Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: S4

ITIS Code: 163997

National Rank: N5           

Global Rank: G5

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

Primarily a “big river” fish species, the blue catfish is found almost exclusively in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers (Harlan et al. 1987).  It was formerly abundant near Keokuk, Iowa during the summer months but, as a migratory species (Coker 1929; Jordan and Everman 1916), it has declined due to the construction of dams (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Pflieger 1997).

Habitat Affinities:

The blue catfish inhabits rivers, large permanent streams, swift chutes, over-bars, pools, runs, raceways, ponds, lakes and oxbows (Douglas 1974; Pflieger 1971; Trautman 1981). It is associated with large rivers with moderate to swift current, in the main channel and the main channel border (Clay 1975; Phillips et al. 1982; Robison and Buchanan 1988) . The blue catfish avoids the silted bottoms of most sluggish pools, preferring firm substrates of bedrock, boulder, sand or gravel, but does inhabit the deep waters of large reservoirs  (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Cross and Collins 1995; Pflieger 1971).

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: (by habitat variables from literature)

The distribution is based upon existing collection records.

("FLOW" = 1 AND "SSIZE_CODE" = 4)

Mississippi River Model

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

(("pool" >= 'S09' AND "pool" <= 'S10' ) OR ("pool" >= 'S13' AND "pool" <= 'S20' ))

Missouri River Model

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" >= 'O17' AND "pool" <= 'O19')

Overall Prediction:

("FLOW" = 1 AND "SSIZE_CODE" = 4) OR (("pool" >= 'S09' AND "pool" <= 'S10' ) OR ("pool" >= 'S13' AND "pool" <= 'S20' )) OR ("pool" >= 'O17' AND "pool" <= 'O19')

Literature Cited:

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Coker, R.E.  1929.  Studies of common fishes of the Mississippi River at Keokuk. Bulletin U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 45:141-225.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Jordan, D.S., and B.W. Evermann.  1916.  American food and game fishes.  Doubleday, Page and Co., New York, New York. 572 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Berry, C.R., D.L. Galat, and M.L. Wildhaber.  2004.  Fish distribution and abundance. 

Volume 3.  Population structure and habitat use of benthic fishes along the Missouri and lower Yellowstone rivers.  U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Units, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota.

Cleary, R.E.  1958.  Summary of 1958 electro-fishing surveys in pools 9 through 19-

Mississippi River.  Project F-53-R.   Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Iowa State University Museum.  1985.  Collection of fishes catalog, 1878-1985.   Iowa

State University, Ames, Iowa.

Kallemeyn, L.W.  1977.  Fish and fish food organisms in various habitats of the Missouri

River in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.  FWS/OBS-77/25.  United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C.

Meek, S.E.  1892.  Report upon the fishes of Iowa, based upon observations and

collections mad during 1889, 1890, 1891.  Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. 10(1890):217-248.

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois. 238 pp. 

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Wenke, T.L.  1965.  Some ecological relationships of mayflies, caddisflies, and fish in

the Mississippi River near Keokuk, Iowa.  Ph.D. dissertation.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Additional References:

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Gelwicks, G.T.  1995.  Fish movement between the lower Missouri River and a managed floodplain wetland in Missouri.  Master’s thesis. University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 190 pp.

Harlan, J.R., and E.B. Speaker.  1951.  Iowa fish and fishing.  Iowa Conservation Commission.  Des Moines, Iowa.  238 pp.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Lundberg, J.G.  1992. The phylogeny of ictalurid catfishes: a synthesis of recent work. Pages 392-420 in R. L. Mayden, editor.  Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes.  Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calfiornia.  969 pp.

Manooch, C. S., III. 1984.  Fisherman's guide - fishes of the southeastern United States.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh. 362 pp.

Moyle, P.B.  1976.  Inland fishes of California.  University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 405 pp.

Muncy, R J., G. J. Atchison, R.V. Bulkley, B.W. Menzel, L.G. Perry, and R.C. Summerfelt.  1979.  Effects of suspended solids and sediments on reproduction and early life of warmwater fish: a review.  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, Oregon.  101 pp.

Nelson, J.S.  1984.  Fishes of the world. Second edition.  John Wiley and Sons, New York.  523 pp.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

Sheehan, R.J., W.M. Lewis, and  L.R. Bodensteiner.  1990.  Winter habitat requirements and overwintering of riverine fishes.  Southern Illinois Fisheries Research Laboratory, Carbondale, Illinois.  D-J Project F-79-R, Study 101.  234 pp.

Sublette, J.E., M.D Hatch, and M. Sublette.  1990.  The fishes of New Mexico.  University New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  393 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of Konrad P. Schmidt, copyright Konrad P. Schmidt.

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of the Virtual Aquarium, The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/index.html