Abstract: To investigate the effects of short-term starvation on the morphometriacal, textural parameters and nutritional composition of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) of commercial specification, we starved the fish for 0 d (S0), 5 d (S5), 10 d (S10), 15 d (S15) and 20 d (S20) at (21.5±1) ℃. The results show that the condition factor (CF), viscerosomatic index (VSI) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) decreased significantly with the starvation time (P<0.05). The mass fractions of protein and lipid in muscle decreased significantly (P<0.05), while the water mass fraction increased. The ash mass fraction decreased in the first ten-day starvation and then increased in the following ten-day starvation (P<0.05). The muscle hardness decreased while the muscle cohesiveness and springiness index increased significantly (P<0.05). The amino acid mass fraction did not show significant difference between Group S0 and Group S20 (P>0.05). Compared with Group S0, the mass fractions of the saturated fatty acid (SFA), total unsaturated fatty acid (UFA), monosaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in Group S20 decreased about 17.1%, 10.9%, 10.1% and 12.3%, respectively. No significant difference was found in mass fractions of EPA and DHA during the duration of starvation (P>0.05).