---
title: "Wels Catfish"
description: "Silurus glanis — Fish. The wels catfish ( or ; Silurus glanis), also called sheatfish or just wels, is a large species of catfish native to wide areas of central, southern, and eastern Europe, in the basins of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/wels-catfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Wels Catfish

> Silurus glanis — Fish. The wels catfish  ( or ; Silurus glanis), also called sheatfish or just wels, is a large species of catfish native to wide areas of central, southern, and eastern Europe, in the basins of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas.

- Scientific name: *Silurus glanis*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 1811
- Wikidata: [Q159323](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q159323)
- iNaturalist taxon: [112581](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/112581)

## Names

- en: Wels Catfish
- de: Europäischer Wels
- es: Siluro Europeo
- fr: Silure glane
- nl: Europese meerval
- pl: Sum europejski

## Countries with the most observations

AT (298), FR (289), IT (246), RU (141), DE (80), UA (57), CZ (48), ES (44), PL (36), HU (35), CH (30), PT (26)

## Summary

The wels catfish  ( or ; Silurus glanis), also called sheatfish or just wels, is a large species of catfish native to wide areas of central, southern, and eastern Europe, in the basins of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. It has been introduced to several countries in Western Europe, Mediterranean and Asia as a prized sport fish. Its modern day range spans from the United Kingdom in the west to western China in the east.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wels_catfish

## Photo

![Wels Catfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/wels-catfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Eli · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215917973

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/wels-catfish?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).