Page 99 - A Field Guide to Fairfax County's Plants and Wildlife
P. 99
wn Bullhead
(Ameiurus nebulosus)
Description
The Brown Bullhead is
a chubby and smooth-
skinned catfish with an
olive or yellowish-brown
body and a yellowish-white belly. Its head is broad and flat. Four pairs of dark,
whisker-like barbels surround its mouth. Its dorsal (back) fin and pectoral fin
each have a sharp spine and several softer rays. Its tail fin is square-shaped.
Adults are usually 15 to 30 centimeters long. They mature by age three. The
breeding season is usually late spring through summer. A breeding pair clears
a shallow nest on the bottom for eggs. Both parents protect the eggs and
defend their territory. The parents also look after the young for several weeks
after they hatch. The Brown Bullhead can live up to seven years.
Distribution and Habitat
It is found in the Blue Ridge, Coastal The Brown Bullhead is nocturnal
Plain, Piedmont and Valley and and eats at night. It doesn’t see well,
Ridge provinces. It lives in pools but it uses its barbels to find food.
and backwaters near the bottom of
slow-moving creeks, streams and The color of the barbels is one way
rivers with a soft bottom and lots of to tell the difference between the
vegetation, lakes and ponds. Brown Bullhead and the Yellow
Bullhead (A. natalis). The Brown
Role in Food Web Bullhead has dark barbels under the
chin while the Yellow Bullhead has
Adults eat algae, plankton, aquatic pale barbels under the chin.
insects, mollusks, crustaceans,
crayfish, other fish, leeches and
worms. The young eat aquatic
insects and small crustaceans. Their
predators include larger fish like Sea Lampreys, American Eels, Northern
Pikes, Muskellunges, Chain Pickerels, Saugers and Walleyes.
r 95 r
(Ameiurus nebulosus)
Description
The Brown Bullhead is
a chubby and smooth-
skinned catfish with an
olive or yellowish-brown
body and a yellowish-white belly. Its head is broad and flat. Four pairs of dark,
whisker-like barbels surround its mouth. Its dorsal (back) fin and pectoral fin
each have a sharp spine and several softer rays. Its tail fin is square-shaped.
Adults are usually 15 to 30 centimeters long. They mature by age three. The
breeding season is usually late spring through summer. A breeding pair clears
a shallow nest on the bottom for eggs. Both parents protect the eggs and
defend their territory. The parents also look after the young for several weeks
after they hatch. The Brown Bullhead can live up to seven years.
Distribution and Habitat
It is found in the Blue Ridge, Coastal The Brown Bullhead is nocturnal
Plain, Piedmont and Valley and and eats at night. It doesn’t see well,
Ridge provinces. It lives in pools but it uses its barbels to find food.
and backwaters near the bottom of
slow-moving creeks, streams and The color of the barbels is one way
rivers with a soft bottom and lots of to tell the difference between the
vegetation, lakes and ponds. Brown Bullhead and the Yellow
Bullhead (A. natalis). The Brown
Role in Food Web Bullhead has dark barbels under the
chin while the Yellow Bullhead has
Adults eat algae, plankton, aquatic pale barbels under the chin.
insects, mollusks, crustaceans,
crayfish, other fish, leeches and
worms. The young eat aquatic
insects and small crustaceans. Their
predators include larger fish like Sea Lampreys, American Eels, Northern
Pikes, Muskellunges, Chain Pickerels, Saugers and Walleyes.
r 95 r
