Many are caught in large natural lakes and impoundments, but hard-hitting, pole-bending flatheads reach their greatest abundance in big bottomland rivers. The flathead catfish has a broad, flat head, with a lower jaw protruding beyond the upper jaw. Compared to other catfish species the anal fin of the flathead is short along its base, with 14 to 17 fin rays. Whiskerfish fans use an astounding variety of baits to entice big flathead catfish. If the Mississippi River has an iconic fish, it is probably the catfish. Learn how and when to remove this template message, 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T202701A18234613.en, Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Animal Information Series, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pylodictis_olivaris/, United States National Agricultural Library, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flathead_catfish&oldid=1000826094, Articles needing additional references from July 2009, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing additional references from October 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Articles with incomplete citations from August 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. They are also commonly found in tailraces below dams. In rivers, they prefer deep pools where the water is slow, and depressions or holes, such as those that exist in eddies and adjacent to bridge pilings. It has the length at 64 to 117 cm in average. A Mud catfish is a Flathead catfish. Inside the mouth on the upper jaw, it has a large tooth plate with backward extensions on each end. Flathead Catfish World Record: As is the case with world records sometimes, people will often question the validity of a catch. Inhabiting deep pools, lakes, and large, slow-moving rivers, the flathead catfish is popular among anglers; its flesh is widely regarded as the tastiest of the catfishes. As with other catfishes, flatheads have heavy, sharp pectoral and dorsal spines, as well as long mouth barbels. Its size also makes the flathead catfish an effective subject of public aquaria. [2], The flathead catfish is also known as the yellow cat, mud cat, Johnnie cat, goujon, appaluchion, opelousas,[3][4] pied cat and Mississippi cat. The range extends as far north as Canada, as far west as Texas, and south to the Gulf of Mexico including northeastern Mexico. Recommended Articles. Both the black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, and the white crappie, Pomoxis annularus, are the most distinctive and largest members of the Centrarchidae family of sunfish. This page was last edited on 16 January 2021, at 22:42. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. The males, which also build the nests, fiercely and tirelessly defend and fan the clutch. Mid to large specimens are rather pot-bellied, with wide heads and beady eyes. However, a record from 1982, caught by "other methods", shows that the flathead catfish would be North Americas longest species of catfish, after a specimen pulled from the Arkansas River measured 175 cm (69 in.) Pterygoplichthys species, released by aquarium fishkeepers, have also established feral populations in many warm waters around the world. Appaloosa (Flathead) Catfish from Lewisville Lake in Texas - YouTube My Dads catfish.These are Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) out of Lake Lewisville, in Lewisville, Texas. Flathead color varies greatly with the environment and sometimes within the same environment, but is generally mottled with varying shades of brown and yellow on the sides, tapering to a lighter or whitish mottling on the belly. bartail flathead ( Platycephalus indicus ) The bartail, or Indian, flathead ( Platycephalus indicus ) inhabits the equatorial waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. LITTLE ROCK – Of the three species of catfish in Arkansas, the flathead may rank at the top, at least in fishermen’s interest. He is a National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Famer and has written 19 books on sportfishing. Males are mature from 16 cm (6.3 in) and 4 years of age, while females mature from 18 cm (7.1 in) and 5 years of age, but may mature as late as 10 years. Bottom fishing with some form of natural or prepared bait is widely practiced, although live baits are very popular, especially for larger specimens. It is a species of North American Freshwater Catfish. The flathead catfish cannot live in full-strength seawater (which is about 35 parts per thousand or about 35 grams of salt per liter of water), but it can survive in 10 ppt for a while and thrive in up to about 5 ppt. A common and large-growing species, the flathead (Pylodictus olivaris) is one of the ugliest members of the freshwater catfish clan, but also one that is regularly caught in larger sizes and which provides a good struggle on hook and line.