The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, 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 (biology), order Siluriformes) of the genus ''Noturus'' of the family (biology), family Ictaluridae. It is the most species-rich genus of catfish in North America, native to the central and eastern United S ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

, and

blue catfish The blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus'') is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of and a weight of . The continent's largest catfish, it can live to 20 years, with a typical fish being between and . Native distribution ...

Taxonomy

The family Ictaluridae is strongly supported as a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

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 ''Cranogla ...

. 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, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

'', 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 In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

formed by ''Satan'', ''Pylodictis'', ''Noturus'', and ''Prietella''. The oldest fossil member of the family was previously thought to be ''

Astephus ''Astephus'' is an extinct genus of freshwater catfish known from the Paleogene of western North America. It is the only member of the family Astephidae. Previously, it was considered potentially the oldest representative of the extant family of ...

'' from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sedimen ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. However, more recent studies consider ''Astephus'' to not be closely related to the Ictaluridae, and to instead belong to its own extinct family. Excluding ''Astephus'', the oldest fossil member of the family is †''

Ictalurus rhaeas ''Ictalurus'' is a genus of North American freshwater catfishes. It includes the well-known channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') and blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus''). The catfish genome database (cBARBEL) is a database for the genetic ...

Cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

, 1891 from the latest

-aged

Cypress Hills Formation The Cypress Hills Formation is a stratigraphic unit of middle Eocene to early Miocene ageLeckie, D.A. and Cheel, R.J. 1989. The Cypress Hills Formation – A semi-arid braid plain deposit resulting from intrusive uplift. Canadian Journal of Earth ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Distribution and habitat

Ictalurids originate from North America from southern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. 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''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

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

Notable species

Blue catfish The blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus'') is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of and a weight of . The continent's largest catfish, it can live to 20 years, with a typical fish being between and . 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 been recorded at a length of . The tadp ...

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 (' ...

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 Ameiurus, 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 ...

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 ...

Description

Ictalurid species have four pairs of

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the z ...

(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 The fus ...

and

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

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 sep ...

is toothless except in the fossil genus ''

''. 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 (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

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'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

. 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

* * {{Authority control Freshwater fish of North America Catfish families Taxa named by Theodore Gill