The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several
common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large
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 ...
of
North American freshwater catfish in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Ictaluridae
The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madt ...
. It is the only species of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Pylodictis''. Ranging from the lower
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
region to northern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, it has been widely introduced and is an
invasive species in some areas. The closest living relative of the flathead catfish is the much smaller
widemouth blindcat
The widemouth blindcat (''Satan eurystomus'') is a species of North American freshwater catfish endemic to Texas in the United States. It is the only species in the genus ''Satan''. Description
It was first discovered inhabiting a well, and is ad ...
, ''Satan eurystomus''.
Common names
The flathead catfish is also known as the yellow cat, mud cat, Johnnie cat, ''goujon'', ''appaluchion'', ''opelousas'', pied cat and Mississippi cat. In dialect of the
Ozark mountains
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
it may be referred to as a "granny cat."
Description
The flathead catfish is olive colored on its sides and dorsum, with a white to yellow underside. Individuals, particularly young specimens from clearer waters,
may be strongly mottled with dark brown to black color. The eyes are small and the lower jaw prominently projects beneath the upper. A
premaxillary
The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has ...
tooth pad has posterior extensions.
The caudal fin is
emarginate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
in structure, and its upper lobe may bear an isolated white margin.
The fins are otherwise brown, though the body's mottling may extend into the fins. The anal fin has 14 to 17 rays and a round margin.
The flathead catfish grows to a length of
and may weigh up to ,
making it the second-largest North American catfish (after the
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 o ...
, ''Ictalurus furcatus'').
More commonly, adult length is about .
Its maximum recorded lifespan is 28 years. Reproductive maturity is reached between 4 and 5 years, or at approximately .
The world angling record flathead catfish was caught May 19, 1998, from
Elk City Reservoir
The Elk City Reservoir is a reservoir located east of Elk City, Kansas. The dam that forms the lake was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It has approximately 4,500 acres (18 km2) of water, and 12,000 acres (49 km2) of wi ...
,
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
, and weighed .
However, a record from 1982, caught by "other methods", shows that the flathead catfish could be North America's longest species of catfish, after a specimen pulled from the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
measured 175 cm (69 in.) and weighed 63.45 kg (139 lbs and 14oz.).
Distribution and habitat
The native range of the flathead catfish includes a broad area west of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
encompassing large rivers of the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, and
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
basins. The range extends as far north as
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, as far west as
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, and south to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
including northeastern Mexico.
The flathead catfish cannot live in full-strength seawater (which is about 35 parts per thousand or about 35 grams of salt per liter of water), but it can survive in 10 ppt for a while and thrive in up to about 5 ppt.
Diet
The flathead catfish prefers live prey. It is a voracious carnivore and feeds primarily on
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
es,
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s,
annelid worms, and
crustaceans. It also feeds on other small catfish and almost anything that moves and makes vibration. They are known to eat
crayfish,
American gizzard shad
The American gizzard shad (''Dorosoma cepedianum''), also known as the mud shad, is a member of the herring family of fish, and is native to large swaths of fresh and brackish waters of the United States of America. The adult has a deep body, wi ...
(''Dorosoma cepedianum''), insects and larvae,
channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), drum (''
Aplodinotus grunniens''), other flatheads,
green sunfish
The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usu ...
(''Lepomis cyanellus''), and
carp. Insect larvae are the major prey type until an individual reaches approximately 100 mm (3.9 in) in total length, at which point the diet expands to include crayfish and small fishes. Individuals above 250 mm (9.8 in) in length feed almost exclusively on other fish.
Breeding
Spawning of ''P. olivaris'' occurs in late June and early July, and the nests are made in areas with submerged logs and other debris. The males, which also build the nests, fiercely and tirelessly defend and fan the
clutch. The size of the clutch varies proportionately to the size of the female; an average of 2,640 eggs per kilogram of fish are laid.
The fry frequent shallow areas with rocky and sandy substrates, where they feed on insects and worms such as
annelids and
polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...
s. Young flathead catfish are also
cannibalistic
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
, which has largely precluded their presence in
aquaculture.
Relationship with humans
Inhabiting deep pools, lakes, and large, slow-moving rivers, the flathead catfish is popular among
anglers; its flesh is widely regarded as the tastiest of the catfishes. Its size also makes the flathead catfish an effective subject of public
aquaria.
Sport fishing
![Susquehanna Flatheads](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Susquehanna_Flatheads.jpg)
Sport fishing for flathead catfish using either rod and reel, limb lines, or bare hands (
noodling) can be an exciting pastime. Anglers target this species in a variety of waterways, including small rivers (barely large enough for a canoe), large rivers (such as the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Colorado Rivers), and reservoirs. A common element of flathead catfish location is submerged wood cover such as logs and rootwads which often collect at bends in rivers. A good flathead spot usually also includes relatively deep water compared to the rest of a particular section of river, a moderate amount of current, and access to plentiful baitfish such as river herring, shad, carp, drum, panfish, or suckers. Anglers targeting large flathead catfish usually use stout tackle such as medium-heavy or heavy action rods from in length with large line-capacity reels and line ranging from test breaking strength. Generally large live baits are preferred such as river herring,
shad,
sunfish (such as
bluegill),
suckers,
carp,
goldfish
The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have bec ...
,
drum, and
bullheads ranging from in length.
See also
*
List of fish common names
This is a list of common names of fish. While some common names refer to a single species, others may be used for an entire group of species, such as a genus or family, and still others have been used confusingly for multiple unrelated species or ...
References
External links
*
*
Species Profile - Flathead Catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris'') National Invasive Species Information Center,
United States National Agricultural Library
The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Located ...
. Lists general information and resources for Flathead Catfish.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1426212
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 '' ...
Freshwater fish of the United States
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 '' ...
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 '' ...