Channel and White Catfish
Ictalurus punctatus and Ameiurus catus
(A.K.A. - Mudcats, Cats)

• Channel and white catfish are members of the bullhead catfish family, Ictaluridae, and are a freshwater species that are commonly found in estuarine waters.
• Catfish are long slender fish with barbels on the chin that look like long black whiskers. There are four pairs of barbels ("whiskers") around the mouth, two on the chin, one at the angle of the mouth, and one behind the nostril.
• Unlike other fish, catfish do not have scales.
• Bullhead catfishes all lack scales and possess an adipose fin, as well as a single, often serrated spine in the dorsal and pectoral fins.
• The channel catfish is generally gray to greenish-gray on the upper part of its slender body, silver to white on its lower half and belly and has a deeply forked tail. It has dark specks scattered over its body.
• Small adults and juveniles have black or dusky spots on their body.
• White catfish are bluish-gray on their back and sides and white underneath. Their tail is moderately forked and they have a noticeably broad head and stout body and are smaller in size than channel catfish.

• The native range of channel catfish extends from southern Canada, through the Great Lakes and central United States drainage system, to Mexico including all the Gulf states and some of the Atlantic coast.
• However, due to extensive introductions, their current range includes all of the Pacific and Atlantic drainage systems in the 48 continental states.
• As an introduced species, channel catfish have become very successful in the Chesapeake Bay.
• White catfish inhabit fresh and brackish water bodies along the Atlantic and Gulf coast states from New York to Florida, and are native to the Chesapeake Bay system.

• Channel catfish live mainly in fresh water and can be found in the upper Chesapeake Bay and upper parts of most all rivers. Channel catfish are not native to the Chesapeake. They were stocked into ponds in Maryland and Pennsylvania and washed into the Bay rivers by floods.
• Native to the Chesapeake Bay system, White catfish inhabit fresh and brackish water bodies including sluggish, mud-bottomed pools, open channels, and backwaters of small to large rivers.

• Catfish are bottom feeders that feed at night.
• Catfish and bullheads are opportunistic feeders with highly varied diets.
• Common food items include aquatic plants and seeds, fish, mollusks, insects and their larvae, and crustaceans.
• Although catfish and bullheads have poor eyesight, their barbels (whiskers) are well-equipped with taste buds which help them find food at night and in muddy waters.

• Channel catfish spawn in late spring when water temperatures reach 75^oF and lay approximately 2,000 to 21,000 eggs in turbid tributaries, sometimes in areas of fairly swift current.
• It is not uncommon for these fish to spawn twice in one season.
• These fish select nest sites in dark depressions, cavities, or undercut stream banks, or inside crevices, hollow logs, or man-made containers.
• Spawning success is dependent on available cover.
• Upon hatching, catfish fry sometimes aggregate in tight schools after leaving the nest until suitable cover is found.
• Fingerlings school together during daylight hours and disperse and feed at night.
• White catfish spawn in early summer when water temperatures reach 68-72^oF in still or flowing waters near sand or gravel banks.
• Large, saucer-shaped nests of White catfish are formed by both the male and female fanning their sides and fins on the bottom. Approximately 1,000 to 4,000 adhesive eggs are laid. Males guard the nest and aerate the eggs to keep sediments from depositing on them. Males may remain close to the nest after hatching until the fry stop schooling and disperse.

• Channel catfish are very good to eat.
• Fresh baits such as peeler or soft crab, shrimp, squid, and cut fish are best for catching channel catfish.
• Popular methods for fishing include bait casting, bottom fishing, and use of traps.
• It is not known to what extent catfish are taken for subsistence in the Bay region, however, the large percentage of small fish taken by anglers surveyed is evidence that catfish are targeted by more than just pure sport anglers. Catfish are resident species that may experience high levels of fishing pressure during their spawning seasons. Click here to see the recreational regulations for catfish.

• The largest channel catfish caught in Maryland's portion of Chesapeake Bay weighed 28.3 pounds and was caught in Piscataway Creek.
• The sportfishing record is a specimen from Georgia that weighed 32 pounds.
• Catfish have numerous external taste buds, many of which are located on the barbels. Consequently, they can taste something by simply touching it with their barbels.

For more information on channel and white catfish and their management, please contact Jim Uphoff.