The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of North American freshwater catfish in 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, madt ...

. It is the only species of the genus ''Pylodictis''. Ranging from the lower Great Lakes region to northern Mexico, 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 a ...

, ''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 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 b ...

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, Kansas, 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, Missouri, and Ohio basins. The range extends as far north as Canada, as far west as Texas, and south to the Gulf of Mexico 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 fishes, insects,

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecolo ...

worms, and

crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

ns. It also feeds on other small catfish and almost anything that moves and makes vibration. They are known to eat

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

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 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 ...

(''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 us ...

(''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 A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

. 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

s 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 ma ...

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 Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

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

Sport fishing for flathead catfish using either rod and reel, limb lines, or bare hands (

noodling Noodling is fishing for catfish using one's bare hands, and is practiced primarily in the southern United States. The noodler places their hand inside a discovered catfish hole in order to catch the fish. Other names for the same activity are ...

) 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 The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

), suckers, carp, goldfish, drum, and bullheads ranging from in length.

References

External links

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Species Profile - Flathead Catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris'')
National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. 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 ''Py ...

Freshwater fish of the United States