Species: Ameiurus melas
Black Bullhead
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Siluriformes
Family
Ictaluridae
Genus
Ameiurus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
barbotte noire
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - North American Freshwater Catfishes
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Siluriformes - Ictaluridae - Ameiurus - The 1991 AFS checklist followed J. Lundberg (1989 unpublished abstract, 1992) in removing the bullheads and white catfish from the genus ICTALURUS and placing them in the genus AMEIURUS (Robins et al. 1991). Two subspecies sometimes are recognized: CATULUS from Gulf Coast states and northern Mexico, MELAS from farther north.
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Freshwater
Migration
false - false - false
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Omnivorous bottom feeder; often eats aquatic insects, crustaceans, molluscs, occasionally fishes and carrion. Stomach often contain substantial amounts of plant material of unknown nutritional value (Moyle 1976). Juveniles planktivorous; at about 27 mm TL, feed largely on crustaceans and midge larvae
Reproduction Comments
Spawns in spring and summer. Nest guarded by adults. Eggs hatch in 5-10 days. Hatchlings stay together for 2-3 weeks in tight moving ball, guarded by parent(s). Sexually mature in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th summer, depending on location/conditions (Becker 1983, Moyle 1976).
Ecology Comments
Juveniles swim in compact school, adults tend to be solitary. Wild pond populations may reach 227 kg/ha (Moyle 1976).
Length
38
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-09-19
Global Status Last Changed
1996-09-19
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Native to the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins in most of the eastern and central United States and adjacent southern Canada and northern Mexico, south to the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast drainages from Mobile Bay in Georgia and Alabama to northern Mexico) (Page and Burr 2011); apparently not native to the Atlantic Slope. Introduced widely outside the native range.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)