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Mackerel

Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. Mackerel species typically have deeply forked tails and vertical "tiger-like" stripes on their backs with an iridescent green-blue quality. Many are restricted in their distribution ranges and live in separate populations or fish stocks based on geography. Some stocks migrate in large schools along the coast to suitable spawning grounds, where they spawn in fairly shallow waters. After spawning they return the way they came in smaller schools to suitable feeding grounds, often near an area of upwelling. From there they may move offshore into deeper waters and spend the winter in relative inactivity. Other stocks migrate across oceans.

Smaller mackerel are forage fish for larger predators, including larger mackerel and Atlantic cod. Flocks of seabirds, whales, dolphins, sharks, and schools of larger fish such as tuna and marlin follow mackerel schools and attack them in sophisticated and cooperative ways. Mackerel flesh is high in omega-3 oils and is intensively harvested by humans. In 2009, over 5 million tons were landed by commercial fishermen. Sport fishermen value the fighting abilities of the king mackerel.

Species
Over 30 different species, principally belonging to the family Scombridae, are commonly referred to as mackerel. The term "mackerel" is derived from Old French and may have originally meant either "marked, spotted" or "pimp, procurer". The latter connection is not altogether clear, but mackerel spawn enthusiastically in shoals near the coast, and medieval ideas on animal procreation were creative.

Scombroid mackerels
About 21 species in the family Scombridae are commonly called mackerel. The type species for the scombroid mackerel is the Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus. Until recently, Atlantic chub mackerel and Indo-Pacific chub mackerel were thought to be subspecies of the same species. In 1999, Collette established, on molecular and morphological considerations, that these are separate species. Mackerel are smaller with shorter lifecycles than their close relatives, the tuna, which are also members of the same family.

Scombrini, the true mackerels
The true mackerels belong to the tribe Scombrini. The tribe consists of seven species, each belonging to one of two genera: Scomber or Rastrelliger.

Scomberomorini, the Spanish mackerels
The Spanish mackerels belong to the tribe Scomberomorini, which is the "cousin tribe" of the true mackerels. This tribe consists of 21 species in all—18 of those are classified into the genus Scomberomorus, two into Grammatorcynus, and a single species into the monotypic genus Acanthocybium.

Other mackerel
In addition, a number of species with mackerel-like characteristics in the families Carangidae, Hexagrammidae and Gempylidae are commonly referred to as mackerel. Some confusion had occurred between the Pacific jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus) and the heavily harvested Chilean jack mackerel (T. murphyi). These have been thought at times to be the same species, but are now recognised as separate species.

The term "mackerel" is also used as a modifier in the common names of other fish, sometimes indicating the fish has vertical stripes similar to a scombroid mackerel:

 * Mackerel icefish—Champsocephalus gunnari
 * Mackerel pike—Cololabis saira
 * Mackerel scad—Decapterus macarellus
 * Mackerel shark—several species
 * Shortfin mako shark—Isurus oxyrinchus
 * Mackerel tuna—Euthynnus affinis
 * Mackerel tail goldfish—Carassius auratus

By extension, the term is applied also to other species such as the mackerel tabby cat, and to inanimate objects such as the altocumulus mackerel sky cloud formation.

Characteristics

Most mackerel belong to the family Scombridae, which also includes tuna and bonito. Generally, mackerel are much smaller and slimmer than tuna, though in other respects, they share many common characteristics. Their scales, if present at all, are extremely small. Like tuna and bonito, mackerel are voracious feeders, and are swift and manoeuvrable swimmers, able to streamline themselves by retracting their fins into grooves on their bodies. Like other scombroids, their bodies are cylindrical with numerous finlets on the dorsal and ventral sides behind the dorsal and anal fins, but unlike the deep-bodied tuna, they are slim.

The type species for scombroid mackerels is the Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus. These fish are iridescent blue-green above with a silvery underbelly and near-vertical wavy black stripes running along their upper bodies.

The prominent stripes on the back of mackerels seemingly are there to provide camouflage against broken backgrounds. That is not the case, though, because mackerel live in midwater pelagic environments which have no background. However, fish have an optokinetic reflex in their visual systems that can be sensitive to moving stripes. For fish to school efficiently, they need feedback mechanisms that help them align themselves with adjacent fish, and match their speed. The stripes on neighbouring fish provide "schooling marks", which signal changes in relative position.

A layer of thin, reflecting platelets is seen on some of the mackerel stripes. In 1998, E J Denton and D M Rowe argued that these platelets transmit additional information to other fish about how a given fish moves. As the orientation of the fish changes relative to another fish, the amount of light reflected to the second fish by this layer also changes. This sensitivity to orientation gives the mackerel "considerable advantages in being able to react quickly while schooling and feeding."

Mackerel range in size from small forage fish to larger game fish. Coastal mackerel tend to be small. The king mackerel is an example of a larger mackerel. Most fish are cold-blooded, but exceptions exist. Certain species of fish maintain elevated body temperatures. Endothermic bony fishes are all in the suborder Scombroidei and include the butterfly mackerel, a species of primitive mackerel.

Mackerel are strong swimmers. Known in the latin family as "punctualis piscis" which translates to "punctual fish." This is due to its punctuality of migration during mating season as it moves from warm to cold waters. Atlantic mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.98 m/sec with a burst speed of 5.5 m/sec, while chub mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.92 m/sec with a burst speed of 2.25 m/sec.

Distribution
Most mackerel species have restricted distribution ranges.

Some mackerel species migrate vertically. Adult snake mackerel conduct a diel vertical migration, staying in deeper water during the day and rising to the surface at night to feed. The young and juveniles also migrate vertically, but in the opposite direction, staying near the surface during the day and moving deeper at night.

Lifecycle

Mackerel are prolific broadcast spawners, and must breed near the surface of the water because the eggs of the females float. Individual females lay between 300,000 and 1,500,000 eggs. Their eggs and larvae are pelagic, that is, they float free in the open sea. The larvae and juvenile mackerel feed on zooplankton. As adults, they have sharp teeth, and hunt small crustaceans such as copepods, forage fish, shrimp, and squid. In turn, they are hunted by larger pelagic animals such as tuna, billfish, sea lions, sharks, and pelicans.

Off Madagascar, spinner sharks follow migrating schools of mackerel. Bryde's whales feed on mackerel when they can find them. They use several feeding methods, including skimming the surface, lunging, and bubble nets.

Fisheries
Chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus, are the most intensively fished scombroid mackerel. They account for about half the total capture production of scombroid mackerels. As a species, they are easily confused with Atlantic mackerel. Chub mackerel migrate long distances in oceans and across the Mediterranean. They can be caught with drift nets and suitable trawls, but are most usually caught with surround nets at night by attracting them with lampara lamps.

The remaining catch of scombroid mackerels is divided equally between the Atlantic mackerel and all other scombroid mackerels. Just these two species (Chub mackerel and Atlantic mackerel) account for about 75% of the total catch of scombroid mackerels.

Chilean jack mackerel are the most commonly fished nonscombroid mackerel, fished as heavily as chub mackerel. The species has been overfished, and its fishery may now be in danger of collapsing.

Smaller mackerel behave like herrings, and are captured in similar ways. Fish species like these, which school near the surface, can be caught efficiently by purse seining. Huge purse-seine vessels use spotter planes to locate the schooling fish. Then they close in using sophisticated sonar to track the shape of the school, which is then encircled with fast auxiliary boats that deploy purse seines as they speed around the school.

Suitably designed trollers can also catch mackerels effectively when they swim near the surface. Trollers typically have several long booms which they lift and drop with "topping lifts". They haul their lines with electric or hydraulic reels. Fish aggregating devices are also used to target mackerel.

Management
The North Sea has been overfished to the point where the ecological balance has become disrupted and many jobs in the fishing industry have been lost.

The Southeast US region spans the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the US Southeast Atlantic. Overfishing of king and Spanish mackerel occurred in the 1980s. Regulations were introduced to restrict the size, fishing locations, and bag limits for recreational fishers and commercial fishers. Gillnets were banned in waters off Florida. By 2001, the mackerel stocks had bounced back.

As food

Mackerel is an important food fish that is consumed worldwide. As an oily fish, it is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. The flesh of mackerel spoils quickly, especially in the tropics, and can cause scombroid food poisoning. Accordingly, it should be eaten on the day of capture, unless properly refrigerated or cured.

Mackerel preservation is not simple. Before the 19th-century development of canning and the widespread availability of refrigeration, salting and smoking were the principal preservation methods available. Historically in England, this fish was not preserved, but was consumed only in its fresh form. However, spoilage was common, leading the authors of The Cambridge Economic History of Europe to remark: "There are more references to stinking mackerel in English literature than to any other fish!" In France, mackerel was traditionally pickled with large amounts of salt, which allowed it to be sold widely across the country.

For many years mackerel was regarded as 'unclean' in the UK and other places due to folklore which suggested that the fish fed on the corpses of dead sailors. A 1976 survey of housewives in Britain undertaken by the White Fish Authority indicated a reluctance to departing from buying the traditional staples of cod, haddock or salmon. Less than 10% of the survey's 1,931 respondents had ever bought mackerel and only 3% did so regularly. As a result of this trend many UK fishmongers during the 1970s did not display or even stock mackerel.

title: Mackerel


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Bluefish

The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zealand, elf and shad in South Africa. It is a popular gamefish and food fish.

The bluefish is a moderately proportioned fish, with a broad, forked tail. The spiny first dorsal fin is normally folded back in a groove, as are its pectoral fins. Coloration is a grayish blue-green dorsally, fading to white on the lower sides and belly. Its single row of teeth in each jaw is uniform in size, knife-edged, and sharp. Bluefish commonly range in size from seven-inch (18-cm) "snappers" to much larger, sometimes weighing as much as 40 lb (18 kg), though fish heavier than 20 lb (9 kg) are exceptional.

Systematics
The bluefish is the only extant species now included in the family Pomatomidae. At one time, gnomefishes were included, but these are now grouped in a separate family, Scombropidae. Extinct relatives of the bluefish include Carangopsis from the Early Eocene of Italy and Lophar from the Late Miocene of Northern California.

Distribution

Bluefish are widely distributed around the world in tropical and subtropical waters. They are found in pelagic waters on much of the continental shelves along eastern America (though not between south Florida and northern South America), Africa, the Mediterranean and Black Seas (and during migration in between), Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found in a variety of coastal habitats: above the continental shelf, in energetic waters near surf beaches, or by rock headlands. They also enter estuaries and inhabit brackish waters. Periodically, they leave the coasts and migrate in schools through open waters.

Along the U.S. East Coast, bluefish are found off Florida in the winter. By April, they have disappeared, heading north. By June, they may be found off Massachusetts; in years of high abundance, stragglers may be found as far north as Nova Scotia. By October, they leave the waters north of New York City, heading south (whereas some bluefish, perhaps less migratory, are present in the Gulf of Mexico throughout the year). In a similar pattern overall, the economically significant population that spawns in Europe's Black Sea migrates south through Istanbul (Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, Aegean Sea) and on toward Turkey's Mediterranean coast in the autumn for the cold season. A campaign was launched in Turkiye by Fikir Sahibi Damaklar (Intelligent Palates) to protect the Bluefish. This was reported on in 2013. More recently, it was reported that bluefish near Istanbul were abundant and that there is a fishing ban every year between April 15 - Sept. 1 to preserve fish eggs and ensure sustainable fish farming. Along the South African coast and environs, movement patterns are roughly in parallel.

Life history
Adult bluefish are typically between 20 and 60 cm (8 in. to 2 ft.) long, with a maximum reported size of 120 cm (4 ft.) and 14 kg. They reproduce during spring and summer, and can live up to 9 years. Bluefish fry eat zooplankton, and are largely at the mercy of currents. Spent bluefish have been found off east-central Florida, migrating north. As with most marine fish, their spawning habits are not well known. In the western side of the North Atlantic, at least two populations occur, separated by Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. The Gulf Stream can carry fry spawned to the south of Cape Hatteras to the north, and eddies can spin off, carrying them into populations found off the coast of the mid-Atlantic, and the New England states.

Feeding habits

Adult bluefish are strong and aggressive, and live in loose groups. They are fast swimmers that prey on schools of forage fish, and continue attacking them in feeding frenzies even after they appear to have eaten their fill. Depending on area and season, they favor menhaden and other sardine-like fish (Clupeidae), jacks (Scombridae), weakfish (Sciaenidae), grunts (Haemulidae), striped anchovies (Engraulidae), shrimp, and squid. They are cannibalistic and can destroy their own young. Bluefish sometimes chase bait through the surf zone, attacking schools in very shallow water, churning the water like a washing machine. This behavior is sometimes referred to as a "bluefish blitz”.

In turn, bluefish are preyed upon by larger predators at all stages of their lifecycle. As juveniles, they fall victim to a wide variety of oceanic predators, including striped bass, larger bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), weakfish, tuna, sharks, rays, and dolphins. As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species.

Bluefish are aggressive and have been known to inflict severe bites on fishermen. Wading or swimming among feeding bluefish schools can be dangerous. In July 2006, a seven-year-old girl was attacked on a beach, near the Spanish town of Alicante, allegedly by a bluefish. In New Jersey, the large beachfeeder schools are very common and lifeguards report never having seen bluefish bite bathers in their entire careers.

Parasites
Like other fish, bluefish host a number of parasites. One parasite is Philometra saltatrix, a philometrid nematode in the ovaries. The females are brownish red and may be as long as 80 mm; the males are very small.

Recreational fisheries
In Australia, bluefish, called "tailor", are caught on the west coast from Exmouth to Albany, with the most productive fishing areas being in the west coast bioregion.

The IGFA All Tackle World Record for bluefish stands at 31 lb 12oz (14.4 kg) landed by James Hussey near Hatteras, North Carolina. The unofficial record belongs to Captain Benjamin Dellacono who landed a 35 lb 6oz Blue Fish off the coast of Stonington, Connecticut.

Commercial fisheries
In the U.S., bluefish are landed primarily in recreational fisheries, but important commercial fisheries also exist in temperate and subtropical waters. Bluefish population abundance is typically cyclical, with abundance varying widely over a span of 10 years or more.

Management
Bluefish is a popular sport and food fish, and has been widely overfished. Fisheries management has generally stabilized its population. In the middle Atlantic region of the U.S., bluefish were heavily overfished in the late 1990s, but active management rebuilt the stock by 2007. Elsewhere, public awareness efforts, such as bluefish festivals, combined with catch limits, may be having positive effects in reducing the stress on the regional stocks.

Culinary use
Bluefish may be baked or poached, or smoked. The smaller ones ("snapper blues") are generally fried, as they are not very oily.

Because of its fattiness, bluefish goes rancid rapidly, so it is generally not found far from its fisheries, but where it is available, it is often inexpensive. It must be refrigerated and consumed soon after purchase; some recipes call for keeping it in vinegar and wine before cooking, in vina d'alhos or en escabeche. By the same token, it is high in omega-3 fatty acids, but also in mercury and PCBs, containing the high level of about 0.4 ppm of mercury on average, comparable to albacore tuna or Spanish mackerel. For that reason, the U.S. FDA recommends that young children and women of childbearing age consume no more than one serving per week (a serving size is about 4 ounces uncooked for an adult, 2 ounces for children ages 4–7 years, 3 ounces for children ages 8–10 years, and 4 ounces for children 11 years and older).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Bluefish


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Catfish

Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. 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 piraíba 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. Neither the armour-plated types nor the naked types have scales. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels or "whiskers". Members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Many catfish are nocturnal, but others (many Auchenipteridae) are crepuscular or diurnal (most Loricariidae or Callichthyidae, for example).

Taxonomy
Molecular evidence suggests that in spite of the great morphological diversity seen throughout the order, all catfish form a monophyletic group. Catfish belong to a superorder called the Ostariophysi, which also includes the Cypriniformes (carps and minnows), Characiformes (characins and tetras), Gonorynchiformes (milkfish and beaked salmons) and Gymnotiformes (South American knifefish), a superorder characterized by the Weberian apparatus. Some place Gymnotiformes as a sub-order of Siluriformes; however, this is not as widely accepted. Currently, the Siluriformes are said to be the sister group to the Gymnotiformes, though this has been debated due to more recent molecular evidence. there were about thirty-six extant catfish families, and about 3,093 extant species have been described. This makes the catfish order the second or third most diverse vertebrate order; in fact, one out of every twenty vertebrate species is a catfish.

Catfish are believed to have a Gondwanan origin primarily centered around South America, as the most basal living catfish groups are known from there. The earliest known definitive members lived in the Americas from the Campanian to Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous, including the Andinichthyidae, Vorhisia vulpes and possibly Arius. A potential fossil record is known from the earlier Coniacian-Santonian stages in Niger of West Africa, though this has been considered unreliable, and the putative earliest armored catfish known from the fossil record, Afrocascudo, lived during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous in Morocco of North Africa (Kem Kem Group). The describers of Afrocascudo claimed that the presence of a derived loricariid so early on would indicate the extensive diversification of catfish, or at least loricarioids, prior to the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. As extant loricariids are only known from South America, much of this diversification must have occurred on the supercontinent of West Gondwana prior to its fragmentation into South America and Africa. Britz and colleagues suggested that Afrocascudo instead represents a juvenile obaichthyid lepisosteiform, possibly a junior synonym of Obaichthys. The authors of the original study still stood by their original conclusion based on the absence of important holostean characters, and noted that it could not be a juvenile, since the bones were completely ossified. The taxonomy of catfish is quickly changing. In a 2007 and 2008 paper, Horabagrus, Phreatobius, and Conorhynchos were not classified under any current catfish families. There is disagreement on the family status of certain groups; for example, Nelson (2006) lists Auchenoglanididae and Heteropneustidae as separate families, while the All Catfish Species Inventory (ACSI) includes them under other families. FishBase and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System lists Parakysidae as a separate family, while this group is included under Akysidae by both Nelson (2006) and ACSI. Many sources do not list the recently revised family Anchariidae. The family Horabagridae, including Horabagrus, Pseudeutropius, and Platytropius, is not shown by some authors but presented by others as a true group. Thus, the actual number of families differs between authors. The species count is in constant flux due to taxonomic work as well as description of new species. Between 2003 and 2005, over one hundred species were named, a rate three times faster than that of the past century. In June 2005, researchers named the newest family of catfish, Lacantuniidae, only the third new family of fish distinguished in the last seventy years, the others being the coelacanth in 1938 and the megamouth shark in 1983. The new species in Lacantuniidae, Lacantunia enigmatica, was found in the Lacantun river in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

The higher-level phylogeny of Siluriformes has gone through several recent changes, mainly due to molecular phylogenetic studies. While most studies, both morphological and molecular, agree that catfishes are arranged into three main lineages, the relationship among these lineages has been a contentious point in which these studies, performed for example by Rui Diogo, differ. The three main lineages in Siluriformes are the family Diplomystidae, the denticulate catfish suborder Loricarioidei (containing the Neotropical "suckermouth" catfishes), and the suborder Siluroidei, which contains the remaining families of the order. According to morphological data, Diplomystidae is usually considered to be the earliest branching catfish lineage and the sister group to the other two lineages, Loricarioidei and Siluroidei. Molecular evidence usually contrasts with this hypothesis, and shows the suborder Loricarioidei as the earliest branching catfish lineage, and sister to a clade that includes the Diplomystidae and Siluroidei; this phylogeny has been obtained in numerous studies based on genetic data. However, it has been suggested that these molecular results are errors as a result of long branch attraction, incorrectly placing Loricarioidei as the earliest-branching catfish lineage. When a data filtering method was used to reduce lineage rate heterogeneity (the potential source of bias) on their dataset, a final phylogeny was recovered which showed the Diplomystidae are the earliest-branching catfish, followed by Loricarioidei and Siluroidei as sister lineages, providing both morphological and molecular support for Diplomystidae being the earliest branching catfish.

Below is a list of family relationships by different authors. Lacantuniidae is included in the Sullivan scheme based on recent evidence that places it sister to Claroteidae.

Phylogeny
Phylogeny of living Siluriformes based on 2017 and extinct families based on Nelson, Grande & Wilson 2016.

Unassigned families:
 * Bachmanniidae†
 * Scoloplacidae (Loricarioidei)
 * Akysidae (Sisoroidea)
 * Amblycipitidae (Sisoroidea)
 * Anchariidae (Arioidea)
 * Ariidae (Arioidea)
 * Amphiliidae (Big African catfishes)
 * Austroglanididae (Arioidea)
 * Chacidae (Siluroidei)
 * Conorhynchos (Pimelodoidea)
 * Cranoglanididae (Ictaluroidea)
 * Heteropneustidae (Clarioidea)
 * Horabagridae (Sisoroidea)
 * Kryptoglanidae (Siluroidea)
 * Lacantuniidae (Big African catfishes)
 * Malapteruridae (Big African catfishes)
 * Phreatobiidae (Pimelodoidea)
 * Rita (Sisoroidea)
 * Schilbeidae (Big African catfishes)

Distribution and habitat
Extant catfish species live inland or in coastal waters of every continent except Antarctica. Catfish have inhabited all continents at one time or another. They are most diverse in tropical South America, Asia, and Africa, with one family native to North America and one family in Europe. More than half of all catfish species live in the Americas. They are the only ostariophysans that have entered freshwater habitats in Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea.

They are found in fresh water/brackish water environments, though most inhabit shallow, running water. Representatives of at least eight families are hypogean (live underground) with three families that are also troglobitic (inhabiting caves). One such species is Phreatobius cisternarum, known to live underground in phreatic habitats. Numerous species from the families Ariidae and Plotosidae, and a few species from among the Aspredinidae and Bagridae, are found in salt water.

In the Southern United States, catfish species may be known by a variety of slang names, such as "mud cat", "polliwogs", or "chuckleheads". 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.

As invasive species
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. Walking catfish have also been introduced in the freshwater areas of Florida, with the voracious catfish becoming a major alien pest there. Flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris, is also a North American pest on Atlantic slope drainages. Pterygoplichthys species, released by aquarium fishkeepers, have also established feral populations in many warm waters around the world.

External anatomy of catfish
Most catfish are bottom feeders. In general, they are negatively buoyant, which means that they usually sink rather than float due to a reduced gas bladder and a heavy, bony head. Catfish have a variety of body shapes, though most have a cylindrical body with a flattened ventrum to allow for benthic feeding.

A flattened head allows for digging through the substrate, as well as perhaps serving as a hydrofoil. Some have a mouth that can expand to a large size and contains no incisiform teeth; catfish generally feed through suction or gulping rather than biting and cutting prey. Some families, though, notably the Loricariidae and Astroblepidae, have a suckermouth that allows them to fasten themselves to objects in fast-moving water. Catfish also have a maxilla reduced to a support for barbels; this means that they are unable to protrude their mouths as other fish such as carp.

Catfish may have up to four pairs of barbels - nasal, maxillary (on each side of mouth), and two pairs of chin barbels, though pairs of barbels may be absent depending on the species. Catfish barbels always occur in pairs. Many larger catfish also have chemoreceptors across their entire bodies, which means they "taste" anything they touch and "smell" any chemicals in the water. "In catfish, gustation plays a primary role in the orientation and location of food". Because their barbels and chemoreception are more important in detecting food, the eyes on catfish are generally small. Like other ostariophysans, they are characterized by the presence of a Weberian apparatus. Their well-developed Weberian apparatus and reduced gas bladder allow for improved hearing and sound production.

Catfish do not have scales; their bodies are often naked. In some species, their mucus-covered skin is used in cutaneous respiration, where the fish breathes through its skin. In some catfish, the skin is covered in bony plates called scutes; some form of body armor appears in various ways within the order. In loricarioids and in the Asian genus Sisor, the armor is primarily made up of one or more rows of free dermal plates. Similar plates are found in large specimens of Lithodoras. These plates may be supported by vertebral processes, as in scoloplacids and in Sisor, but the processes never fuse to the plates or form any external armor. By contrast, in the subfamily Doumeinae (family Amphiliidae) and in hoplomyzontines (Aspredinidae), the armor is formed solely by expanded vertebral processes that form plates. Finally, the lateral armor of doradids, Sisor, and hoplomyzontines consists of hypertrophied lateral line ossicles with dorsal and ventral lamina.

All catfish other than members of the Malapteruridae (electric catfish), possess a strong, hollow, bony, leading spine-like ray on their dorsal and pectoral fins. As a defense, these spines may be locked into place so that they stick outwards, enabling them to inflict severe wounds. In numerous catfish species, these fin rays can be used to deliver a stinging protein if the fish is irritated; as many as half of all catfish species may be venomous in this fashion, making the Siluriformes overwhelmingly the vertebrate order with the largest number of venomous species. This venom is produced by glandular cells in the epidermal tissue covering the spines. In members of the family Plotosidae and of the genus Heteropneustes, this protein is so strong it may hospitalize humans who receive a sting; in Plotosus lineatus, the stings can be lethal. The dorsal- and pectoral-fin spines are two of the most conspicuous features of siluriforms, and differ from those in other fish groups. Despite the widespread use of the spines for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies the fields have struggled to effectively use the information due to a lack of consistency in the nomenclature, with a general standard for the descriptive anatomy of catfish spines proposed in 2022 to try and resolve this problem.

Juvenile catfish, like most fish, have relatively large heads, eyes, and posterior median fins in comparison to larger, more mature individuals. These juveniles can be readily placed in their families, particularly those with highly derived fin or body shapes; in some cases, identification of the genus is possible. As far as known for most catfish, features that are often characteristic of species, such as mouth and fin positions, fin shapes, and barbel lengths, show little difference between juveniles and adults. For many species, pigmentation pattern is also similar in juveniles and adults. Thus, juvenile catfish generally resemble and develop smoothly into their adult form without distinct juvenile specializations. Exceptions to this are the ariid catfish, where the young retain yolk sacs late into juvenile stages, and many pimelodids, which may have elongated barbels and fin filaments or coloration patterns.

Sexual dimorphism is reported in about half of all families of catfish. The modification of the anal fin into an intromittent organ (in internal fertilizers) as well as accessory structures of the reproductive apparatus (in both internal and external fertilizers) have been described in species belonging to 11 different families.

Size
Catfish have one of the largest ranges in size within a single order of bony fish. Many catfish have a maximum length of under 12 cm. Some of the smallest species of the Aspredinidae and Trichomycteridae reach sexual maturity at only 1 cm.

The wels catfish, Silurus glanis, and the much smaller related Aristotle's catfish, are the only catfish indigenous to Europe; the former ranges throughout Europe, and the latter is restricted to Greece. Mythology and literature record wels catfish of astounding proportions yet are to be proven scientifically. The typical size of the species is about 1.2–1.6 m, and fish more than 2 m are rare. However, they are known to exceed 2.5 m in length and 100 kg in weight. In July 2009, a catfish weighing 88 kg was caught in the River Ebro, Spain, by an 11-year-old British schoolgirl.

In North America, the largest Ictalurus furcatus (blue catfish) caught in the Missouri River on 20 July 2010, weighed 59 kg. The largest flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris, ever caught was in Independence, Kansas, weighing 56 kg.

These records pale in comparison to a Mekong giant catfish caught in northern Thailand on 1 May 2005, and reported to the press almost 2 months later, that weighed 293 kg. This is the largest giant Mekong catfish caught since Thai officials started keeping records in 1981. Also in Asia, Jeremy Wade caught a 75.5 kg goonch following three fatal attacks on humans in the Kali River on the India-Nepal border. Wade was of the opinion that the offending fish must have been significantly larger than this to have taken an 18-year-old boy, as well as a water buffalo.

Piraíba (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum) can grow exceptionally large and are native to the Amazon Basin. They can occasionally grow to 200 kg, as evidenced by numerous catches. Deaths from being swallowed by these fish have been reported in the region.

Internal anatomy

In many catfish, the "humeral process" is a bony process extending backward from the pectoral girdle immediately above the base of the pectoral fin. It lies beneath the skin, where its outline may be determined by dissecting the skin or probing with a needle.

The retinae of catfish are composed of single cones and large rods. Many catfish have a tapetum lucidum, which may help enhance photon capture and increase low-light sensitivity. Double cones, though present in most teleosts, are absent from catfish.

The anatomical organization of the testis in catfish is variable among the families of catfish, but the majority of them present fringed testis: Ictaluridae, Claridae, Auchenipteridae, Doradidae, Pimelodidae, and Pseudopimelodidae. In the testes of some species of Siluriformes, organs and structures such as a spermatogenic cranial region and a secretory caudal region are observed, in addition to the presence of seminal vesicles in the caudal region. The total number of fringes and their length are different in the caudal and cranial portions between species. Fringes of the caudal region may present tubules, in which the lumen is filled by secretion and spermatozoa. Spermatocysts are formed from cytoplasmic extensions of Sertoli cells; the release of spermatozoa is allowed by breaking of the cyst walls.

The occurrence of seminal vesicles, in spite of their interspecific variability in size, gross morphology, and function, has not been related to the mode of fertilization. They are typically paired, multichambered, and connected with the sperm duct, and have been reported to play glandular and storage functions. Seminal vesicle secretion may include steroids and steroid glucuronides, with hormonal and pheromonal functions, but it appears to be primarily constituted of mucoproteins, acid mucopolysaccharides, and phospholipids.

Fish ovaries may be of two types - gymnovarian or cystovarian. In the first type, the oocytes are released directly into the coelomic cavity and then eliminated. In the second type, the oocytes are conveyed to the exterior through the oviduct. Many catfish are cystovarian in type, including Pseudoplatystoma corruscans, P. fasciatum, Lophiosilurus alexandri, and Loricaria lentiginosa.

Communication
Catfish can produce different types of sounds and also have well-developed auditory reception used to discriminate between sounds with different pitches and velocities. They are also able to determine the distance of the sound's origin and from what direction it originated. This is a very important fish communication mechanism, especially during agonistic and distress behaviors. Catfish are able to produce a variety of sounds for communication that can be classified into two groups: drumming sounds and stridulation sounds. The variability in catfish sound signals differs due to a few factors: the mechanism by which the sound is produced, the function of the resulting sound, and physiological differences such as size, sex, and age. To create a drumming sound, catfish use an indirect vibration mechanism using a swimbladder. In these fishes, sonic muscles insert on the ramus Mulleri, also known as the elastic spring. The sonic muscles pull the elastic spring forward and extend the swimbladder. When the muscles relax, the tension in the spring quickly returns the swimbladder to its original position, which produces the sound.

Catfish also have a sound-generating mechanism in their pectoral fins. Many species in the catfish family possess an enhanced first pectoral fin ray, called the spine, which can be moved by large abductor and adductor muscles. The base of the catfishes' spines has a sequence of ridges, and the spine normally slides within a groove on the fish's pelvic girdle during routine movement; but, pressing the ridges on the spine against the pelvic girdle groove creates a series of short pulses. The movement is analogous to a finger moving down the teeth of a comb, and consequently a series of sharp taps is produced.

Sound-generating mechanisms are often different between the sexes. In some catfish, pectoral fins are longer in males than in females of similar length, and differences in the characteristic of the sounds produced were also observed. Comparison between families of the same order of catfish demonstrated family and species-specific patterns of vocalization, according to a study by Maria Clara Amorim. During courtship behavior in three species of Corydoras catfish, all males actively produced stridulation sounds before egg fertilization, and the species' songs were different in pulse number and sound duration.

Sound production in catfish may also be correlated with fighting and alarm calls. According to a study by Kaatz, sounds for disturbance (e.g. alarm) and agonistic behavior were not significantly different, which suggests distress sounds can be used to sample variation in agonistic sound production. However, in a comparison of a few different species of tropical catfish, some fish put under distress conditions produced a higher intensity of stridulatory sounds than drumming sounds. Differences in the proportion of drumming versus stridulation sounds depend on morphological constraints, such as different sizes of drumming muscles and pectoral spines. Due to these constraints, some fish may not even be able to produce a specific sound. In several different species of catfish, aggressive sound production occurs during cover site defense or during threats from other fish. More specifically, in long-whiskered catfish, drumming sounds are used as a threatening signal and stridulations are used as a defense signal. Kaatz investigated 83 species from 14 families of catfish, and determined that catfish produce more stridulatory sounds in disturbance situations and more swimbladder sounds in intraspecific conflicts.

Aquaculture

Catfish are easy to farm in warm climates, leading to inexpensive and safe food at local grocers. About 60% of U.S. farm-raised catfish are grown within a 65-mile (100-km) radius of Belzoni, Mississippi. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) supports a $450 million/yr aquaculture industry. The largest producers are located in the Southern United States, including Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas.

Catfish raised in inland tanks or channels are usually considered safe for the environment, since their waste and disease should be contained and not spread to the wild.

In Asia, many catfish species are important as food. Several airbreathing catfish (Clariidae) and shark catfish (Pangasiidae) species are heavily cultured in Africa and Asia. Exports of one particular shark catfish species from Vietnam, Pangasius bocourti, have met with pressures from the U.S. catfish industry. In 2003, The United States Congress passed a law preventing the imported fish from being labeled as catfish. As a result, the Vietnamese exporters of this fish now label their products sold in the U.S. as "basa fish." Trader Joe's has labeled frozen fillets of Vietnamese Pangasius hypophthalmus as "striper."

There is a large and growing ornamental fish trade, with hundreds of species of catfish, such as Corydoras and armored suckermouth catfish (often called plecos), being a popular component of many aquaria. Other catfish commonly found in the aquarium trade are banjo catfish, talking catfish, and long-whiskered catfish.

Catfish as food
Catfish have widely been caught and farmed for food for hundreds of years in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Judgments as to the quality and flavor vary, with some food critics considering catfish excellent to eat, while others dismiss them as watery and lacking in flavor. Catfish is high in vitamin D. Farm-raised catfish contains low levels of omega-3 fatty acids and a much higher proportion of omega-6 fatty acids.

In Central Europe, catfish were often viewed as a delicacy to be enjoyed on feast days and holidays. Migrants from Europe and Africa to the United States brought along this tradition, and in the Southern United States, catfish is an extremely popular food.

The most commonly eaten species in the United States are the channel catfish and the blue catfish, both of which are common in the wild and increasingly widely farmed. Farm-raised catfish became such a staple of the U.S. diet that President Ronald Reagan proclaimed National Catfish Day on June 25, 1987, to recognize "the value of farm-raised catfish."

Catfish is eaten in a variety of ways. In Europe, it is often cooked in similar ways to carp, but in the United States it is popularly crumbed with cornmeal and fried.

In Indonesia, catfish is usually served fried or grilled in street stalls called warung and eaten with vegetables, sambal (a spicy relish or sauce), and usually nasi uduk (traditional coconut rice). The dish is called pecel lele or pecak lele. Lele is the Indonesian word for catfish. The same dish can also be called as lele penyet (squashed catfish) if the fish is lightly squashed along with sambal with a stone mortar-and-pestle. The pecel or pecak version presents the fish in a separate plate while the mortar is solely for sambal.

In Malaysia, catfish is called ikan keli and is fried with spices or grilled and eaten with tamarind and Thai chili gravy and is also often eaten with steamed rice.

In Bangladesh and the Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal and Assam, catfish (locally known as magur) is eaten as a favored delicacy during the monsoons. In the Indian state of Kerala, the local catfish, known as thedu' or etta in Malayalam, is also popular.

In Hungary, catfish is often cooked in paprika sauce (Harcsapaprikás) typical of Hungarian cuisine. It is traditionally served with pasta smothered with curd cheese (túrós csusza).

In Myanmar (formally Burma), catfish is usually used in mohinga, a traditional noodle fish soup cooked with lemon grass, ginger, garlic, pepper, banana stem, onions, and other local ingredients.

Vietnamese catfish, of the genus Pangasius, cannot be legally marketed as catfish in the United States, and so is referred to as swai or basa. Only fish of the family Ictaluridae may be marketed as catfish in the United States. In the UK, Vietnamese catfish is sometimes sold as "Vietnamese river cobbler", although more commonly as Basa.

In Nigeria, catfish is often cooked in a variety of stews. It is particularly cooked in a delicacy popularly known as "catfish pepper soup" which is enjoyed throughout the nation.

In Jewish dietary law, known as kashrut, fish must have fins and scales to be kosher. Since catfish lacks scales, they are not kosher.

Mythology
In the mythology of the Japanese Shinto religion natural phenomenon are caused by kami. Earthquakes are caused by a giant catfish called Namazu. There are other kami associated with earthquakes. In Kyoto it's usually an eel, but after the 1855 Edo earthquake Namazu-e (鯰絵) were printed giving more popularity to the catfish kami that has been known since the 16th century Otsu-e. In one catfish print the divine white horse of Amaterasu is depicted knocking down the earthquake-causing catfish.

Dangers to humans

While the vast majority of catfish are harmless to humans, a few species are known to present some risk. Many catfish species have "stings" (actually non-venomous in most cases) embedded behind their fins; thus precautions must be taken when handling them. Stings by the venomous striped eel catfish have killed people in rare cases.

Catfish fishing records
By information from International Game Fish Association IGFA the most outstanding record:

 * The biggest flathead catfish caught was by Ken Paulie in the Elk City Reservoir in Kansas, US on 19 May 1998 that weighed 55.79 kg

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Fishing rod

A fishing rod  is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an angle, hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with a line attached to one end (as seen in traditional Tenkara fishing); however, modern rods are usually elastic and generally have the line stored in a reel mounted at the rod handle, which is hand-cranked and controls the line retrieval, as well as numerous line-restricting rings (also known as line guides) that distribute bending stress along the rod and help dampening down/prevent line whipping and entanglement. To better entice fish, baits or lures are dressed onto the one or more hooks attached to the line, and a bite indicator is used, some of which (e.g. quiver tip) might be incorporated as part of the rod itself.

Fishing rods act as an extended lever and allow the angler to amplify line movements while luring and pulling the fish. It also enhances casting distance by increasing the launch speed of the terminal tackles (the hook, bait/lure, and other co-launched attachments such as float and sinker/feeder), as a longer swing radius (compared to that of a human arm) corresponds to greater arc speed at the tip under the same angular velocity. The length of fishing rods usually vary between 2 ft and 15 ft depending on the style of angling, while the Guinness World Record is 22.45 m.

Traditional fishing rods are made from a single piece of hardwood (such as ash and hickory) or bamboo; while contemporary rods are usually made from alloys (such as aluminium) or more often high-tensile synthetic composites (such as fibreglass or carbon fiber), and may come in multi-piece or telescoping forms that are more portable and storage-friendly. Most fishing rods are tapered towards the tip to reduce the gravitational leverage front of the handle that an angler has to overcome when lifting the rod. Many modern rods are also constructed from hollow blanks to increase the specific strength of the design and reduce the overall weight.

In contrast with fishing nets and traps, which are usually used in subsistence and commercial fishing, angling with rods is a far less efficient method of catching fish, and is used more often in recreational fishing and competitive casting, which focus less on the yield and more on the experience. Fishing rods also come in many sizes, actions, hardness and configurations depending on whether they are to be used for small, medium or large fish or in different fresh or saltwater situations. Various types of fishing rods are designed for specific subtypes of angling, for instance: spin fishing rods (both spinning and baitcasting rods) are optimized for frequent, repeated casting, and are usually lighter and have faster action; fly rods are designed to better sling heavy lines and ultralight artificial flies, and are usually much more flexible; surfcasting rods are designed to cast baits or lures out over far distances, and tends to be quite long; ice fishing rods are designed to fish through small drilled holes in ice covered lakes and usually very short; and trolling rods are designed to drag heavy bait or lures through water while boat fishing, and usually have greater ultimate tensile strength due to the large sizes of the target fish.

Fly fishing
The art of fly fishing took a great leap forward after the English Civil War, where a newly found interest in the activity left its mark on the many books and treatises that were written on the subject at the time. The renowned officer in the Parliamentary army, Robert Venables, published in 1662 The Experienced Angler, or Angling improved, being a general discourse of angling, imparting many of the aptest ways and choicest experiments for the taking of most sorts of fish in pond or river. Compleat Angler was written by Izaak Walton in 1653 (although Walton continued to add to it for a quarter of a century) and described the fishing in the Derbyshire Wye. It was a celebration of the art and spirit of fishing in prose and verse; six verses were quoted from John Dennys's earlier work. A second part to the book was added by Walton's friend Charles Cotton.

The 18th century was mainly an era of consolidation of the techniques developed in the previous century. Running rings began to appear along the fishing rods, which gave anglers greater control over the cast line. The rods themselves were also becoming increasingly sophisticated and specialized for different roles. Jointed rods became common from the middle of the century and bamboo came to be used for the top section of the rod, giving it a much greater strength and flexibility.

The industry also became commercialized – rods and tackle were sold at the haberdashers store. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, artisans moved to Redditch which became a centre of production of fishing related products from the 1730s. Onesimus Ustonson established his trading shop in 1761, and his establishment remained as a market leader for the next century. He received a Royal Warrant from three successive monarchs starting with King George IV.

Technological improvements
The impact of the Industrial Revolution was first felt in the manufacture of fly lines. Instead of anglers twisting their own lines, a laborious and time-consuming process, the new textile spinning machines allowed for a variety of tapered lines to be easily manufactured and marketed.

The material used for the rod itself changed from the heavy woods native to England, to lighter and more elastic varieties imported from abroad, especially from South America and the West Indies. Bamboo rods became the generally favored option from the mid 19th century, and several strips of the material were cut from the cane, milled into shape, and then glued together to form light, strong, hexagonal rods with a solid core that were superior to anything that preceded them.

Other materials used, were Tonkin bamboo Calcutta reed, ash wood, hickory, ironwood, maple, lancewood, or malacca cane. These products were light, tough, and pliable. Rods were generally made in three pieces called a butt, midsection, and tip. The butts were frequently made of maple, with bored bottom; this butt outlasted several tops. Midsections were generally made from ironwood because it was a thicker, strong wood. Tips were generally made from bamboo for its elasticity which could throw the bait further and more accurately. Handles and grips were generally of cork, wood, or wrapped cane. Many different types of glue held these sections together, most commonly Irish glue and bone glue. This was until hilton glue, or cement glue, was introduced because of its waterproof qualities. Even today, Tonkin split-bamboo rods are still popular in fly fishing.

Until the mid-1800s rods were generally made in England. This changed in 1846 when American Samuel Phillippe introduced an imported fishing rod the first six strips of Calcutta cane made in Bavaria where Phillippe was importing Violins that he passed off as his own hand work. Split-cane rods were later independently produced after Phillippe started to sell the imported rods to a New York retailer and then copied by Americans Charles Orvis, Hiram Leonard and Englishman William Hardy in the 1870s and mass production methods made these rods accessible to the public. Horton Manufacturing Company first introduced an all steel rod in 1913. These rods were heavy and flexible and did not satisfy many customers. The next big occurrence in fishing rods was the introduction of the fiberglass rod in the 1940s and was developed by Robert Gayle and a Mr. Mcguire.

Boron and Graphite rods came around in the 1960s and 1970s when the United States and United Kingdom invested considerable research into developing the new technologies. Hewitt and Howald were the first to come up with a way to lay the fibers into the shape of a fishing rod by wrapping them around a piece of balsa wood. However, by 1977, boron fibre technology had been muscled out by the cheaper material graphite and was no longer competitive in the market.

Rods for travelers were made with nickel-silver metal joints, or ferrules, that could be inserted into one another forming the rod. Some of them were made to be used as a walking cane until needed for sport. Since the 1980s, with the advent of flexible, yet stiff graphite ferrules, travel rod technology has greatly advanced, and multi-piece travel rods that can be transported in a suitcase or backpack constitute a large share of the market.

Modern design
In theory, an ideal rod should gradually taper from butt to tip, be tight in all its joints (if any), and have a smooth, progressive taper, without 'dead spots'. Modern design and fabrication techniques, along with advanced materials such as graphite, boron, magnesium alloy and fiberglass composites as well as stainless steel (see Emmrod) – have allowed rod makers to tailor both the shape and action of fishing rods for greater casting distance, accuracy, and fish-fighting qualities. Today, fishing rods are identified by their weight (meaning the weight of line or lure required to flex a fully loaded rod) and action (describing the speed with which the rod returns to its neutral position).

Generally there are three types of rods used today graphite, fiberglass, and bamboo rods. Bamboo rods are the heaviest of the three, but people still use it for its feel. Fiberglass rods are the heaviest of the new chemically-made material rods. They are mostly popular with the new and young anglers, as well as anglers who cannot afford the generally more expensive graphite rods. They are more commonly found among those anglers that fish in rugged areas such as on rocks or piers where knocking the rod on hard objects is a greater possibility. This may potentially cause breakage, making a fiberglass rod preferable for some anglers due to its higher durability and affordability compared to graphite rods. Today's most popular rod tends to be graphite for its light weight characteristics and its ability to allow for further and more accurate cast. Graphite rods tend to be more sensitive, allowing the user to feel bites from fish easier.

Modern fishing rods retain cork as a common material for grips. Cork is light, durable, and keeps warm. EVA foam and carbon fiber grips are also used. Reel seats are often of graphite-reinforced plastic, aluminium, or wood. Guides are available in steel and titanium with a wide variety of high-tech ceramic and metal alloy inserts replacing the classic agate inserts of earlier rods.

Back- or butt-rests can also be used with modern fishing rods to make it easier to fight large game fish. These are fork-like supports that help keep the rod in position, providing leverage and counteracting tensions caused by a caught fish.

Rod making bench
An old rod-making bench would generally consist of a 6 to 8 ft bench, vice, a drawing knife, a jack, a fore plane, large coarse flat file, sand paper, and several strips of wood about 2 ft long with different size grooves in them. Newer rod building benches are smaller versions of lathes powered by small motors that turn the rod as thread is applied to secure the guides. The motor is controlled by a foot operated rheostat, similar to that found on a sewing machine. A low rpm motor can be used to apply rod finish, typically a two-part resin, to protect the threads.

Specifications
There are several specifications manufacturers use to delineate rod uses. These include power, action, line weight, lure weight, and number of pieces.

Power value
Also known as "rod weight", the power value of a fishing rod implies its stiffness by vaguely describing the force needed to produce a certain degree of flexion upon the rod, and may be classified as ultra-light (UL), light (L), medium-light (ML), medium (M), medium-heavy (MH), heavy (H), extra-heavy (XH), or other similar combinations. It is often an indicator of what styles of fishing, species of target fish, or size of fish a particular rod may be best suited for. The power of the rod describes its strength ability, the heavier the rod's power is, the more weight the rod can lift up easily without snapping in half. Being stiffer than light or ultralight rods, the heavy power rods are less sensitive. But the bites from larger fish to heavy lures are not hard to detect. Ultra-light rods are suitable for catching small baitfish and panfish, or situations where rod responsiveness is critical. Heavy/extra-heavy rods are used in deep-sea fishing, surf fishing, or for large-sized game fish. While manufacturers use various designations for a rod's power, there is no fixed standard, hence application of a particular power tag by a manufacturer is somewhat subjective. Any fish can theoretically be caught with any rod, of course, but catching panfish on a heavy rod offers no sport whatsoever, and successfully landing a large fish on an ultralight rod requires supreme rod handling skills but more frequently still ends in broken tackles and a lost fish. It is generally advised to choose rod weights that are best suited to the intended type of fishing.

Action
The action of a fishing rod refers to the speed with which it elastically returns to the neutral (straightened) position after a flexional load is removed (i.e. the "recoil" or "rebound" speed), and is generally described as being "slow", "medium", "fast", or anything in between (e.g. medium-fast) or beyond (e.g. extra-fast). Contrary to how it is often presented, action does not refer to the bending characteristics (shape of the "curve") of the rod — a fast-action rod can as easily have a more evenly progressive bending curve (from tip to butt) as a tip-only bending curve, although tip-bending rods do inherently tend to have faster action. The action can also be influenced by the length of a rod, the tapering profile, and the blank materials used. Typically a rod that uses a fiberglass composite blank has slower action than one that uses a carbon fiber composite blank.

Action, however, is also often a subjective description of a manufacturer. Very often action is misused to note the bending curve instead of the speed. Some manufacturers list the power value of the rod as its action. A "medium" action bamboo rod may have a faster action than a "fast" fibreglass rod. Action is also subjectively used by anglers, as an angler might compare a given rod as "faster" or "slower" than a different rod.

A rod's action and power may change when load is greater or lesser than the rod's specified casting weight. When the load used greatly exceeds a rod's specifications a rod may break during casting, if the line does not break first. When the load is significantly less than the rod's recommended range the casting distance is significantly reduced, as the rod's action cannot launch the load. It acts like a stiff pole. In fly rods, exceeding weight ratings may warp the blank or have casting difficulties when rods are improperly loaded.

Rods with a fast action combined with a full progressive bending curve allows the fisherman to make longer casts, given that the cast weight and line diameter is correct. When a cast weight exceeds the specifications lightly, a rod becomes slower, slightly reducing the distance. When a cast weight is slightly less than the specified casting weight the distance is slightly reduced as well, as the rod action is only used partially.

Rod Sensitivity
A rods blank will determine the amount of sensitivity anglers feel. Fishing rods made of graphite are the most sensitive due to the fact they can transfer vibrations better than rods made of fiberglass. But the rod blank is not the only thing that translates into sensitivity. The rods design will impact how well an angler feels a fish's bite or the bottom of the lake, stream, reservoir, creek, or river. The more sensitivity a rod has the more likely you are to feel the bite and be able to get a good hookset to land the fish.

Bending curve and tapering
A fishing rod's main function is to bend and deliver a certain resistance or power: While casting, the rod acts as a catapult: by moving the rod shaft forward, the inertia of the mass of the terminal tackles and the distal portion of rod itself will load (bend) the rod tip backward, and the subsequent elastic rebound forward will sling out the lure/bait. When a hook bite is registered and the fisherman pulls the line, the elasticity of the rod will damp the shock to avoid line failure. When fighting a fish, the bending of the rod not only enables the fisherman to keep the line under tension, but the bending of the rod will also keep the fish under a constant tension which will exhaust the fish and enable the fisherman to reel it in. Also the bending lessens the effect of the leverage by shortening the distance of the lever (the rod). Stiff rods demand much power of the fisherman, while actually less power is put on the fish. In comparison, a deep bending rod will demand less power from the fisherman, but deliver more fighting power to the fish. In practice, this leverage effect often misleads fisherman. Often it is believed that a hard, stiff rod puts more control and power on the fish to fight, while it is actually the fish who is putting the power on the fisherman. In commercial fishing practice, large fish are often pulled in on the line itself without much effort, which is possible because the absence of the leverage effect.

A rod can bend in different curves. Traditionally the bending curve is mainly determined by its tapering. In simplified terms, a fast taper will bend a lot more in the tip area and not much in the butt part, and a slow taper will tend to bend too much at the butt and delivers a weak rod. A progressive tapering which loads smooth from top to butt, adding in power the deeper the rod is bent. In practice, the tapers of quality rods often are curved or in steps to achieve the right action and bending curve for the type of fishing a rod is built. In today's practice, different fibres with different properties can be used in a single rod. In this practice, there is no straight relationship anymore between the actual tapering and the bending curve.

The bending curve is not easily described by terms. However, some rod and blank manufacturers try to simplify things towards their customers by describing the bending curve by associating them with their action. The term fast action is used for rods where only the tip is bending, and slow action for rods bending from tip to butt. In practice, this is misleading, as top-quality rods are very often fast-action rods, bending from tip to butt. While the so-called 'fast-action' rods are stiff rods (with absence of any action) which end in a soft or slow tip section. The construction of a progressive bending, fast action rod is more difficult and more expensive to achieve. Common terms to describe the bending curve or properties which influence the bending curve are: progressive taper/loading/curve/bending/..., fast taper, heavy progressive (notes a bending curve close to progressive, tending to become fast-tapered), tip action (also referred to as 'umbrella'-action), broom-action (which refers to the previously mentioned stiff 'fast action'-rods with soft tip). A parabolic action is often used to note a progressive bending curve, in fact this term comes from a series of splitcane fly rods built by Pezon & Michel in France since the late 1930s, which had a progressive bending curve. Sometimes the term parabolic is more specific used to note the specific type of progressive bending curve as was found in the Parabolic series.

A common way today to describe a rod's bending properties is the Common Cents System, which is "a system of objective and relative measurement for quantifying rod power, action and even this elusive thing ... fishermen like to call feel."

The bending curve determines the way a rod builds up and releases its power. This influences not only the casting and the fish-fighting properties, but also the sensitivity to strikes when fishing lures, the ability to set a hook (which is also related to the mass of the rod), the control over the lure or bait, the way the rod should be handled and how the power is distributed over the rod. On a full progressive rod, the power is distributed most evenly over the whole rod.

Line weight
The line weight of a fishing rod describes the optimal tension along the fishing line the rod is designed to handle, usually expressed in pounds or kilograms. A fishing line's "breaking weight" describes the maximum tensile force that can be exerted before the line breaks apart, while the line weight for a rod describes as the extent of bending force that the rod can support. Fly rod weights are typically expressed as a number from 1 to 12 written as "N"wt (e.g. 6wt), and each weight represents a standard weight in grains for the first 30 ft of the fly line, established by the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Association. For example, the first 30 in of a 6wt fly line should weigh between 152 - 168 gr, with the optimal weight being 160 gr. In casting and spinning rods, designations such as "8-15 lb line weight" are typical.

Lure weight
The lure weight of a fishing rod describes the optimal weight range of terminal tackle (mainly the bait and hook/lure, and any attached float, sinker, swivel and/or heavy leader), usually expressed in ounces or grams, that the rod is designed to handle in order to achieve good casting outcome. Casting lures heavier than the designated weights might result in the rod tip breaking, while lures that are too light might have trouble with casting distance and accuracy.

Number of sections
Rods that are one piece from butt to tip are considered to have the most natural "feel" due to the theoretically uninterrupted transfer of vibrations to the angler's hand, and are preferred by many. However, the difficulty in transporting one-piece rod safely becomes an increasing problem with increasing rod length. Two-piece rods, joined by a ferrule, are very common, and if well engineered (especially with tubular glass or carbon fibre rods), sacrifice very little in the way of natural feel. Some fishermen do feel a difference in sensitivity with two-piece rods, but most do not.

Some rods are joined through a metal "bus". These add mass to the rod which helps in setting the hook and help activating the rod from tip to butt when casting, resulting in a better casting experience. Some anglers experience this kind of fitting as superior to a one piece rod. They are found on specialized hand-built rods. Apart from adding the correct mass, depending on the kind of rod, this fitting also is the strongest known fitting, but also the most expensive one. For that reason they are almost never to be found on commercial fishing rods.

Types
Fishing rods can be constructed out of a vast number of materials. Generally they are made with either fiberglass, graphite, or a new generation composite, also known as carbon fibre. Many times carbon fibre and graphite are used together in the rod making process.

Carbon fibre rods
A carbon fibre rod is not necessarily better than a glass fibre rod; the two fibres have different properties, with their own tradeoffs. Carbon fibre is less flexible (stiffer) than glass fibre and more brittle and prone to breakage when misused, while carbon fibre allows for longer and faster rods. Carbon fibre also allows for a smaller diameter rod that is more sensitive than a glass fibre rod. A carbon fibre rod is also much lighter than a glass fibre rod allowing for longer days of fishing. Each has its purpose in the fishing industry and both improve an anglers chances of being successful when the blanks are used for the right purposes.

Fly rods
Fly rods, thin, flexible fishing rods designed to cast an artificial fly, usually consisting of a hook tied with fur, feathers, foam, or other lightweight material. More modern flies are also tied with synthetic materials. Originally made of yew, green heart, and later split bamboo (Tonkin cane), most modern fly rods are constructed from man-made composite materials, including fibreglass, carbon/graphite, or graphite/boron composites. Split bamboo rods are generally considered the most beautiful, the most "classic", and are also generally the most fragile of the styles, and they require a great deal of care to last well. Instead of a weighted lure, a fly rod uses the weight of the fly line for casting, and lightweight rods are capable of casting the very smallest and lightest fly. Typically, a monofilament segment called a "leader" is tied to the fly line on one end and the fly on the other.

Each rod is sized to the fish being sought, the wind and water conditions and also to a particular weight of line: larger and heavier line sizes will cast heavier, larger flies. Fly rods come in a wide variety of line sizes, from size #000 to #0 rods for the smallest freshwater trout and pan fish up to and including #16 rods for large saltwater game fish. Fly rods tend to have a single, large-diameter line guide (called a stripping guide), with a number of smaller looped guides (aka snake guides) spaced along the rod to help control the movement of the relatively thick fly line. To prevent interference with casting movements, most fly rods usually have little or no butt section (handle) extending below the fishing reel. However, the Spey rod, a fly rod with an elongated rear handle, is often used for fishing either large rivers for salmon and Steelhead or saltwater surf casting, using a two-handed casting technique.

Fly rods are, in modern manufacture, almost always built out of carbon graphite. The graphite fibres are laid down in increasingly sophisticated patterns to keep the rod from flattening when stressed (usually referred to as hoop strength). The rod tapers from one end to the other and the degree of taper determines how much of the rod flexes when stressed. The larger amount of the rod that flexes the 'slower' the rod. Slower rods are easier to cast, create lighter presentations but create a wider loop on the forward cast that reduces casting distance and is subject to the effects of wind. Furthermore, the process of wrapping graphite fibre sheets to build a rod creates imperfections that result in rod twist during casting. Rod twist is minimized by orienting the rod guides along the side of the rod with the most 'give'. This is done by flexing the rod and feeling for the point of most give or by using computerized rod testing.

See also Fly fishing.

Custom rod building is an active hobby among fly fishermen. See Fly rod building.

Tenkara rods
Tenkara rods are a type of fly rod used for tenkara fishing in Japan. A mixture of the rods in the other categories, they are carbon rods, fly rods and telescopic rods all in one. These are ultra-light and very portable telescopic rods (read more about telescopic below). Their extended length normally ranges from 11 to 13 ft, and they have a very soft action. The action of tenkara rods has been standardized as a ratio of "how many parts are stiffer : how many tip parts bend more easily". The standard actions are 5:5, 6:4, 7:3, and 8:2, with 5:5 being a softer/slower rod, and 8:2 being a stiffer rod. Similar to western fly-rods tenkara rods also have cork, and sometimes even wooden handles, with wooden handles (such as red-pine, and phoenix-tree wood) being the more prized rods due to their increased sensitivity to fish bites and the heavier feel that helps balance the rods. Tenkara rods have no guides. Tenkara is a fixed-line fishing method, where no reel is used, but rather the line is tied directly to the tip of the rod. Like the carbon rods mentioned above this allows for "very precise positioning of the fly which in turn enables huge catches of fish with accurate feeding". One of the most common flies used in tenkara fishing is the Sakasa Kebari. Tenkara fishing is very popular in Japan, where these rods can be found in every major tackle shop. In the US, tenkara is beginning to grow in popularity.

Spin casting rods
Spin casting rods are rods designed to hold a spin casting reel, which are normally mounted above the handle. Spin casting rods also have small eyes and, frequently, a forefinger grip trigger. They are very similar to bait casting rods, to the point where either type of reel may be used on a particular rod. While rods were at one time offered as specific "spin casting" or "bait casting" rods, this has become uncommon, as the rod design is suited to either fishing style. Today they are simply called "casting rods", and are usually offered with no distinction as to which style they are best suited for in use.

Baitcasting rods
While the easy to use spin casting rods are often used by novice anglers, baitcasting rods and reels are generally more difficult to use. Professional anglers, however, prefer baitcasting rod and reel combos because baitcasting reels grant anglers more accuracy in their casts. Casting rods are typically viewed as somewhat more powerful than their spinning rod counterparts – they can use heavier line and can handle heavier cover. Baitcasting rods low profile design along with a super silent high-speed 7.0:1-line retrieve.

Spinning rods
Spinning rods are made from graphite or fiberglass with a cork or PVC foam handle, and tend to be between 5 and 8.5 ft in length. Typically, spinning rods have anywhere from 5–8 guides arranged along the underside of the rod to help control the line. The eyes decrease in size from the handle to the tip, with the one nearest the handle usually much larger than the rest to allow less friction as the coiled line comes off the reel, and to gather the very large loops of line that come off the spinning reel's spool. Unlike bait casting and spin casting reels, the spinning reel hangs beneath the rod rather than sitting on top, and is held in place with a sliding or locking reel seat. The fisherman's second and third fingers straddle the "leg" of the reel where it is attached to the reel seat on the rod, and the weight of the reel hangs beneath the rod, which makes for a more comfortable way to fish for extended periods. This also allows the rod to be held in the fisherman's dominant hand (the handle on most modern spinning reels is reversible) which greatly increases control and nuance applied to the rod itself. Spinning rods and reels are widely used in fishing for popular North American sport fish including bass, trout, pike and walleye. Popular targets for spinning in the UK and European continent are pike, perch, eel and zander (walleye). Longer spinning rods with elongated grip handles for two-handed casting are frequently employed for saltwater or steelhead and salmon fishing. Spinning rods are also widely used for trolling and still fishing with live bait.

Ultra-light rods
These rods are used to fish for smaller species, they provide more sport with larger fish, or to enable fishing with lighter line and smaller lures. Though the term is commonly used to refer to spinning or spin-cast rods and tackle, fly rods in smaller line weights (size #0–#3) have also long been utilized for ultra-light fishing, as well as to protect the thin-diameter, lightweight end section of leader, or tippet, used in this type of angling.

Ultra-light spinning and casting rods are generally shorter (4 to 8 ft is common) lighter, and more limber than normal rods. Tip actions vary from slow to fast, depending upon intended use. These rods usually carry 1 to 6 lbf test fishing line. Some ultra-light rods are capable of casting lures as light as 1/64 oz – typically small spinners, wet flies, crappie jigs, tubes, or bait such as trout worms. Originally produced to bring more excitement to the sport, ultra-light spin fishing is now widely used for crappie, trout, bass, bluegill, roach, perch, bream, pumpkin-seed, tench and other types of pan fish.

Ice rods
Modern ice rods are typically very short spinning rods, varying between 24 and 36 in in length. Classic ice rods – still widely used – are simply stiff rod-like pieces of wood, usually with a carved wooden handle, a couple of line guides, and two opposing hooks mounted ahead of the handle to hand-wind the line around. Ice rods are used to fish through holes in the cover ice of frozen lakes and ponds.

Sea rods
Sea rods are designed for use with fish from the ocean. They are long, (around 4 m on average), extremely thick, and feature huge and heavy tips, eyes, and handles. The largest of sea rods are for use with sport fishing boats. Some of these are specialized rods, including shark rods, and marlin rods, and are for use with very heavy equipment.

Surf rods
The most common type of sea rods are for surf casting. Surf casting rods resemble oversized spinning or bait casting rods with long grip handles intended for two-handed casting techniques. Generally between 10 and 14 ft in length, surf casting rods need to be longer in order for the user cast the lure or bait beyond the breaking surf where fish tend to congregate, and sturdy enough to cast heavy weighted lures or bait needed to hold the bottom in rough water. They are almost always used in shore fishing (sea fishing from the shoreline) from the beach, rocks or other shore feature. Some surfcasters use powerful rods to cast up to 6 oz or more of lead weight, artificial lures, and/or bait over 100 yd.

Trolling rods
Trolling is a fishing method of casting the lure or bait to the side of, or behind, a moving boat, and letting the motion of the boat pull the bait through the water. In theory, for light and medium freshwater gamefishing, any casting or spinning rod (with the possible exception of ultralight rods) can be used for trolling. In the last 30 years, most manufacturers have developed a complete line of generally long, heavily built rods sold as "Trolling Rods", and aimed generally at ocean anglers and Great Lakes salmon and steelhead fishermen. A rod effective for trolling should have relatively fast action, as a very "whippy" slow action rod is extremely frustrating to troll with, and a fast action (fairly stiff) rod is generally much easier to work with when fishing by this method. Perhaps the extreme in this philosophy was reached during the 1940s and early 1950s, when the now-defunct True Temper corporation – a maker of garden tools – marketed a line of trolling rods of 4.5 to 5 ft length made of tempered steel which were square in cross section. They acted as excellent trolling rods, though the action was much too stiff for sportsmanlike playing of fish once hooked. As Great Lakes sportfishing in particular becomes more popular with each passing year, all rod manufacturers continue to expand their lines of dedicated "trolling" rods, though as noted, for most inland lake and stream fishing, a good casting or spinning rod is perfectly adequate for trolling.

Telescopic rods
Telescopic fishing rods are designed to collapse down to a short length and open to a long rod. 20 or rods can close to as little as 1+1/2 ft. This makes the rods very easy to transport to remote areas or travel on buses, compact cars, or public buses and subways. Telescopic fishing rods are made from the same materials as conventional multi-piece rods. Graphite, carbon, and sometimes fibreglass, or composites of these materials, are designed to slip into each other so that they open and close. The eyes on the spinning rods are generally, but not always, a special design to aid in making the end of each section stronger. Various grade eyes available in conventional rods are also available in telescopic fishing rods. The eyeless Tenkara style rods are also of this type and are typically made from carbon and/or graphite.

Care for telescopic fishing rods is much the same as other rods. The only difference being that one should not open the telescopic rod in manner that whips a closed rod into the open position rapidly. Whipping or flinging a telescopic fishing rod open may and likely will cause it to be difficult to close. When closing the rods make a slight twisting motion while pushing the sections together. Often the rods come with tip covers to protect the tip and guides. Additionally, extra care must be taken not to get dirt or sand in the joints; due to their design this can easily damage this style of rod.

Telescopic rods are popular among surf fishermen. Carrying around a 12 or surf fishing rod, even in two pieces, is cumbersome. The shorter the sections the shorter they close, the more eyes they have, and the better the power curve is in them. More eyes means better weight and stress distribution throughout the parabolic arc. This translates to further casting, stronger fish fighting abilities, and less breaking of the rod.

title: Fishing rod