Abstract: Channel catfish is the most numerous catfish species in the world. This study aims to analyze the dynamics of quality and bacterial composition in channel catfish subjected to various low-temperature storage. The research also revealed the correlation between the evaluation metrics and the predominant spoilage bacteria. Specifically, the catfish was selected and then stored under refrigeration at 4 and 10 °C. Various parameters included sensory metrics, texture, color, pH value, total viable count (TVC), and the total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N). High-throughput sequencing was employed to determine the microbial community composition of catfish. Traditional sieving was utilized to isolate and identify the microorganisms. While the spoilage capacity and growth kinetics were utilized to characterize the dominant spoilage species. The results indicated that the pH changes of catfish exhibited the initial decline and then increased, with the prolongation of low-temperature storage time. Additionally, the TVB-N, TVC, lightness (L*), yellow-blue value (b*), and Whiteness (W) demonstrated an increasing trend, whereas the hardness, chewiness, and red-green value (a*) displayed a decreasing trend. Furthermore, The TVB-N content exhibited a significant positive correlation with the TVC. There was a correlation coefficient of 0.95 (P<0.05). The decay rate of catfish was slower under the condition of 4 °C. The sensory quality was maintained, in terms of the various indicators. Microbiological analyses found that Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Proteobacteria were the dominant phylum associated with catfish spoilage. The corruption of catfish meat involved a total of 19 families, more than 20 genera, and more than 30 bacterial species. According to the genus level, the predominant genera with the high relative abundance of the catfish were identified as Myroides sp. (39.68%), Aeromonas sp. (28.74%), Acinetobacter sp. (16.33%) and Shewanella sp. (6.34%). A total of six bacterial strains were screened, including two strains of Pseudomonas, one strain of Shewanella, two strains of Aeromonas veronii, and one strain of Acinetobacter johnsonii. Among them, the spoiled catfish muscle was taken as the raw material. The screening data was consistent with the microbial diversity on the channel catfish. The growth kinetics was used to determine the two strains with the strongest decay at different temperatures. Furthermore, the lag phase (λ) was extended significantly, as the incubation temperature decreased. While the maximum specific growth rate (μ_max) was reduced significantly. Notably, the μmax of Shewanella baltica consistently exceeded that of Aeromonas veronii. Both strains shared excellent growth at low temperatures, where Shewanella veronii was more suitable for the low-temperature adaptation. The yield factor (Y_TVB-N/CFU) revealed that the spoilage potential greatly varied among the six identified spoilage bacteria strains. Aeromonas veronii and Shewanella baltica exhibited the most pronounced spoilage potential, whereas Acinetobacter johnsonii had relatively limited spoilage activity. The findings can offer valuable insights for future investigations into the spoilage mechanisms of channel catfish. A theoretical foundation and data support were also provided for the quality control technologies for the freshwater fish, according to the succession patterns of microbial communities. A great contribution was also made to the low-temperature sustainable storage and transportation of freshwater fish.