Blue catfish

Blue catfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Ictaluridae
Genus: Ictalurus
Species:
I. furcatus
Binomial name
Ictalurus furcatus
Native distribution of Ictalurus furcatus
Synonyms
  • Pimelodus furcatus Valenciennes, 1840
  • Pimelodus affinis Baird & Girard, 1854
  • Amiurus meridionalis Günther, 1864
  • Amiurus pondersosus Bean, 1880[3]

The blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of 65 in (170 cm) and a weight of 143 lb (65 kg).[4] The continent’s largest catfish, it can live to 20 years, with a typical fish being between 25–46 in (64–117 cm) and 30–70 lb (14–32 kg). Native distribution is primarily in the Mississippi River and Louisiana drainage systems, including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas Rivers, the Des Moines River in south-central Iowa, the Rio Grande, and south along the Gulf Coast to Belize and Guatemala.[5]

An omnivorous predator, it has been introduced in a number of reservoirs and rivers, notably the Santee Cooper lakes of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie in South Carolina, the James River in Virginia, Powerton Lake in Pekin, Illinois, and Lake Springfield in Springfield, Illinois. It is also found in some lakes in Florida.[6]

The blue catfish can tolerate brackish water, and thus can colonize along inland waterways of coastal regions.[7] It is considered invasive in some areas, particularly the Chesapeake Bay.

  1. ^ NatureServe (2013). "Ictalurus furcatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T202679A18229857. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202679A18229857.en. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Ictalurus furcatus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 11 March 2006.
  3. ^ Ferraris, Carl J. JR. "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  4. ^ "Virginia State Record Fish".
  5. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Ictalurus furcatus". FishBase. December 2011 version.
  6. ^ Hook and Bullet website, at http://www.hookandbullet.com/fishing-lake-placid-placid-lakes-fl/ .
  7. ^ Graham, K. (1999) "A review of the biology and Management of Blue Catfish." American Fisheries Society Symposium 24:37–49