Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus
This species was found at 0 bioassessment sites, 0 rapid fish bioassessment sites, 1 fisheries assessment site, and 0 fisheries presence-only assessment sites. In total, it was collected at 1 distinct sites, or 0.1% of the 1522 total sites monitored by the bioassessment program. It is the 133rd most commonly collected species.
The Blue Catfish was collected in 0 bioassessment sampling sessions and 1 fisheries assessment session. It was present in 0 rapid bioassessment sessions and 0 presence-only sessions.
The biological assessment program has collected a total of 1 individual Blue Catfish specimens, ranking it the #141 most collected fish.
Blue Catfish, as its name implies, are blue or slate-gray above and light below. The body has no dark spots that are characteristic of Channel Catfish. The upper jaw protrudes slightly beyond the lower, and the head is curved. The anal fin is very long, and its basal length is about one-third the standard length of the fish. Blue Catfish are easily distinguished from the Channel Catfish by the number of rays in the anal fin, Channel Catfish have 24 to 29 rays - Blue Catfish 30 to 35. The tail is deeply forked and the eyes are small. The air bladder has three lobes or parts, an anterior pair joined side by side and the smaller third lobe is placed behind.
HUC12 watersheds where this species has been found