Catfish, white Ameiurus catus

Linnaeus, 1758

ICTALURIDAE FAMILY


The white catfish is native to the U.S. Atlantic coastal states from about Palm Beach, Florida, to New York. It has been introduced outside this range southward into Texas and on the west coast.

It is the smallest of the four catfish in the U.S.A. and Mexico that have forked tails. In all other species the tail is either rounded, squarish, or slightly emarginate. Despite the names white catfish and blue catfish, any of the species with a forked tail maybe light silvery blue with a white belly, though in the white catfish there is sometimes a sharper contrast between the bluish back and the white of the belly. It usually has numerous dark spots on the body, except in older individuals and spawning males.

The surest way to identify the white catfish is to count the rays in the anal fin. The white catfish has 19 23 rays and the fin is rounded along the bottom edge. The channel catfish has 24 30 rays and also has a rounded anal fin. The blue catfish has a longer and much straighter edged anal fin with 30 36 rays.

Like all the catfish listed here the white catfish is a delicious food fish. Its flesh is firm and white. It is easily caught on live bait, less nocturnal than some species, and an excellent survivor. It has therefore become a very popular anglers' fish and a popular stock fish in private lakes and ponds

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