s
Catfish Gnome! And he’s making his annual appearance
during the magical month of August, National Catfish Month,
the only time this cool cat can escape the constraints of
his tank. Now you too can catch that character of the murky
depths. |
|
- CATCH
ME IF YOU CAN
Where
in the Web is Catfish Gnome? During National Catfish Month
“catch” Catfish Gnome wherever he may roam on
the Tennessee Aquarium's Web site to reel in a deal. If
you’re fishin’ for more than compliments, get
the angle on catch
and release guidelines.
- SEND
AN E-POSTCARD
Like other roaming gnomes, Catfish Gnome is on the move.
Check out his travels and send
your own postcard to friends and family. Use our captions
or create your own.
- I'M
MAGICALLY DELICIOUS
Gnomes are notoriously naughty when it comes to selling
out their fellow feline fish, but they just can’t
deny how tasty a fish dish they are. The Aquarium even has
o-fish-al catfish
recipes. Click here for more
recipes. Or check out the dishes at Big
River Grille, an official sponsor of the Tennessee Aquarium.
Catfish aren’t just tasteeeeee, they have excellent
taste. Did you know that a catfish has more than 27,000
taste buds?
-
THE LEGEND OF CATFISH GNOME
Long
ago in a river far, far away lived a catfish who longed
to travel the world. Read the Legend
of Catfish Gnome and learn more about National Catfish
Month.
- IT'S
NATIONAL CATFISH MONTH!
The
dog days of summer can mean only one thing - it’s
time to celebrate America’s favorite fish. You’ll
be grinning from your gills to your tail fin when you see
what’s flappin’ and happenin’ at
the Aquarium during August.
- CATFISH
FUN FACTS
Aquarium biologists and officials with The
Catfish Institute offer the following statements for
you to grapple with.
- The
candiru, a small, South American catfish has been known
to enter the urethras of bathers and swimming animals.
- A
female blue catfish can produce as many as 100,000 eggs
at a time.
- It
is illegal to lasso a fish in Tennessee.
- The
walking catfish moves across land from one body of water
to another. It uses its pectoral fins like legs and
has a modified gill chamber to get oxygen from the air.
- Texans
eat more catfish than any other state in America.
- The
catfish is the official fish of Missouri.
- Catfish
don’t have scales.
- The
electric catfish, native to Africa, is capable of generating
up to 350 volts.
- The
glass catfish is mostly transparent and often seen in
home aquariums.
- The
“whiskers” that make catfish look like cats
are really barbels (bar-bulls), which are covered with
tastebuds that allow the fish to find food in the murkiest
of water.
- Belzoni,
Miss., claims to be the catfish capital of the world.
They have a festival and a catfish
eating contest.
- The
Aquarium features a large collection of freshwater catfish.
They come from four different continents and range in
size from 1 inch in length to 4 feet. Some species,
like the blue and channel catfish in the Nickajack exhibit,
are quite common. Others, like the red tail Sternella
plecostomus in the Amazon River exhibit, are quite
rare.
- KING
KONG MEKONG CATFISH -- In June World Wildlife Fund documented
the world's largest living freshwater fish: 646-pound
catfish netted in Thailand. Fishermen in northern Thailand
netted a fish as big as a grizzly bear, a 646-pound
Mekong giant catfish, the heaviest recorded since Thai
officials started keeping records in 1981. The behemoth
was caught in the Mekong River and may be the largest
freshwater fish ever found.
- COLOR
ME CATFISH CRAZY
Download Catfish Gnome to color and check out some other
kid-friendly activities and links. One of the staff favs
is an online
touch pool at Planet Catfish. It’s just plain
wacky.
Presented
by Big River Grille, official sponsor of the Tennessee Aquarium
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