White Catfish
White catfish While white catfish can reach a length of 60 cm (2 ft.), they typically don't grow larger than 33 cm (13 in.). They are found in all Chesapeake Bay tributaries and the survey has collected them from freshwater to water with a salinity of 23.5 parts per thousand.
White catfish Members of the family Ictaluridae, such as the white catfish, have four pairs of barbels around their mouth. These barbels contain external taste buds, enabling catfish to taste something by merely touching it with their barbel.
White catfish White catfish feed on fishes, insects, plants, and crustaceans. If you look closely, you can see the caudal fin of a fish inside of this catfish's mouth.
White catfish and blue catfish These young white catfish (left) and blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus)(right) were caught in the York River in July. The characteristics used to distinguish the two species at this size (approximately 1 inch in length) include the head width, body coloration, and tail fork.
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- This species first recruits to the survey gear in June.
- The Young-of-Year cutoff values are:
- June: 0-50 mm.
- July: 0-65 mm.
- August: 0-80 mm.
- September: 0-90 mm.
- October: 0-100 mm.
- November: 0-110 mm.
- December: 0-110 mm.
- January: 0-110 mm.
- February: 0-110 mm.
- March: 0-110 mm.
- April: 0-110 mm.
- May: 0-120 mm.
- Index months are in bold.
- In 2018, the recruitment window for juvenile and age 1+ White Catfish was changed from January to April to the new period that occurs from September to November. All annual indices for White Catfish were recalculated to reflect the new recruitment period.
- Because White Catfish are restricted in their distribution, an index of abundance is calculated for each tributary. Only stations in the upper portions of the rivers are used.
- The Age 1+ index for this species contains several year classes. It may be possible to split out individual age groups in the future.
Data collected after the transition to a new vessel and net (June 2015) have been adjusted by a species-specific calibration factor. However, juvenile White Catfish indices were not adjusted as too few were captured.