✗ The myth everyone repeats
Catfish whiskers (barbels) are the fish's taste buds that allow them to taste food in murky water.
✓ What is actually true
Catfish barbels are sensory organs but they don't taste. They are covered with chemoreceptor cells that detect chemicals in the water, as well as mechanoreceptors that sense touch and movement. Fish actually have taste buds distributed across their entire body skin and inside their mouth. The barbels help detect food and navigate murky water through chemical sensing, not taste.
Reception
The receipts 2 sources