The Amur catfish, or Japanese common catfish, ''Silurus asotus'', is a species of catfish (sheatfish), family
Siluridae
Siluridae is the nominate family of catfishes in the order Siluriformes. About 105 living species of silurids are placed in 12 or 14 genera.
Although silurids occur across much of Europe and Asia, they are most diverse in Southeast Asia, beyond ...
. It is a large freshwater fish found in continental
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
and in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. It prefers slow-flowing rivers, lakes, and irrigation canals. Its appearance is typical of a large silurid catfish. Larval ''S. asotus'' specimens have three pairs of barbels (one maxillary, two mandibular), while adult fish have only two pairs (one maxillary, one mandibular); second pair of mandibular barbels degenerates."Relationship between external and internal morphological changes and feeding habits in the fry state of Japanese Catfish ''Silurius Asotus''" , 1999, Osamu Yada and Atsushi Furukawa, UJNR Aquaculture 28th Panel Proceedings This species grows to in
total length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.
Overall length
* Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...
.
Culinary use
In
Korean cuisine
Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural envi ...
, the fish is called ''megi'' () and is used to boil ''