The goldfish was happily swimming in the tank when suddenly, the “monster” catfish snapped its head and swallowed it whole in an instant.
Catfish swallowing goldfish.
A 50-second video posted on YouTube shows a wide-mouthed catfish devouring another fish nearly its size in a glass tank in Indonesia.
The goldfish struggles in the water as it tries to free itself from the strong jaws of the catfish. However, it cannot withstand the overwhelming power of the terrifying predator.
Wide-mouthed catfish typically feed on white fish, shrimp, worms, and even pigeons. This species is primarily found in Brazil and Venezuela.
It is known that widemouth catfish are a species of freshwater fish native to South America, primarily found in the Orinoco and Rio Negro river basins (Venezuela and Brazil). They belong to the catfish family and can grow up to about 25 cm in size.
This species inhabits shallow, turbid waters and is nocturnal. They spend most of their daytime hiding in the shadows, waiting until nightfall to swim out and hunt for food.
Due to living in an environment with relatively scarce food resources, evolution has equipped this species with the ability to consume a vast amount of food. When hunting, their mouths open extremely wide, enough to swallow prey nearly the same size as themselves. At this moment, their stomachs also expand accordingly, facilitating the digestion process.
However, there have been many cases where catfish had to regurgitate their prey because they attempted to swallow something too large. In some instances, they even lost their lives due to exceeding their digestive capacity and being unable to escape.
