Ictalurus natalis
Yellow Bullhead

Name:

• Ictalurus, from the Greek, "fish cat"
• natalis, from the Latin, "having large buttocks"
• Common name from the resemblance of the nostril whiskers to the horns of a bull. Yellow because it often, but not always, has a yellowish tint to it.
• Other common names include: Brown Bullhead, White Whiskered Bullhead, Mississippi Bullhead, Butterball, Paper Skin, Yellow Catfish, barbotte jaune, silure jaune, pimelode des marais (Qué), pesce gatto (It).

Taxonomy:

• Kingdom Animalia
• Phylum Chordata, animals with a spinal chord
• Subphylum Vertebrata, animals with a backbone
• Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
• Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
• Subclass Neopterygii
• Infraclass Teleostei
• Superorder Ostariophysi
• Order Siluriformes, the catfishes
• Family Ictaluridae, North American freshwater catfishes; bullhead catfishes
• Genus Ictalurus, the bullheads
• Also known as Ameiurus natalis (Lesueur 1819)

Description:

• A medium size member of the catfish family
• Length to 16"
• Weight as much as 2 pounds
• Color
• light olive brown to yellow above
• white or cream belly
• Body
• anal fin of 24-27 rays, usually 25 or 26
• spines at the pectoral fin and just ahead of the dorsal fin
• tail convexly rounded
• Head
• broad and flat
• white or cream colored barbels

Identification:

• Distinguished as a bullhead by its broad, flat, barbel strewn head.
• Distinguished from the other bullheads by the color of its barbels:
• Yellow Bullhead has white barbels
• Black Bullhead (Ictalurus melas) has black or grey barbels
• Brown Bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) has barbels light colored at the base, darkening to grey or black at the tips
• Body color varies, and is not a reliable indicator of species

Distribution:

• Atlantic and Gulf slope drainages from New York to northern Mexico, and St. Lawrence-Great Lakes and Mississippi river basins from southern Quebec west to central North Dakota, and south to the Gulf.
• Authorities dispute the presence of the Yellow Bullhead in northern Minnesota. If present at all, it is likely quite rare.

Habitat:

• Primarily lakes and ponds, occasionally the flowing waters of major rivers, man-made lakes, farm ponds, and oxbow lakes.
• Tends to favor clear water
• Prefers neutral pH (~7.0)

Foods:

• Nocturnal scavenger and predator, feeding on insect larvae on or in the bottom as well as on crustaceans, small mollusks, crayfish, and small fishes.
• Somewhat more selective in feeding than the other bullhead species.

History:

• Minnesota Record: 3 lbs 8 oz, Osakis Lake (Douglas County).

Uses:

Reproduction:

• Spawns in May and early June in water from 1½' to 4' 'deep.
• Nests are constructed by the male.
• The female deposits 2,000 to 7,000 eggs, which hatch in 5 to 10 days.
• Fry are guarded by the parent fish until late July or August. They reach a length of about 3" at the end of the first year and mature in the third year.

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Last updated on 13 November 1999