White bullhead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White bullhead |
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The white bullhead, also called the white catfish, is a type of fish. Its scientific name is Ameiurus catus. It belongs to a group of fish called Ictaluridae, which are often known as North American freshwater catfish.
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Where White Catfish Live
The white bullhead naturally lives in rivers and streams along the Eastern United States. You can find them from the Hudson River in New York all the way down to the Peace River in Florida. They also live west to the Apalachicola River in Florida.
These fish are tough! They can even live in slightly salty water, which might be why they moved into rivers in Connecticut. People have also moved white bullheads to many other places for fishing and food. For example, they were brought to California in 1874 near Stockton. They now live in the Columbia River basin and in Puerto Rico. Some white bullheads have also escaped from fishing ponds and now live freely in Missouri.
What White Catfish Look Like
The white catfish has a unique head with eight whisker-like feelers called barbels. Two are near its nose, two near its mouth, and four under its chin. These help it find food. This fish does not have scales, so its skin is smooth.
It has a sharp spine on the front edge of its back fin and its side fins. It usually has six soft rays on its back fin. White catfish typically weigh between 0.2 and 0.9 kilograms (about 0.5 to 2 pounds). However, some can grow much larger, weighing over 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds)!
White Catfish Habitat
White catfish like to live in slow-moving water. They prefer muddy areas in rivers and streams, especially quiet pools and backwaters. They also do very well in lakes and large man-made reservoirs.
White Catfish Behavior
How White Catfish Find Food
White catfish mostly look for food on the bottom of the water. They eat other small fish and insects that live in the water. They are most active and feed the most when the sun goes down and throughout the night. Their favorite foods include insects, worms, and other small creatures that live on the bottom.
White Catfish Reproduction
White catfish lay their eggs from April to July. This happens when the water temperature is between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius (65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit). The female lays a jelly-like mass of eggs inside a hidden spot. This can be in a hollow log or under a riverbank. The male catfish then guards the nest. He keeps the eggs healthy by fanning fresh water over them all the time.
White Catfish in Nature
White bullheads can sometimes affect other fish. For example, when they were introduced to Thurston Lake, they contributed to the disappearance of the Sacramento perch from that lake by 1970. In California, people used to fish for white bullheads for money. But this fishing was stopped in 1953 because too many fish were being caught. Today, the state of California does not consider the white bullhead to be a harmful invasive species.
See Also
- Bullhead catfish (general information)
