Wels Catfish

The wels catfish ( /ˈwɛls/ or /ˈvɛls/; Silurus glanis), also called sheatfish, is a large catfish found in wide areas of central, southern, and eastern Europe, and near the Baltic and Caspian Seas. It is a scaleless fresh and brackish water fish recognizable by its broad, flat head and wide mouth. Wels catfish can live for at least thirty years and have very good hearing.

The wels catfish lives on annelid worms, gastropods, insects, crustaceans, and fish including other catfishes; the larger ones also eat frogs, mice, rats, and aquatic birds such as ducks. Recently, it has been observed to lunge out of the water to grab pigeons on land. It is found from the United Kingdom all the way east to Kazakhstan and south to Greece.