This report will tell you everything you
need to know about channel catfish!
By:
Emily #9
12-15-03
Outline
I.
Characteristics
II.
Eating Habits
III.
Habitat
IV.
Babies, Eggs, and Spawning
V.
Interesting Facts
VI.
Fisherman’s Tip
Here are some facts about the lifespan, the size, weight, and
characteristics of the channel catfish. A
channel catfish lives fifteen to twenty years.
By the time the channel catfish is twenty years old it has grown to a
maximum length of twenty inches. The
catfish can reach up to sixty pounds, but the average weight of a channel
catfish is five to twenty pounds. The
channel catfish has a blue-gray tail, silvery-gray sides, and a white belly. The younger channel catfish have
scattered black spots that disappear as the catfish grow older. The channel catfish also has whiskers called barbels.
This section is
going to be about the channel catfish’s eating habits. The channel catfish eats aquatic
insects, crayfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and smaller fish. The catfish feeds only at night. The catfish uses it’s barbels to feel
around the bottom for food. Usually, the channel catfish feeds on the bottom,
but sometimes the channel catfish will feed at the surface. The channel catfish is also an omnivore.
This paragraph
is going to be about the channel catfish’s habitat. The channel catfish live in fairly warm
rivers and streams. They prefer a
warm, dry climate, but will tolerate cooler and wetter climates. They also prefer clear water, but they
will live in muddy water too. They
are usually found in North America, Canada, and Mexico.
This section is about babies, eggs, and
spawning. The channel catfish mate
in the early spring. They nest
under banks or logs. They spawn
from May to July. The female can
lay from two thousand to twenty-one thousand eggs. The female prefers to lay her eggs in
water that is seventy to eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. The eggs are a dirty yellow color, and
they blend in with the muddy bottom. When the eggs are laid the male swims over and fertilizes
them. When the eggs are fertilized
the male drives the female away from the nest and guards the fry himself. (Fry is what they call a group of
channel catfish babies.) The babies
hatch in six to ten days. When they
are one year old the babies are four inches long.
When they are four years old they are twelve inches long or a foot.
Interesting Facts:
1. The
biggest channel catfish was caught in South Carolina.
2. The
world record weight was 58 pounds.
3. A
channel catfish has mild venom in their pectoral and dorsal fins.
4.
The remedy for getting stung by the fins is rubbing the fish’s belly
on the wound.
5. A
channel catfish doesn’t have scales, but instead it has tough skin.
6. The
scientific name for a channel catfish is Ictalurus Punctatus.
7. Scientists say that the channel catfish have lived in North America
for over 3000 years.
|
Fisherman’s Tip: The worse your bait smells, the more
likely it is that the channel catfish will bite it.
|
Bibliography
1. www.michigan.gov/dnr/o,1607,7-153-10364_18958-45660--,00.html
2. www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=9
3. www.floridafisheries.com/Fishes/catfish.html
4. www.thejump.net/fishlist/channelcat.htm
5. www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/ccf/ccf.htm
7. www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/fwb/fish/iafish/catfish/card/ccf--card.htm
8. www.carlylelake.com/Fishing/Guide/Catfish/channelcat.htm
9. www.h2ow.com/catfish/html/channel_catfish.html
10. www.gen.umn.edu/research/fish/fishes/channel_catfish.html
11. catfish4.htm