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 (Ameiurus natalis). It was originally described as Pimelodus nebulosus by Charles Alexandre Lesueur in 1819, and is also referred to as Ictalurus nebulosus.
The brown bullhead is also widely known as the "mud pout", "horned pout", "hornpout", or simply "mud cat", a name also used with the other bullhead species.
The brown bullhead is important as a clan symbol of the Ojibwe people. In their tradition, the bullhead or wawaazisii is one of six beings that came out of the sea to form the original clans.[3]
Appearance
The brown bullhead grows to be approximately 21 inches (53cm) in length[4] and is a darker brown-green dorsally, growing lighter green and yellow towards the ventral surface. The belly is off-white or cream, and the fish has no scales.[5] Additionally, there are darker, brown-black speckles along the entire surface of the fish. The brown bullhead has a dorsal fin that bears a spine,[6] a single adipose fin posterior to the dorsal fin, abdominal pelvic fins, and an anal fin with 21 to 24 rays. The tail is only slightly notched, with the dorsal and ventral lobes angling inward. The pectoral fins have spines that bear 5-8 serrated teeth on their posterior edge.[7] The fish has eight barbels around its mouth.[8] The barbels on the chin are black to yellowish brown.[9] Juvenile brown bullheads are similar in appearance, but are more likely to be of a single solid color.[5]
The brown bullhead's mouth is terminal[5][8] or slightly subterminal,[5] with the upper jaw projecting slightly past the lower jaw.[6] This position enables bottom feeding. The brown bullhead may be distinguished from flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) by the absence of lateral posterior extensions on the tooth patch of the brown bullhead's upper jaw.[5][10] Adult brown bullheads range in size from 200 to 500mm (7.9 to 19.7in) and weigh between 0.5kg (1.1lb) and 3.6kg (7.9lb) (in extreme cases).[8] Brown bullheads are ectothermic, heterothermic, and bilaterally symmetrical.[8] Brown bullheads can be distinguished from black and yellow bullheads by their yellow-black chin barbels, the absence of a hypopigmented bar at the base of the tail (which is present in black bullheads), and their 21–24 anal fin rays.[5]
Distribution
The native range of the brown bullhead is in the Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages. More specifically, it is found from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Mobile Bay, Alabama, and in the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins (from Quebec to Saskatchewan, south to Louisiana, and west to Texas).[11] However, there is evidence that the brown bullhead was historically absent from the Gulf Coast west of the Apalachicola River and east of the Mississippi River. The species is also abundant in many regions as a result of stocking for food or sport. These locations include Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington.[12] Brown bullheads are a social non-migratory species that are known to form schools.[8]
Habitat
The brown bullhead thrives in a variety of habitats, including lakes, ponds, and slow-moving streams with low oxygen or muddy conditions. In many areas of the United States, brown bullheads are opportunistic bottom feeders. The species has few natural predators and is not popular with anglers in most areas (albeit very popular in some such as the Oneida Lake area of Upstate New York, where it is featured each spring by local restaurants), so it has thrived. Catfish are found in a variety of habitats, from lakes or murky ponds to drainage ditches. They are scarce during the day, but come out at night to feed, searching the bottom of a lake or river for food.[13] They eat insects, leeches, snails, fish, clams, and many plants. They are also known to eat corn, which can be used as bait. Similarly to other catfish, they spawn only after the temperature of the water has reached 80°F (27°C) in June and July. However, cooler temperatures are required before brown bullheads will spawn in the northern US.
Brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus
Brown bullheads can withstand a wide range of water temperatures and low oxygen levels. Brown bullheads can survive waters with heavy pollution and dissolved oxygen values as low as 0.2ppm.[8] Because of bullheads' tolerance of low oxygen levels, they are less threatened by winterkill and are capable of surviving in relatively extreme environments.[14]
Fishing
This catfish is easily caught with natural bait such as worms and chicken livers. They have a scrappy but not unusually strong fight. Anglers often catch them by fishing off the bottom. When caught in very clear water when the flesh is firm and reddish to pinkish, the hornpout is quite edible and delicious.[original research?] Nevertheless, its genial cousins such as the channel catfish and the blue catfish are better known for their use as food. In most areas, they will not exceed two pounds in weight, with a current International Game Fish Association world record of 7.375 pounds (3.345kg).[15]
Brown bullheads typically live between six and eight years,[8] but have been recorded as old as fifteen in captivity.[citation needed] The species spawns between April and June.[16] For the duration of each breeding season, females will be monogamous.[8] There are no consistent behaviors of mate attraction. The females lay eggs in dark locations such as under rocks and inside logs,[16] where they are externally fertilized by the male.[8] The fish face opposite one another during the fertilization process. Nests are primarily created by females, but the eggs are protected by both sexes. An egg cluster in a nest may contain between 50 and 10,000 eggs.[8] The eggs usually take six days to hatch, but may take up to 13 days. Both parents generally care for their offspring for an additional five days after the eggs hatch.[6] The young are kept in a school by a parent for up to one month. They will remain in schools as juveniles.[8]
Brown bullheads, both male and female, will reach sexual maturity around age three.[8] Brown bullheads have occasionally been recorded eating their own eggs.[17]
As an invasive species
The fish has been introduced into many European countries, such as Poland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Romania, Estonia, Hungary, Serbia, and Croatia. Brown bullheads have also been introduced to western North America, Chile, Puerto Rico and New Zealand.[18]
Countries who have reported adverse effects from the introduction of the brown bullhead species include Iran and Turkey.[17]
Diet
Brown bullheads are omnivorous benthic bottom feeders. Their diet consists of algae, leeches, worms, mollusks, crustaceans, insects, crayfish, other smaller fish species and fish eggs.[8][19] Brown bullheads are typically nocturnal feeders, but have been reported to feed diurnally. Bullheads have poor eyesight and are heavily reliant on their sensitive barbels to locate their food.[8] The fish are omnivorous and will reportedly eat almost anything that fits in their mouth.[14]
Predation
Brown bullheads are the most susceptible to predators in their developmental stages, primarily as eggs. They are prey to the following species: northern pike, muskellunge, walleye, snapping turtles, water snakes, green herons, yellow perch, and sunfish.[8] Additionally, brown bullheads are used for small-scale commercial fishing, recreational fishing, and more specifically for consumption and research. Predation by other fish and coexisting species is only a realistic threat to bullheads under four inches, while the biggest threat to adult bullheads is humans. Brown bullheads have protective coloration to avoid predation.[14] As a mode of physical defense against predators, bullhead species have a sharp spine on the leading edge of their dorsal and pectoral fins. To use this adaptation as a defense mechanism, bullheads will stiffen the spine while being attacked, impeding the predator's ability to swallow while simultaneously releasing a venom to sting and burn the predator.[14]
Conservation
Brown bullheads hold no special status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the United States Endangered Species Program, or under the CITES appendix.[8] Brown bullheads can tolerate very low dissolved oxygen levels that result from industrial and domestic pollution, aiding in their overall high rate of survivorship.[8] Brown bullheads are the most abundant species in many lakes and streams across the continent.[citation needed]
In Missouri, the brown bullhead is listed as a Species of Conservation Concern and is threatened by habitat destruction, particularly the drainage of swamps in the Missouri Bootheel for conversion into farmland.[6]
The flathead catfish, also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus Pylodictis. Ranging from the lower Great Lakes region to northern Mexico, it has been widely introduced and is an invasive species in some areas. The closest living relative of the flathead catfish is the much smaller widemouth blindcat, Satan eurystomus.
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, madtoms, channel catfish, and blue catfish.
The channel catfish is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, they are the most fished catfish species with around 8 million anglers targeting them per year. They also have very few teeth and swallow food whole. The popularity of channel catfish for food has contributed to the rapid expansion of aquaculture of this species in the United States. It has also been widely introduced in Europe, Asia and South America, and it is legally considered an invasive species in many countries.
The gafftopsail catfish is a species of marine catfish found in the waters of the western central Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It has long, venomous spines which can cause painful wounds. It feeds on crustaceans and other fish. The male of the species fertilizes the eggs of the female, and broods them in his mouth until they hatch. The gafftopsail feeds throughout the water column. This fish is a common catch in the Southeastern US, although it may be found as far north as New York. They are considered strong fighters by anglers. They are taken from piers, jetties, reefs, and the surf, as well as bottom fishing or flats fishing. They are caught with hard lures as well as soft plastics, cut bait, and live or dead shrimp. Some fishermen use traps for catfish, a method regulated by some states.
The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish is a species of 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 has barbels located near its mouth, a broad head, spiny fins, and no scales. It can be identified from other bullheads as the barbels are black, and it has a tan crescent around the tail. Its caudal fin is truncated. Like virtually all catfish, it is nocturnal, preferring to feed at night, although young feed during the day. It generally does not get as large as the channel or blue catfish, with average adult weights are in the 1-to-2-pound range, and almost never as large as 4 pounds (1.8 kg). It has a typical length of 6–14 inches (15–36 cm), with the largest specimen being 24 inches (61 cm), making it the largest of the bullheads. It is typically black or dark brown on the dorsal side of its body and yellow or white on the ventral side.
The yellow bullhead is a species of bullhead catfish, a ray-finned fish that lacks scales.
Ameiurus is a genus of catfishes in the family Ictaluridae. It contains the three common types of bullhead catfish found in waters of the United States, the black bullhead, the brown bullhead, and the yellow bullhead, as well as other species, such as the white catfish, which are not typically called "bullheads".
The bayad, is a species of bagrid catfish from Africa.
Fuelleborn's squeaker is a species of upside-down catfish that is native to Tanzania where it is found in Lake Rukwa and the Rufiji River basin. It was first described by Franz Martin Hilgendorf and Paul Pappenheim in 1903, from a specimen collected at Lake Rukwa. The species name fuelleborni is named in honor of Prof. Dr. F. Fülleborn, who collected the original sample.
Synodontis granulosus is a species of upside-down catfish endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Zambia, and Tanzania, where it is only known from Lake Tanganyika. It was first described by Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1900, from specimens collected at multiple points along the shore of Lake Tanganyika. The species name comes from the Latin word "granulum", meaning of grain, and refers to the granular papillae present on the skin of the fish's body.
Synodontis nigrita, known as the false upside down catfish, is a species of upside-down catfish that occurs widely in northern Africa. It was first described by French zoologist Achille Valenciennes in 1840. The type specimen is in the Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle de Paris.
Synodontis nebulosus, known as the cloudy squeaker, or clouded squeaker, is a species of upside-down catfish that is native to the lower Zambezi River basin of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was first described by German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peters in 1852, from a specimen collected in the Zambezi River at Tete, Mozambique. The species name nebulosus is derived from the Latin word nebulosus, meaning "foggy", "cloudy", or "full of mist".
Synodontis obesus, known as the Coas synodontis, is a species of upside-down catfish that is native to the coastal drainages of Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. It was first described by British-Belgian zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1898. The species name obesus is derived from the Latin word obesus, meaning "fat".
The white bullhead, also known as the white catfish, is a member of the family Ictaluridae of the order Siluriformes.
The bullhead minnow is a species of freshwater demersal fish, native to the Mississippi River system in the United States, to tributaries of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and to northern Mexico.
The snail bullhead is a bony fish in the family Ictaluridae distributed widely in the southeastern United States. Among its bullhead catfish congeners, it has many North American relatives, like the brown bullhead and black bullhead. The species was described in 1877 by David Starr Jordan in the Ocmulgee River in Georgia.
The spotted bullhead is a species of bullhead catfish endemic to the Southeastern United States.
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