Climbing Catfish Filmed Scaling Waterfalls

Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago

MaysonL

170 points

44 comments

science.orgNewsstory

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EnvironmentFish BehaviorNatural History

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Environment

Fish Behavior

Natural History

As a mesmerizing video of catfish scaling waterfalls goes viral, the internet is abuzz with curiosity about their clever climbing technique, with one commenter noting they've figured out how to "wiggle themselves forward using their tails, then land in a way that creates a suction between their belly and the rocks." The discussion quickly veers off into a lively debate about the edibility of catfish, with some swearing by its flavor, while others can't stand it - a divide that seems to be influenced by regional differences, with farm-raised catfish in the US South being a particular standout. Meanwhile, others chime in with tales of hand-fishing for catfish, a time-honored tradition in some parts of the world. The varied reactions to catfish's culinary appeal add a humorous layer to the conversation, with country music fans even joking about a country star's alleged love for the fish.

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01Story posted
Aug 25, 2025 at 8:37 PM EDT
4 months ago
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02First comment
Aug 25, 2025 at 10:15 PM EDT
2h after posting
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19 comments in 12-18h
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Aug 28, 2025 at 10:43 AM EDT
4 months ago
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Discussion (44 comments)

Showing 44 comments

neom

4 months ago

1 reply

Seems they've figured out how to wiggle themselves forward using their tails, then land in a way that creates a suction between their belly and the rocks. Clever.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394405635_Bumblebee...

RajT88

4 months ago

I think I've seen similar videos of sculpins doing this - who have a suctiony fused set of bottom fins. If sculpins do it, probably some kind of Goby also does it (the two families are very similar in many ways).

ETA: I have it backwards, it's gobies:

https://youtu.be/QYMMf18hZCs

Also Cavefish:

https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/25/11303774/walking-fish-tha...

And yes - as people point out, sea lampreys can do this with their sucky mouths. With with the variety of small fish with sucky mouths, probably there's even more who have learned this trick.

Nature is amazing.

themafia

4 months ago

4 replies

Caveman brain: "That'd be a great spot to sit and just pick up a few fish for lunch."

ainiriand

4 months ago

5 replies

Catfish is disgusting to eat, at least the ones we have here in Spain, which are sometimes past 50kg.

MisterTea

4 months ago

1 reply

Even The catfish we get in the states isn't great. By itself it's not a good tasting fish but it's not inedible. I was given a simple recipe which is to bread chunks of catfish in a 50/50 mix of flour and corn meal seasoned with Lawry's seasoned salt and fry them in light oil. Comes out pretty tasty and even better with lemon and tartar sauce.

HelloMcFly

4 months ago

1 reply

Farm-raised catfish (usually caught in lakes/ponds where it has been stocked) in the US is delicious to many, especially in the South and southern Midwest. Wild catfish can be good too but probably won't be if coming from particularly muddy waters.

danans

4 months ago

Someone once explained to me that the "high end" farmed catfish you get in the US doesn't taste muddy because they feed them from the top of the water rather than having scavenge the bottom of the pond.

I've definitely had some good catfish in the US. Sourcing matters, and also probably how you prepare it. Breaded and deep fried is of course tasty, if not healthy.

Southeast Asian cuisines are generally very good at preparing catfish - they have a native variety called Basa which is very mild.

pavon

4 months ago

I love the flavor of Catfish. I don't think I've ever had it where I thought it tasted bad. In fact I find most other fish bland and flavorless (Salmon being the other main exception). Fine as a neutral base to a recipe that provides its own flavor, but not contributing much on its own, like the tofu of meats.

BlindEyeHalo

4 months ago

So Luke Bryan has been lying to me?

mikestew

4 months ago

Catfish is disgusting to eat

Meanwhile, in Indiana where I grew up there are restaurants that advertise their catfish, if not an outright catfish restaurant. Those are probably not fish that they just caught out of a river, though.

…which are sometimes past 50kg.

Oh, well that’s probably part of the problem. Not a catfish eater myself, but the ones people eat would almost fit on a large plate.

cobbzilla

4 months ago

In some places hand-fishing for catfish is a time-honored tradition! [1] [2]

Soundtrack by The Flaming Lips. Very entertaining. But I don’t think watching would make anyone want to try catfish!

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294805/

[2] https://www.okienoodling.com/

viraptor

4 months ago

That's kind of what brown bears do with salmon migrating up the stream / jumping out of the water.

lo_zamoyski

4 months ago

Any smaller, and they might visually pass for shirasu.

CGMthrowaway

4 months ago

Yeah I am wondering how many of them get picked off by birds during the climb

terabytest

4 months ago

4 replies

This title had the garden path sentence effect on me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden-path_sentence

DecentShoes

4 months ago

3 replies

Can you provide the bracketing??

pvaldes

4 months ago

1 reply

1) There are species of small "catfishes" (on Asia or Australia if I remember correctly) known to climb waterfalls in rainforests. We are talking about > 100m long fully vertical waterfalls.

2) In fact, they aren't catfishes. Belong to a big family of mainly marine fishes called gobies. Totally different orders. Should be named climbing gobies.

3) They do it for the same reason as Salmons do: to reproduce in freshwater.

4) But unlike salmons they don't swim or jump. They climb the slippery rock wall like a freestyle climber, using the suction cups in their belly that gobies have (pelvic fins transformed), and their other fins and tail to propel

5) Somebody filmed those fishes climbing.

SideburnsOfDoom

4 months ago

1 reply

The article says "Rochedo, Brazil" so South American rainforests, in this case.

These species are "restricted to fresh water in South America" source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopimelodidae#Distribution

pvaldes

4 months ago

1 reply

Hum, yep. You are right, Pseudopimelodidae are catfishes. I was thinking in the Hawaiian climbing goby.

pvaldes

4 months ago

Evolutive convergence with gobies is interesting

Also interesting is the presence of Ancistrus and Hypostomus in the mix of climbing fishes. Many people keeping aquariums breed this fishes at home. The first can lay eggs and care for the fry, the second is very difficult to breed.

popalchemist

4 months ago

The catfish were the ones filming.

SideburnsOfDoom

4 months ago

A whole lot of "climbing catfish" were filmed in the act of scaling a waterfall.

y-curious

4 months ago

2 replies

What a fascinating read. From the article, "the horse raced past the barn fell" is messing me up.

thaumasiotes

4 months ago

1 reply

It's parallel to "the dress given to the girl ripped".

There is an ambiguity allowing for a different parse, interpreting "the barn fell" as a fell associated with the barn: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fell#Etymology_3

But that one isn't intended.

y-curious

4 months ago

1 reply

I found a new one: "time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like bananas"

thaumasiotes

4 months ago

1 reply

That is several decades old.

y-curious

4 months ago

Akshually it was new to me :)

josefresco

4 months ago

Same here, I'll let you know when my brain stops hurting.

sebastiennight

4 months ago

I would love it if there was a browser extension specifically designed to maximize garden-path value of any headline.

For this one I'd suggest:

Scoop: catfish waterfall scaling climb film

ajuc

4 months ago

Huh, interesting. Doesn't happen much in fusional languages.

bell-cot

4 months ago

1 reply

> ...researchers also found that the [wet-rock-climbing] bumblebee catfish isn’t alone. Three other fish species were also scaling the waterfalls alongside the bumblebee catfish, and none of the four had ever been documented climbing before.

Being fish, this sounds like convergent evolution. (Vs. learned behaviors.)

neom

4 months ago

2 replies

They seem to all be fish that live in fairly fast flowing waters, my guess was they are able to use rocks+suction system to hold in place for stuff, they probably don't even really have a concept they are climbing a wall, it could just feel like a particularly intense rapid?

bell-cot

4 months ago

I'd figure it's slightly more complex than that (see details in article) - but I bet you're right about both the evolutionary basis for the behavior pattern, and for having bodies well-adapted to doing it.

SideburnsOfDoom

4 months ago

I would say that these are not sharply defined categories, there is more a like a smooth continuum from "fast-flowing stream" to "rapids" to "small waterfall" etc.

And this is a good environment in which evolution could progressively improve rock-holding and climbing ability.

Fluorescence

4 months ago

2 replies

I am unreasonably upset by the tiktok-goofy-jazz music they chose.

For science.org I want something a bit more nature-documentary e.g. a thoughtful classical/ambient soundscape with David Attenborough gentle tones "And here we see...". If seeking to amuse me then go for it e.g. Ride of Valkeries/Rohirrim.

bevr1337

4 months ago

I'm a wet blanket, but I despise documentaries that lie about the sound of their recording. I was pretty far into adulthood before I realized most nature docs have fake audio. The backing track of this video helps me know there is no useful audio for this video - no Foley or ambient mic. It's not quite as narrative as Ride of the Valkyries, granted ;)

ofalkaed

4 months ago

I found the music a great fit and I would not have enjoyed it as much without. I Would have closed the window if it had been Ride of the Valkyries which is far more generic and overplayed for me than anything tiktok, but I have never used tiktok.

dudefeliciano

4 months ago

1 reply

this dude made an aquarium with an artificial mini waterfall for the fish to climb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0SIJNtIKM

elfleco

4 months ago

this is the most relaxing vid I've seen in a while.

foobarbecue

4 months ago

1 reply

"the catfish adhered to the wet rock by creating a pressurized air bubble under their belly."

Presumably they mean negatively pressurized?