There is nothing wrong with your television set.

Do not rotate your phone.

You're looking at the upside-down catfish.

Seven different species live in the Nile and Congo Basins of Central Africa.

You might expect it to be anatomically different from a regular catfish.

But it's exactly the same.

So why does this catfish swim all topsy turvy?

Maybe a better question is: How do fish stay right-side up in the first place?

Well, they have an internal air sac that they inflate or empty to go up or down.

It also keeps them upright.

When they want to rise, they draw air from their blood into this swim bladder, and release it to sink.

This discus fish has swim-bladder disease.

That's why he's having a hard time with which way's up.

Our flipped catfish has a swim bladder too.

And it CAN swim like your standard fish -- if it wants to.

It turns its belly to the nearest surface to probe with its sensory barbels -- those catfish whiskers.

So what's the point of being upside-down all the time?

Well, near the surface of the water, fish normally run into a problem called wave drag.

Check out these regular catfish.

It happens when their own movement disturbs the water -- making it harder to swim.

But if a fish swims with like this, it doesn't shake up the water as much.

That lets this upside-down-er graze without getting so tired...and save its energy for evading predators.

There's also more oxygen in the water near the surface, so it's easier to breathe.

And check out how this fish has a dark patch on its stomach.

Its name, "nigri - ventris," means black belly.

That's the reverse of most sea creatures.

From above, that dark coloring camouflages the fish, helping them blend in with the depths.

It's called countershading.

So for these fish, life inverted... just feels right.

And we know they're not the only ones who work an unusual angle...

Whether that's tilted, sideways, or diagonal.

Sometimes to get by, it doesn't hurt to be a little different.