The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads,

madtom Madtoms are freshwater catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the genus ''Noturus'' of the family Ictaluridae. It is the most species-rich family of catfish in North America, native to the central and eastern United States, and adjacent parts of Canad ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

, 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 ...

Taxonomy

The family Ictaluridae is strongly supported as a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

group. It is closely related to the Asian family

Cranoglanididae ''Cranoglanis'' is the only genus of armorhead catfishes. Taxonomy ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese watercolor painting. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranogl ...

. These two families are

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

in the superfamily

Ictaluroidea The Ictaluroidea is a superfamily of catfish. As of 2000, the position of the Ictaluroidea within the Siluriformes order is not certain. Taxonomy This superfamily consists of the following families: * Family Ictaluridae, native to North America ...

. Though the family includes three genera of blind, subterranean, and

troglobitic A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

catfishes, ''

Trogloglanis The toothless blindcat (''Trogloglanis pattersoni'') is a species of North American freshwater catfish endemic to Texas in the United States. Description The toothless blindcat has no pigmentation and no externally visible eyes. The eye remnants ...

'', ''

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

'', and ''

Prietella ''Prietella'' is a small genus of North American freshwater catfishes found in Mexico and Texas, and restricted to underground waters. Taxonomy ''Prietella'' has been confirmed to be monophyletic and to be the sister group of the '' Noturus''. ...

'', none of these three genera is closely related. Instead, ''Satan'' is closely related to ''Pylodictis'', ''Prietella'' to ''Noturus'', and ''Trogloglanis'' possibly to ''Ictalurus'', although it may not be closely related to any of the other ictalurids. ''Ameiurus'' is sister to a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

formed by ''Satan'', ''Pylodictis'', ''Noturus'', and ''Prietella''.

Distribution and habitat

Ictalurids originate from North America from southern

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 ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. Both bullheads and madtoms tend to be found in small streams and ponds, but are also known in larger bodies of water.

Channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

, bullheads, and madtoms are "bottom feeders" with widely varied diets that include scavenging.

Notable species

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 *

Tadpole madtom The tadpole madtom (''Noturus gyrinus'') is a species of fish in the family Ictaluridae. It is native to Canada and the United States. Description An adult tadpole madtom is typically , however they have recorded at a length of . The tadpole m ...

Brown bullhead The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Ame ...

Yellow bullhead The yellow bullhead (''Ameiurus natalis'') is a species of bullhead catfish, a ray-finned fish that lacks scales. Description The yellow bullhead is a medium-sized member of the catfish family. It is typically yellow-olive to slate black on the ...

Black bullhead The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (''Ameiurus melas'') is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbels ...

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 ...

Description

Ictalurid species have four pairs of

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whiskerlike sensory organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some ...

(commonly referred to as "whiskers" as applied to catfish). Their skin does not have any scales. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

and

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s usually possess a spine. The dorsal fin usually has six soft rays. The

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

is toothless except in the fossil genus '' Astephus''. The genera ''Trogoglanis'', ''Satan'', and ''Prietella'' include four species of blind catfishes. They have the ability to inflict painful stings with venomous spines embedded in their fins. One of the largest species is the blue catfish, ''Ictalurus furcatus'', specimens of which have been found to weigh over . The maximum length is in the blue catfish and the flathead catfish. The bullheads, though, are small catfish which at maturity often weigh less than 0.5 kg (1 lb), while the madtoms (genus ''Noturus'') are in general much smaller.

Relationship to humans

The North American catfish has acquired an association with American Southern folklore which exceeds its place as a mere food fish. The image of cane-pole

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

for catfish at a proverbial lazy stream has become a stand-by of southern

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

. In some areas, the bullhead is seen as a desirable quarry, for its fighting qualities exceed its size. In other areas, it is seen as a nuisance fish due to its efficient bait-stealing qualities.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q578666 Freshwater fish of North America Catfish families Taxa named by Theodore Gill