The speckled madtom (''Noturus leptacanthus'') is a small freshwater fish found in the southeastern United States that belongs to the genus '' Noturus'' of the family

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, madto ...

Description

The speckled madtom is a dark reddish-brown color and has a dusky or mottled

caudal 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 se ...

with a pale border. The species' average length is between ; however, the longest ever recorded specimen was .

Distribution

The speckled madtom has a wide range throughout the southeastern United States. The species is found in abundance throughout

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

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 ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

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 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. In Tennessee it is found only in the

Conasauga River The Conasauga River is a river that runs through southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia. The Conasauga River is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 an ...

system, where it is abundant.Etnier, David A., and Wayne C. Starnes., The Fishes of Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University of Tennessee Press, 2001. 321-22. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. It is also found in Atlantic and Gulf slope drainages from the

Edisto River The Edisto River is one of the longest free-flowing blackwater rivers in North America, flowing over 250 meandering miles from its sources in Saluda and Edgefield counties, to its Atlantic Ocean mouth at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. It rises in ...

in South Carolina to the Amite- Comite River system of Louisiana. The

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

system in the Florida peninsula makes up the southernmost area of their range.Noturus leptacanthus. Encyclopedia of Life, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013

Ecology

The speckled madtom inhabits small to moderate-sized streams. They often inhabit very shallow

riffles A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

with sand, rock or gravel bottoms. During the day speckled madtoms will rest in areas with aquatic vegetation such as

pondweed Pondweed refers to many species and genera of aquatic plants and green algae: *''Potamogeton'', a diverse and worldwide genus *''Elodea'', found in North America *''Aponogeton'', in Africa, Asia and Australasia *''Groenlandia'', a genus of aquatic ...

or burweed.Ross, Stephen T., Inland Fishes of Mississippi. Jackson, Mississippi: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, 2001. 323-24. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. However, due to their

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

feeding patterns, they will leave these areas at night to go feed. Feeding begins at dusk and the amount of food in their stomach will increase until dawn when the feeding stops. Their diet is mostly insect

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

, especially

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mid ...

larvae. They detect their food with their sensory

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 ...

, and their vision plays little part in their feeding behavior. Major competition for the speckled madtom comes from other species from the genus ''Noturus''. The only known predators of the speckled madtom are the

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

(''Ambloplites rupestris'') and larger ''Noturus'' species.Clark, Kathleen E., Ecology and Life History of the Speckled Madtom, Noturus leptacanthus ctaluridae 1978 In order to protect themselves from predation, all ''Noturus'' species have developed a venomous sting from their pectoral spines; however, the speckled madtom has a relatively low level of toxicity.

Life history

The

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

period for the speckled madtom is from May through August with water temperatures ranging from . The speckled madtom is one of the least

fecund 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 ...

species of freshwater North American fishes. They normally spawn two clutches per year with each clutch consisting of 14-45 eggs. Their eggs are very large relative to their body size, with the average size being in diameter. It is believed that the large egg size compensates for the extremely small clutch size. The large egg size allows for the larvae to be very large and well developed upon hatching. The average size of a one-year-old is , and the average size of a 2-year-old is . They reach sexual maturity by their second summer and have a maximum lifespan of 2.5–3 years. The speckled madtom is known to nest inside of discarded cans and bottles that are cleared of debris and silt by the male. The male then guards the eggs without feeding for around 2.5 weeks.

Conservation

The population of this species is steady throughout its range and shows no signs of major decline. No widespread threats to the species are known. One study showed that the speckled madtom is more abundant in areas with agricultural land use, though agriculture has been known to hurt many species because of runoff.Walser, C A., H. L. Bart., Influence of Agriculture on In-Stream Habitat and Fish Community Structure in Piedmont Watersheds of the Chattahoochee River System. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 8.4 (1999): 237-246 No agencies or non-governmental groups are actively protecting this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3753880 Noturus

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 ...

Endemic fish of the United States Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States Fish described in 1877 Taxa named by David Starr Jordan