''Noturus flavus'', the stonecat, is a North American freshwater

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 ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. The common name is due to its habit of hiding near or under stones in fast-moving water.

Anatomy

Stonecats are small, slender, flat-headed catfishes, with the adipose fin keel-like and continuous with the caudal fin except for a shallow notch. While the dorsal and pectoral spines of most members of this family cause wounds that irritate, the stonecat has venom glands, particularly on the bases of the pectoral spines, that cause extreme pain similar to that of a wasp sting. The pectoral fin lacks any posterior serrae. Anal fin rays number 15 to 18, pectoral fin rays 9 to 11, and pelvic fin rays 8 to 10. The caudal fin rays number 55 to 67. The upper jaw projects beyond the lower jaw and the tooth pad on the upper jaw has a narrow, crescent-shaped extension on each side. The premaxillary band of teeth has lateral backward extensions. The

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

of the stonecat is thick and is yellowish-brown in color. The sides of the head shade to yellow. The belly is whitish. The stonecat has two forms. In the Cumberland drainage in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, a scientifically undescribed form possesses two light bars (perpendicular to body length) on its nape. In other areas, a patch exists in place of the bars. In both forms, the stonecat has a white spot at the rear of the dorsal fin base and one on the upper edge of the caudal fin. The rear of the pectoral spine has either no or a few weak teeth.Noturus flavus

Size/age

Stonecats typically reach four to eight inches in length, but can reach 12 inches, at weights of 0.22 to 1.1 lbs. Typically, Stonecats live five to six years.

Distribution

The stonecat has a widespread distribution. Stonecats exist in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

, drainages of

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

, and the

Mississippi River basin The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, ...

. Stonecats can also be found from the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

drainage of New York west to the Red River drainage of Hudson Bay. Stonecats inhabit the drainage of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

basin from Quebec to Alberta, southerly to northern Alabama and Mississippi and westerly to northeastern Oklahoma. In Colorado, stonecats are present in St. Vrain Creek near

Longmont, Colorado Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

and in the

Republican River The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map acce ...

south of

Wray, Colorado Wray () is the List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of Yuma County, Colorado, Yuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,358 at the 2020 United States census ...

."Critical Thermal Maxima of Adult Stonecats", pages 8 to 11, Volume 30, Issue 3, May/June 2013, ''Colorado Water'' published by Colorado State University

Ecology

Habitat

Stonecats live in

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

environments, and are found from large creeks to small rivers. They occasionally are found in tiny creeks, or rivers as large as the Lower Mississippi. Stonecats occupy gently to fast-moving

riffle 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 ...

areas with rocky substrates. They spend the majority of their time in moderate-moving, shallow riffles, but can also be found in deeper water (2 to 3 meters deep). Stonecat inhabit natural lakes, such as

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, where it prefers rock and gravel bars that are subject to significant wave action.

Diet

The stonecat is a Benthic zone, benthic, opportunistic feeder, using its sensitive

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 ...

during the night to search for food on the river bottom. Stonecats eat a diversity of food items, such as aquatic insect larvae (e.g., mayflies), mollusks, minnows, fish eggs, isopods, amphipods, crayfish, plant material, worms and chilopods.

Reproduction

Females mature in three to four years and a mean standard length of 4.7 inches. Stonecats form monogamous pairs for breeding, and spawn when water temperatures reach 25 °C. Clutches are guarded by males under large, flat rocks in pools or crests of riffles. Rocks used as spawning cover averaged 200 square inches and were found in water depths averaging 34 inches. The eggs are amber-yellow and are very large, ranging between 3.5 and 4 mm in diameter, with the whole egg mass enveloped by a gelatinous material. A female stonecat may produce between 200 and 1,200 eggs per year. Stonecats exhibit parental care, with the male or both sexes guarding the clutch, until the young head to shallower, calmer streams and waters to mature.

Etymology

The genus name ''Noturus'', meaning "back tail", refers to the fusion of the adipose and caudal fins. The specific epithet ''flavus'' meaning "yellow", refers to the color distinction.

Importance/conservation status

Stonecats serve as indicators of

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

: they are not present in highly polluted or heavily silted areas. Stonecats are a valuable

indicator species A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

to humans, as they may also be useful as a marker for water temperature. The US Endangered Species Act lists the status of ''N. flavus'' as not threatened or no special status, meaning that this species faces no risk of extinction.

References

Bibliography

*Eddy, Samuel and Surber Thaddeus. ''Northern Fishes'' The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1943 pp. 160–161, ASIN: B001OJ4F5W. *Phillips, L. Gary, Schmid, D. William, and Underhill, C. James. ''Fishes of the Minnesota Region'' The University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1982 pp. 179–180, . *Page, M. Lawrence and Burr, M. Brooks. ''Freshwater Fishes'' Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York, 1999 pp. 199–200, Plate 26, . *

External links

Stonecat pictures
* ttp://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AFCKA02070.aspx StoneCat facts {{Taxonbar, from=Q3752427 Noturus Fish of the Great Lakes Freshwater fish of the United States Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Fish described in 1818 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque