🐟Blue catfish
The blue catfish is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of 65 in (170 cm) and a weight of 143 lb (65 kg). The continent's largest catfish, it can live to 20 years, with a typical fish being between 25–46 in (64–117 cm) and 30–70 lb (14–32 kg). Native distribution is primarily in the Mississippi River and Louisiana drainage systems, including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas Rivers, the Des Moines River in south-central Iowa, the Rio Grande, and south along the Gulf Coast to Belize and Guatemala.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2013.
- Body mass
- 37 kg
- Body length
- 1.65 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 21 years
Everything we know about the Blue catfish
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass37 kgrecord 68 kg · FishBaseAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Body length1.65 mmaximum recordedFishBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Maximum lifespan21 yearsrecord 21 years · FishBaseAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Trophic level3.41FishBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: FishBase · v25.04, estimate table · CC BY-NC 4.0
DietcarnivoreaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
From trophic level 3.41 (FishBase): <2.2 herbivore, 2.2–2.8 omnivore, >2.8 carnivore.
Danger to humansharmlessFishBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Volume l38 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Blue catfish yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›orderSiluriformes
- ›familyIctaluridae
- ›genusIctalurus
- ›speciesIctalurus furcatus
- superclassRay-finned fish · Actinopterygii
- suborderSiluroidei
- familyIctaluridae
- genusIctalurus
All 13 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassRay-finned fish · Actinopterygii
- classActinopteri
- subclassNeopterygii
- superorderCharaciphysae
- orderSiluriformes
- suborderSiluroidei
- familyIctaluridae
- genusIctalurus
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