Types of Catfish in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Madtoms

• The madtoms are more secretive and harder to observe than catfish and bullhead in Pennsylvania, notes the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Madtom species in the state include the stonecat, as well as the mountain, tadpole, brindled, northern and margined madtom. Only the stonecat, in western Pennsylvania, and the margined madtom in the eastern waters of the state are common. Of these fish, the stonecat, growing to 12 inches, is the largest.

Pennsylvania Bullheads

• The yellow bullhead and the brown bullhead are common throughout Pennsylvania, but the black bullhead is not, found only in a few counties in the western portions. The bullheads are all quite similar in their appearance, with differences only in their anatomy and their coloring. The brown bullhead sometimes grows to 18 inches, while the yellow version can be slightly longer. Black bullhead are the largest of these catfish, attaining 2 feet in length on occasion.

Pennsylvania Catfish

• The flathead catfish is the largest of the Pennsylvania catfish, sometimes topping 100 lbs., but more often in the 25 lb. range when mature. Flathead catfish in Pennsylvania typically occur in the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela River systems. The channel catfish, capable of being as big as 35 lbs. but considered large at 15 lbs., features a statewide distribution. The white catfish, living in the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers originally, is an introduced species elsewhere in the state. White catfish can grow to 24 inches long and are the smallest of the Pennsylvania catfish trio.

Catfish Habitat

• Bullheads in Pennsylvania frequent small ponds, lake bays, slow moving parts of rivers and streams, along with reservoirs. Muddy bottoms are a trait of bullhead habitat. The madtoms, in general, inhabit slow sections of rivers and streams. The larger catfish types of the state live in large streams and rivers, with flathead and channel catfish capable of inhabiting lakes.