Celebrate
National Catfish Day (June 25) by learning more about Iowa’s most abundant and
widely distributed sport fish.
Catfish
are opportunistic bottom feeders that are active at night. They eat all types
of living or dead animal and plant material and are most often attracted to
odoriferous or "smelly" morsels of food. They depend heavily on their
sense of smell and taste to locate food.
Their
characteristic barbels are highly sensitive to touch and contain taste buds as
well. Catfish have taste receptors all over their bodies. It has been estimated
that an adult bullhead has perhaps 100,000 nerve sensory sites on its body.
Iowa Catfish
channel catfish: abundant in most
Iowa rivers and have been stocked in nearly all lakes and reservoirs; spawn in
the late spring and summer in secluded, often enclosed, places along the bank
or bottom – the male guards the eggs until they hatch; eat at all times, but
are most aggressive night; an important part of the commercial fishery catch in
the Mississippi River
flathead catfish: one of the largest
catfish- commonly reach twenty pounds; a "big-water" fish found
mainly in the border rivers and large interior rivers; usually in deep pools
with mud bottoms; spawn in secluded hides during June and July – build nests and
guard the eggs and young; feed mostly at night; an important part of the
commercial fishery catch in the Mississippi River
blue catfish: primarily a “big river”
fish; spawn in June and early July – construct nests similar to those of
channel catfish; omnivorous and eat everything that is available; adults
weighing up to 20 or 25 pounds are common
black bullhead: most common of the
three bullhead species; abundant in most natural lakes and some man-made lakes;
spawns in May or early June usually in weedy or muddy shallow areas; strictly
omnivorous – eating nearly every conceivable thing in the water
yellow bullhead: found in clear
streams, rivers, overflow pools, lakes and reservoirs; prefers streams with
permanent flow, but avoids strong currents; spawns in May and early June in
water from 1 1/2 to 4 feet in depth - nests are constructed by the male and the
female deposits 2,000 to 7,000 eggs
brown bullhead: found in swamps,
ponds, inland pools, lakes, reservoirs, impoundments, and the backwaters and
tributaries of larger rivers; prefers clear, cool, well-vegetated waters with
bottoms of sand, gravel or dark muck; spawns early in the spring, usually late
April or May - male fish fan out a saucer-shaped nest in the mud or nests in
natural cavities where the female deposits eggs; feed eagerly on nearly
anything available, either living or dead - travel in schools and feed on or
near the bottom; seem to be
hungry at all times of the day and night
tadpole madtom: found in large
interior rivers and the Mississippi River; females usually mate several times
during the June through July breeding period; most active at night – eats insects
and occasionally algae and other aquatic plants; have a poison gland at the
base of the pectoral fin that secretes a mild but painful venom when danger is
threatened
slender madtom: found in major
tributary streams of the Mississippi River; live entirely in riffle areas of
small or medium size streams
stone cat: largest of the
madtoms; found in swift-flowing streams; spawns in the spring in areas of
darkness, such as under rocks or in bank hides - builds a nest and guards the
eggs and young; prefer stream riffle habitats, but are also found under rocks
or weedy shorelines of lakes and ponds
freckled madtom: an endangered species - added to Iowa’s
species list in 1984; prefers medium-sized creeks to large rivers of low to
moderate gradient with clear to moderate turbidity and silty-gravel or
sand-gravel substrates; often found in riffles and pools where organic debris
such as leaves or twigs tend to accumulate
