Black bullhead: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the black bullhead lives – recorded in 6 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Ameiurus melas
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	6 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Siluriformes
Family	Ictaluridae

Where does the black bullhead live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the black bullhead in 6 countries and territories across Europe and North America. In Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

France
United States
Italy (introduced)
Spain (introduced)
Germany (introduced)
Switzerland (introduced)

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the black bullhead endangered?

The black bullhead’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the black bullhead?

The black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) is a ray-finned fish in the order Siluriformes and the family Ictaluridae, genus Ameiurus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the black bullhead

The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (Ameiurus melas) is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid, and/or very warm. It also has barbels located near its mouth, a broad head, spiny fins, and no scales. It can be identified from other bullheads as the barbels are black, and it has a tan crescent around the tail. Its caudal fin is truncated (squared off at the corners). Like virtually all catfish, it is nocturnal, preferring to feed at night, although young feed during the day. It generally does not get as large as the channel or blue catfish, with average adult weights are in the 1-to-2-pound (0.45 to 0.91 kg) range, and almost never as large as 4 pounds (1.8 kg). It has a typical length of 6–14 inches (15–36 cm), with the largest specimen being 24 inches (61 cm), making it the largest of the bullheads. It is typically black or dark brown on the dorsal side of its body and yellow or white on the ventral side.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Black bullhead (revision 1370897599), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q998380 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).