Catfish

The catfish is a visual treat of nature’s pastel shades: gray, green, silver and white.

  • Description: Catfish are members of the bullhead catfish family, Ictaluridae, and are a freshwater species that are commonly found in estuarine waters. Bullhead catfishes all lack scales and possess an adipose fin, as well as a single, often serrated spine in the dorsal and pectoral fins. There are four pairs of barbels ("whiskers") around the mouth, two on the chin, one at the angle of the mouth, and one behind the nostril. As we said earlier, the channel catfish is an eye-catching combination of gray to greenish-gray on the upper part of its slender body, silver to white on its lower half and belly and has a deeply forked tail. Small adults and juveniles have black or dusky spots on their body. White catfish are bluish-gray on their back and sides and white underneath. Their tail is moderately forked and they have a noticeably broad head and stout body and are smaller in size than channel catfish.
  • Habitat: Your catfish has its kith and kin spread across several continents. The native range of channel catfish extends from southern Canada, through the Great Lakes and central United States drainage system, to Mexico including all the Gulf states and some of the Atlantic coast. However, due to extensive introductions, their current range includes all of the Pacific and Atlantic drainage systems in the 48 continental states. As an introduced species, channel catfish have become very successful in Chesapeake Bay. White catfish inhabit fresh and brackish water bodies along the Atlantic and Gulf coast states from New York to Florida, and are native to the Chesapeake Bay system.
  • Food: Catfish and bullheads are opportunistic feeders with highly varied diets. Common food items include aquatic plants and seeds, fish, molluscs, insects and their larvae, and crustaceans. Although catfish and bullheads have poor eyesight, their barbels (whiskers) are well-equipped with taste buds which help them find food at night and in muddy waters.
  • Mating and Breeding: Channel catfish spawn in late spring when water temperatures reach 75oF and lay approximately 2,000 to 21,000 eggs in turbid tributaries, sometimes in areas of fairly swift current. It is not uncommon for these fish to spawn twice in one season. These fish select nest sites in dark depressions, cavities, or undercut stream banks, or inside crevices, hollow logs, or man-made containers. Spawning success is dependent on available cover. Upon hatching, catfish fry sometimes aggregate in tight schools after leaving the nest until suitable cover is found. Fingerlings school together during daylight hours and disperse and feed at night. White catfish spawn in early summer when water temperatures reach 68-72oF in still or flowing waters near sand or gravel banks. Large, saucer-shaped nests are formed by both the male and female fanning their sides and fins on the bottom. Approximately 1,000 to 4,000 adhesive eggs are laid. Males guard the nest and aerate the eggs to keep sediments from depositing on them. Males may remain close to the nest after hatching until the fry stop schooling and disperse.Channel catfish size and age at maturity varies between sexes.