175,000 Tastebuds +/-
By Christy Lowman
Burke County
About four weeks ago, my family and I came down with the flu. It was terrible. I did not have a lot of the same symptoms as my family had, but the symptoms I had were bad enough. I had aches and pains all over, even my teeth hurt. I think the only thing that didn’t hurt were my eyeballs. Also, even though I wasn’t really congested, I lost my sense of taste and smell, and I didn’t get them back for about three weeks. It took so long I was wondering if they were permanently gone. In fact, I’m still not back to myself.
During this time, I got down in the dumps and I couldn’t smell or taste anything. My roses were starting to bloom and I couldn’t enjoy them. I couldn’t smell the lit candle that reminds me of red-hot candies either. Eating became just a necessary chore because I could not taste anything. I no longer enjoyed a cup of coffee, a piece of candy, or a meal. In fact, it bothered me so much that I lost interest in eating altogether, and I ate little to nothing. I lost seven pounds because of it. During this time I realized how much I enjoyed the sense of taste and smell. I realized how much I take these senses for granted and how much I enjoy them. Since then these senses have returned and I thank God every day for all of the senses he has blessed me with because they bring so much joy to my life.
Today I thought we would talk about an animal that not only has a great sense of smell but also has 175,000+/- taste buds. This animal is the channel catfish. This catfish has no scales but instead, its entire body is covered in tastebuds. At its mouth, the catfish has barbells (also known as whiskers) that have an overabundance of taste buds covering them (25 tastebuds per square millimeter).
The channel catfish is a freshwater fish that can be found in several rivers, lakes, and ponds in parts of North America and Mexico. However, they have also been found in brackish and even saltwater bodies of water. Channel catfish have now been introduced in the Czech Republic, Romania, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Most channel catfish are grayish blue on their sides, black on their back and their underside is white. However, some carry recessive genes that have albino offspring which is a peachy white color. Most albino cats are bred for aquariums and ponds.
The maximum life span is around 15 years for these fish. The heaviest channel cat caught was in 1964 in South Carolina weighing a whopping 58 pounds!
These catfish are not in fear of becoming endangered. They are in abundance in North America even though 8 million fishermen fish for them every year.
Channel cats are bottom opportunists and omnivore feeders. Meaning they will eat just about anything. These fish are more active at night and after it rains. They have no problem finding food in the dark, cloudy, muddy waters they live in. This is all because of their super keen sense of smell and taste. In fact, their tongue is called “the swimming tongue” because of all the taste buds covering the outside of the fish and its oropharyngeal cavity in the back of its mouth.
The channel cat can also hear very well because the Weberian apparatus connects the swim bladder to the ear. This amplifies sound wave vibrations so the catfish can hear what is going on in its surroundings. Sound traveling 4.8 times faster underwater than it does in the air also plays in the catfish’s favor.
The channel catfish communicates and makes sounds through a process called pectoral stridulation. This is where the fish clicks and grinds the bony parts of its pectoral fins and girdle together. Scientists have found that this fish will prefer one fin over the other to do stridulation, just like people, when we decide whether to be right or left-handed.
These catfish are also able to recognize a fish’s age, size, sex, species, and social status by the fish’s body odor.
A channel catfish would be unable to survive in its habitat without its keen sense of smell, taste, and also hearing. Isn’t it amazing these gifts of senses that God has given us that we take for granted every day? Can you imagine not being able to smell or taste? Three weeks of it was enough for me, I hope I never experience it again, especially for that long. God truly put in a lot of thought and work when he created each living creature he created, making sure we had everything we needed to survive and with senses that bring us so much joy.
If you get a chance take time out, sit outside, and use your senses. Take note of what senses are used that bring you joy and which ones you feel like you could not live without. God has taken such good care of us; we need to take time out and thank Him for it.
Dear Lord, I think so much for the senses you have gifted us that help us enjoy our time here on earth. I pray that we thank you daily for them and never take them for granted. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Psalms 34:8 – “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Bibliography
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/channel-catfish
https://kids.kiddle.co/Channel_catfish
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/016622369390152C
________________________________________
Christy Lowman is a Christian author and illustrator that lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband and two children. She enjoys writing and illustrating books for all ages. Some of her short stories are published with Guideposts and HCI. Christy gives all the glory to God in everything she does. A portion of every book sold from the Small Bible Character Series will be donated to battle human trafficking. If you enjoy her books, “like’ her author page on Facebook and let her know! You can buy her books at //www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AChristy+Lowman&s=relevancerank&text=Christy+Lowman&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1. You can reach her at //www.facebook.com/authorChristyLowman/
You can read more Christian news from Christy here.
______________________________________