Dangers To Humans
While the vast majority of catfish are harmless to humans, a few species are known to present some risk. Perhaps the most notorious of these is the candiru, due to the way it is reputed to parasitize the urethra, though there is only one documented case of a candiru attack on a human.
Since 2007, the Goonch catfish has also gained attention following a series of fatal underwater attacks which have been alleged by biologist Jeremy Wade to have been from unusually large goonch.
The Wels catfish has also been reputed to kill humans (especially young children), and while there are no documented cases of fatalities, larger specimens are known to cause serious injuries in rare instances. In addition, other species are reputed to be dangerous to humans as well, but with less definitive evidence.
Many catfish species have “stings” (actually non-venomous in most cases) embedded behind their fins; thus precautions must be taken when handling them.
Read more about this topic: Catfish
Famous quotes containing the words dangers to, dangers and/or humans:
“Monarchs ought to put to death the authors and instigators of war, as their sworn enemies and as dangers to their states.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“Anyone with a real taste for solitude who indulges that taste encounters the dangers of any other drug-taker. The habit grows. You become an addict.... Absorbed in the visions of solitude, human beings are only interruptions. What voice can equal the voices of solitude? What sights equal the movement of a single day’s tide of light across the floor boards of one room? What drama be as continuously absorbing as the interior one?”
—Jessamyn West (1902–1984)
“...there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they?”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 14:7-10.