Blue catfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the blue catfish lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Ictalurus furcatus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Siluriformes
Family	Ictaluridae

Where does the blue catfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the blue catfish in 1 country or territory across North America.

United States

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 blue catfish endangered?

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

What kind of animal is the blue catfish?

The blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is a ray-finned fish in the order Siluriformes and the family Ictaluridae, genus Ictalurus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the blue catfish

The blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) 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.

An omnivorous predator, it has been introduced in a number of reservoirs and rivers, notably the Santee Cooper lakes of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie in South Carolina, the James River in Virginia, Powerton Lake in Pekin, Illinois, and Lake Springfield in Springfield, Illinois. It is also found in some lakes in Florida.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Blue catfish (revision 1367802214), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q882644 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).