The popularity of channel catfish for food has contributed to the rapid expansion of this species' aquaculture in the United States.

[9] Channel catfish are cavity nesters, which means that they lay their eggs in crevices, hollows, or debris to protect them from swift currents.

This combination of strong senses of taste and smell allows the channel catfish to find food in dark, stained, or muddy water with relative ease.

[citation needed] However, these catfish do have spines on their pectoral and dorsal fins which can inject venom and may cause injury if the fish is handled improperly.

This is reported to cause maxillary and mandibular barbel movements, which orient the catfish's posture and food search.

[21] Members of the genus Ictalurus, which lives in muddy waters with very bad sight, do not depend solely on visual cues.

Sound production may be another important means of communication among channel catfish and other species living in turbid habitats.

Both the fish's habitat and the presence of chemosensory cells covering the body are presumably the results of favored selection for this method of communication.

Through these pheromones, a catfish can identify not only the species and sex of a conspecific, but also its age, size, reproductive state, or hierarchical social status.

[21] This chemical change in the amino-acid composition of the skin mucus can be noted by chromatographic methods, and are not long-lasting; rather, they last only long enough to communicate to other fish in the vicinity.

[21] Since catfish have a dominance hierarchy system, information relative to the change of status of any fish is important in recognition of the social strata.

This spine, an expanded fin ray with modified articulation at its base, is decorated with serrations and poisonous tissues to dissuade predators.

[24] These noises are distinguished by distinct pulses produced when the ridges on the spine's base interact with the rough surface of the girdle's channel.

Different noises serve a variety of communicative purposes, including indicating behavior to predators and expressing dominance.

[26] The first ray of the channel catfish pectoral fin is a bilaterally symmetrical spinous structure that is minimally important for movement; however, it can be locked as a defensive adaptation or used as a means for sound production.

[28] The volume of the swim bladder changes if fish move vertically, thus is also considered to be the site of pressure sensitivity.

[25] Sudden, relatively loud sounds are used to startle predators in a manner analogous to the well-documented, visual flash display of various lepidopterans.

[31] Results from comparative genomics and transcriptomics analyses and experiments involving channel catfish have supported a role for secretory calcium-binding phosphoproteins (SCPP) in scale formation in teleost fishes.

For example, earlier studies have compared the genetic diversity of domestic versus wild populations of channel catfish using AFLPs.

[36] Channel catfish are omnivores, and can be caught using a variety of natural and prepared baits, including crickets, nightcrawlers, minnows, shad, freshwater drum, crawfish, frogs, bullheads, sunfish, chicken liver, raw steak, hot dogs, and suckers.

[37][39][40][41][38][42] When removing the hook from a catfish, anglers should be mindful of the sharp spines on the pectoral and dorsal fins, since they inject venom and may cause injury.