Channel catfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the channel catfish lives – recorded in 4 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Ictalurus punctatus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	4 countries
Continents	Asia, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Siluriformes
Family	Ictaluridae

Where does the channel catfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the channel catfish in 4 countries and territories across Asia and North America. Wikidata gives its range as: Nearctic realm. In Canada, Japan, Mexico it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

United States
Canada (introduced)
Japan (introduced)
Mexico (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 channel catfish endangered?

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

What kind of animal is the channel catfish?

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

About the channel catfish

The channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee. The channel catfish is the most fished species of catfish in the United States, with around 8 million anglers angling them per year. The popularity of channel catfish for food has contributed to the rapid expansion of this species' aquaculture in the United States. It has also been widely introduced to Europe, Asia and South America, and many countries consider it an invasive species.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Channel catfish (revision 1378377637), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q836957 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).