''Ameiurus platycephalus'', the flat bullhead, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

North American freshwater catfish North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

native to the waters of the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. This species grows to a maximum length of TL though it is more commonly about long.

Distribution and habitat

The flat bullhead is native to the southeastern United States where it is found in the lower parts of the drainages of the North American Atlantic Slope. Its range extends from the upper parts of the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

and the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...

in Virginia, to the

Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles (220 km) from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties ...

in Georgia. Its occurrence is widespread, it being present in all the drainages of South Carolina, for example. Its typical habitat is slow-moving, quiet stretches of rivers over mud or sandy bottoms, or over rock when it is covered with organic debris. It also occurs in lakes, ponds and behind dams, and younger individuals favour clear streams.

Ecology

This fish feeds on aquatic insects, molluscs, and small fish, with vegetation and detritus also being taken. Females mature when they are three years old. Breeding takes place during the summer, the

fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...

of the females being between 200 and 1740 eggs each.

Status

While not caught for food, the flat bullhead is threatened by the predatory

flathead catfish The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus ''P ...

(''Pylodictis olivaris'') and

blue catfish The blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus'') is the largest species of North American catfish, reaching a length of and a weight of . The typical length is about 25–46 in (64–117 cm). The fish can live to 20 years. The native distribution ...

(''Ictalurus furcatus''), both of which have been introduced into its range. Other threats include water pollution, sedimentation, impoundment and changes in water quality. It is generally an uncommon species, but has a wide range, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3753908 Ictaluridae Endemic fish of the United States Freshwater fish of the United States Fish described in 1859 Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard