#catfish bones

[velvet-and-bone]

Been inactive through school and work so heres some catfish bones I found at the river yesterday! I like the little curl of the first ones whisker ♡

[skelelegs]

5) Favorite object in your collection?

This is a super hard question because I'm indecisive and also fond of all my bits and bobs near equally. BUT this big catfish has to be in my top 10. There is more to the skull than in the picture but yeah... Haven't actually gotten up the willpower to try to put it together. Worried I'll ruin it.

Coyote skull for comparison. Catfish skull top is just shy of 12 inches.

[featherandmoss]

P.S. If anyone knows what the bone in this collection on the 2nd shelf from the top, first on the left is called, please message me! It's catfish something, I've seen them in the catfish carcasses located somewhere between the vertebrae and skull parts. I have spent, no exaggeration, at least 8 hours total researching catfish anatomy and it's just not happening for me, but I would really love know what to call it because I have several more of them, and the meshy texture is really appealing to me, and I just need to know. I just need to know what the hell it's called. (If it helps, it's more likely than not channel catfish, but I'm sure we have other Ictaluridae genera swimming around too.) 

Please and thank you.