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Ictalurus furcatus (Valenciennes, 1840)

Blue catfish
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Image of Ictalurus furcatus (Blue catfish)
Ictalurus furcatus
Picture by Lyons, J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Ictaluridae (North American freshwater catfishes)
Etymology: Ictalurus: Greek, ichtys = fish + Greek, ailouros = cat (Ref. 45335);  furcatus: Ictalurus (Greek) for fish cat; furcatus (Latin) meaning forked (referring to the tail fin) (Ref. 79012).
More on author: Valenciennes.

Issue
Ictalurus meridionalis (Günther 1864) is tentatively valid in CofF after Gilbert (1998).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; depth range ? - 50 m (Ref. 125908). Subtropical; 44°N - 15°N, 108°W - 80°W (Ref. 86798)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: USA (Mississippi River basin from western Pennsylvania to southern South Dakota and Platte River in southwestern Nebraska, south to Gulf; Gulf Slope from Escambia River drainage (where introduced), Alabama and Florida, to Rio Grande drainage in Texas and New Mexico; and Mexico. Introduced in Atlantic Slope drainages, western states, and Minnesota.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 165 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 86798); max. published weight: 68.0 kg (Ref. 9988); max. reported age: 21 years (Ref. 12193)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits deep water of impoundments and main channels and backwaters of medium to large rivers, over mud, sand and gravel (Ref. 5723, 86798). Stays on the bottom during the day in deep areas and moves into swifter water at night to feed (Ref. 117513). Feeds on small aquatic invertebrates, clams and fishes (Ref. 93252). Prefers clear, strongly flowing water. Deposits eggs in nests under under logs, brush, or riverbank (Ref. 117513). Males build nest often in pools or backwaters (Ref. 117513). Marketed fresh and frozen. Eaten steamed, fried, broiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p. (Ref. 86798)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 February 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | RFE Identification | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |
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World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5010   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00525 (0.00304 - 0.00906), b=3.11 (2.95 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.4   ±0.44 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=21).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (70 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 30.3 [18.0, 71.8] mg/100g; Iron = 0.834 [0.512, 1.441] mg/100g; Protein = 16.6 [14.7, 18.6] %; Omega3 = 0.378 [0.200, 0.729] g/100g; Selenium = 48.7 [26.5, 98.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.97 [2.38, 14.97] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.64 [0.45, 0.88] mg/100g (wet weight);