Bullhead Catfish

Ameiurus melas

The black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) is a medium-sized freshwater catfish reaching about 45 cm and 3 kg, native to North America from the Great Lakes and Mississippi basin to the Gulf Coast. It has been widely introduced to Europe. The body is robust and scaleless, colored dark olive to black on the back and sides with a lighter belly. It has eight prominent barbels around the mouth used as sensory organs for locating food in murky water. Stout, serrated spines in the dorsal and pectoral fins can deliver a painful sting. Black bullheads are incredibly tolerant of poor water quality, surviving in warm, muddy, low-oxygen environments where other fish cannot. They are primarily nocturnal bottom feeders, consuming insects, crustaceans, mollusks, plant matter, and carrion. Freshwater divers often encounter them in ponds, lakes, and slow rivers, where they rest on muddy substrates during the day. Males guard and fan egg masses in nests they construct under logs or banks.