Species: Ictalurus furcatus

Blue Catfish

Species

Fishes

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Actinopterygii

Order

Siluriformes

Family

Ictaluridae

Genus

Ictalurus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104990

Classification

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - North American Freshwater Catfishes

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Siluriformes - Ictaluridae - Ictalurus - See Lundberg (1992) for a synthesis of recent work on the systematic relationships of ictalurid catfishes.

Ecology and Life History

Habitat Type Description

Freshwater

Migration

false - false - false

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Bottom feeder. Eats mostly crustaceans and aquatic insects when young. Later, fishes and large invertebrates become most important (Moyle 1976). Also scavenges.

Reproduction Comments

Spawns in late spring and early summer at water temperatures of 21-25 C. Adults care for nest until young hatch.

Length

119

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-09-19

Global Status Last Changed

1996-09-19

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Range includes the Mississippi River basin from western Pennsylvania to South Dakota and Platte River, southwestern Nebraska, south to the Gulf Coast; Gulf Slope from the Escambia River drainage (where introduced), Alabama and Florida, to the Rio Grande drainage, Texas and New Mexico; Atlantic Slope of Mexico (Page and Burr 2011). This species has been introduced widely outside the native range.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104990