Do catfish shed their skin?
Most catfishes don’t shed their skin, but a few that have heavily keratinized skin do (keratin is a waterproof protein that makes up a large part of your skin and hair). These include the South American banjo catfishes and some Asian hillstream catfishes. The skin peels off in chunks as it is being shed and the fish is none the worse for wear (except that tankmates may sometimes try to eat the dead skin off the fish). This shedding process is the natural result of the keratin deposition and it happens to humans on a daily basis as well (your skin is shed as tiny flakes which one does not usually notice).
