Ameiurus melas, Black bullhead : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish

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Ameiurus melas (Rafinesque, 1820)

Black bullhead
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Ameiurus melas
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver

Classification / Names Nombres comunes | Sinónimos | Catalog of Fishes(Género, Especie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Ictaluridae (North American freshwater catfishes)
Etymology: Ameiurus: Greek, a = without + Greek, meiouros, -os, -on = without tail (Ref. 45335);  melas: Ameiurus (Greek) meaning privative curtailed (referring to the caudal fin lacking a notch); melas for black (Ref. 79012).
More on author: Rafinesque.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecología

; agua dulce demersal; pH range: 6.5 - 8.0; dH range: 4 - 25; anfidromo (Ref. 51243); rango de profundidad 10 - ? m. Temperate; 8°C - 30°C (Ref. 2059); 52°N - 26°N

Distribución Países | Áreas FAO | Ecosistemas | Ocurrencias, apariciones | Point map | Introducciones | Faunafri

North America: Great Lakes to northern Mexico. Confusion over the taxonomic status of this species together with Ameiurus nebulosus resulted in more doubts as to which of the two is present in some countries. In Europe it forms dense stunted populations which makes it unpopular. Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction (Ref. 1739). In Europe, self-sustaining populations recorded from Ebro and Tagus drainages (Iberian Peninsula), most drainages of France, locally in Italy, the Netherlands and Germany; distribution could be wider (Ref. 59043)

Tamaño / Peso / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 66.0 cm TL macho / no sexado; (Ref. 40637); common length : 26.6 cm TL macho / no sexado; (Ref. 12193); peso máximo publicado: 3.6 kg (Ref. 4699); edad máxima reportada: 10 años (Ref. 12193)

Biología     Glosario (por ej. epibenthic)

Inhabits pools, backwaters, and sluggish current over soft substrates in creeks and small to large rivers; impoundments, oxbows, and ponds. Nocturnal feeder, young consume immature insects, leeches, and crustaceans while adults also feed on clams, snails, plant material, and fishes (Ref. 1998, 9669, 10294). Edible (Ref. 1998). Are susceptible of being caught, where they are abundant, with baited lines intended for other species. Is considered a nuisance (Ref. 30578). Often misidentified as A. nebulosus (Ref. 59043).

Life cycle and mating behavior Madurez | Reproducción | Puesta | Huevos | Fecundidad | Larva

The female prepares the nest by clearing debris, gravel and silt found on the bottom. Before spawning, the pair engages in butting and in sliding its barbels over the body of the other. The female releases her eggs after the male wraps his caudal fin around the head of the female. The pair can spawn up to five times in an hour. In between spawning, the female fans the eggs. Both male and female guards and fans the eggs.

Main reference Upload your references | Referencias | Coordinador | Colaboradores

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 14 October 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest





Human uses

Pesquerías: comercial; Acuicultura: comercial; pesca deportiva: si
FAO - Acuicultura: producción; ; Publication: search | FishSource |

Más información

Nombres comunes
Sinónimos
Metabolismo
Despredadores
Ecotoxicología
Reproducción
Madurez
Puesta
Agregación para la puesta
Fecundidad
Huevos
Egg development
Age/Size
Crecimiento
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morfometría
Morfología
Larva
Dinámica larvaria
Reclutamiento
Abundancia
BRUVS
Referencias
Acuicultura
Perfil de acuicultura
Razas
Genética
Electrophoreses
heritabilidad
Enfermedades
Procesamiento
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Colaboradores
Imágenes
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sonidos
Ciguatera
Velocidad
Tipo de natación
Superficie branquial
Otolitos
Cerebros
Visión

Herramientas

Special reports

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Fuentes de Internet

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00891 (0.00689 - 0.01153), b=3.11 (3.04 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Nivel trófico (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resiliencia (Ref. 120179):  Medio, población duplicada en un tiempo mínimo de 1.4-4.4 años (tmax=10; Assuming tm=3).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (46 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 26.2 [14.2, 56.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.454 [0.256, 0.749] mg/100g; Protein = 17.2 [15.2, 19.0] %; Omega3 = 1.23 [0.46, 3.30] g/100g; Selenium = 17 [7, 43] μg/100g; VitaminA = 20.3 [6.4, 62.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.612 [0.409, 0.891] mg/100g (wet weight);