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NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
Common Name: flat bullhead
Identification: Page and Burr (1991); Jenkins and Burkhead (1994). Another commonly used name is Ictalurus platycephalus.
Size: 29 cm.
Native Range:
Atlantic Piedmont and Coastal Plain from Roanoke River drainage, Virginia, to Altamaha River drainage, Georgia (Page and Burr 1991).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: This species has been taken from the Chattahoochee River drainage, Georgia (Couch et al. 1995). It has been introduced into the French Broad, Nolichucky, Little Tennessee, Toe, and Hiwassee systems of the Tennessee drainage, North Carolina (Menhinick 1991; Jenkins and Burkhead 1994; Shute 2000). Two individuals collected from the upper James River in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1984 may have escaped from a stocked pond (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994).
Means of Introduction: This species was intentionally stocked in North Carolina. Although tentatively considered native to the James River, Virginia, Jenkins and Burkhead (1994) reported that the species may have escaped from a stocked farm pond. Possibly introduced as a sportfish in drainages of Georgia outside its native range.
Status: Established in North Carolina; probably established in Georgia. Reported in Virginia.
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks: The two Virginia specimens taken in the upper James were lost (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994). This species closely resembles the snail bullhead Ameiurus brunneus, and some flathead records may be based on misidentifications. Dahlberg and Scott (1971a) did not list this species from the Chattahoochee drainage in Georgia.
Couch, C. A., J. C. DeVivo, and B J. Freeman. 1995. What fish live in the streams of metropolitan Atlanta? Fact Sheet FS-091-95, National Water-Quality Assessment Program, U.S. Geological Survey, Atlanta, GA.
Jenkins, R. E., and N. M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.
Menhinick, E. F. 1991. The freshwater fishes of North Carolina. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. 227 pp.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Field Guide Series, volume 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 4/11/2006 Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller. 2009. Ameiurus platycephalus. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=737> Revision Date: 4/11/2006
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