Ameiurus catus

Sluggish, mud-bottomed pools, open channels, and backwaters of small to large rivers; also in lakes and impoundments.

Global Range: (200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)) Native range encompasses Atlantic and Gulf slopes of North America, from southern Maine to the Peace River drainage, Florida, and west to the Mobile Bay drainage, Mississippi (Page and Burr 2011). This catfish has been introduced widely outside the native range.

North America: Rivers of the Atlantic coastal states of USA from Florida to New York.

endemic to a single nation

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Eastern North America. Widely introduced.

Maximum size: 620 mm TL

95.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637)); max. published weight: 9,750 g (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 14 years (Ref. 72508)

Length: 59 cm

Habitat Type: Freshwater

Comments: This catfish inhabits sluggish lower reaches of coastal streams, sloughs, warmwater lakes, reservoirs, farm ponds, and tidal freshwater estuaries; it requires water above 20 C in summer. Spawning occurs over saucer-shaped nests cleared on the bottom by males and females.

demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); freshwater; depth range 10 - ? m

Depth range based on 6 specimens in 1 taxon.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 1.3 - 2.7

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 1.3 - 2.7
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Potamodromous. Migrating within streams, migratory in rivers, e.g. Saliminus, Moxostoma, Labeo. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Juveniles feed on plankton (Ref. 9669).

Comments: Feeds opportunistically mainly on bottom invertebrates, but also eats carrion and fishes, occasionally plankton-feeding fishes of reservoir surface waters (Moyle 1976).

Enteric Septicaemia of Catfish. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.)

Cystoopsis Infestation. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.)

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: > 300

Comments: This species is represented by a very large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

>1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Total adult population size likely exceeds 1,000,000.

Maximum longevity: 14 years (wild)

Spawns in early summer. Eggs hatch in about a week. Sexually mature when 3-4 years old in California (Moyle 1976)

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There is 1 barcode sequence available from BOLD and GenBank.   Below is the sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen.  Other sequences that do not yet meet barcode criteria may also be available.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Specimens with Barcodes: 5
Species With Barcodes: 1

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Large range and population size in North America; widely introduced and established outside the native range; no major threats.

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Comments: Trend over the past 10 years or three generations probably is relatively stable.

Global Long Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Comments: The range and abundance of this species have increased over the long term as a result of introductions outside the native range.

Comments: No major threats are known.

Not Evaluated

gamefish: yes