Editing Catfish (section)

===Fin spines and toxins===
[[File:Image-Striped eel catfish2.jpg|thumb|A sting from the striped eel catfish, ''[[Plotosus lineatus]]'', may be fatal. These are juveniles]]
All catfish other than members of the [[Malapteruridae]] ([[electric catfish]]), possess a strong, hollow, bony, leading spine-like ray on their [[dorsal fin|dorsal]] and [[pectoral fin]]s. As a defense, these spines may be locked into place so that they stick outwards, enabling them to inflict severe wounds.<ref name=tol/> In numerous catfish species, these fin rays can be used to deliver a stinging [[protein]] if the fish is irritated;<ref name=fin>{{cite web| url = http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/channel_catfish.htm| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060603225626/http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/channel_catfish.htm| archive-date = 3 June 2006|title=Channel Catfish |access-date=2 December 2006|publisher=Fairfax County Public Schools}}</ref> as many as half of all catfish species may be venomous in this fashion, making the Siluriformes overwhelmingly the vertebrate order with the largest number of venomous species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=Jeremy J |title=Diversity, phylogenetic distribution, and origins of venomous catfishes |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |date=4 December 2009 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=282 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-9-282 |pmid=19961571 |pmc=2791775 |bibcode=2009BMCEE...9..282W |doi-access=free }}</ref> This [[venom]] is produced by [[gland]]ular cells in the [[epidermal]] tissue covering the spines.<ref name="Nelson"/> In members of the family [[Plotosidae]] and of the genus ''[[Heteropneustes]]'', this protein is so strong it may hospitalize humans who receive a sting; in ''[[Plotosus lineatus]]'', the stings can be lethal.<ref>{{FishBase|genus=Plotosus|species=lineatus|month=November|year=2014}}</ref><ref name="Nelson"/> The dorsal- and pectoral-fin spines are two of the most conspicuous features of siluriforms, and differ from those in other fish groups.<ref name='Ballen'>{{cite journal|author1=Ballen, Gustavo A.|author2=De Pinna, Mario C. C.|title=A standardized terminology of spines in the order Siluriformes (Actinopterygii: Ostariophysi)|year=2022|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=194|issue=2|pages=601–625|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab008|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab008|access-date=10 February 2022|archive-date=23 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923095540/https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/194/2/601/6191677|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the widespread use of the spines for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies the fields have struggled to effectively use the information due to a lack of consistency in the nomenclature, with a general standard for the descriptive anatomy of catfish spines proposed in 2022 to try and resolve this problem.<ref name='Ballen'/>