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he 'Black Bullhead' grows to the same size in the aquarium as Ameiurus nebulosus, the 'Brown Bullhead'. In the early days of my fishkeeping they were abundant in coldwater sections of the aquatic shops, small specimens in amongst Goldfish!  I lost count of the times I was contacted, to be asked if I would take a large Bullhead which had eaten or was about to eat their Goldfish, but they are not so common now in the U.K. shops.

Ameiurus melas

A good fish to house on its own in your fishhouse/room, to take culled and deformed fishes (but not diseased.) As I recall I had to house two in the same tank and one killed the other during the night! ( you live and learn.)

One thing they do have in common with catfish from the Asian continent is that they possess 4 pairs of barbels (chin barbels grey-black or spotted) unlike the catfish forms of South America who in the whole have three pairs. This can be a good way to identify your catfish if you are not too sure from where it originates from.

Ameiurus melas - juvenile

There is now moves afoot by the U.K. Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAAF) to impose restrictions on some coldwater species like the above mentioned Black Bullhead, due to the dangers of introduction to native waters and the threat to its occupants through disease and predation. In other words you could be paying up to £30 for a license to keep them.

In the future due to the exporters having to implement new guidelines on matters such as health records for each fish, they could become quite rare in the U.K.

Update: As of November 1998 in the U.K.you must have a licence to keep the above species. This licence is now issued free, but does take a few months to process. For more information log on to the DEFRA site.

Black Bullhead

Silurus melas, Ictalurus melas

Ictalurinae

North America: Great Lakes in Canada and U.S.A. to northern Mexico.

40.0cm. (16ins)

08-30°C (45-87°F)

Dorsal 1/6; Anal 17-21; Pectorals; 1/8. Ventrals 8; Hind edge of pectoral spine rough, but without serrations. Caudal peduncle short, moderately deep, caudal fin emarginate. Head large, rounded above; eyes small; mouth terminal, short, wide. Adipose fin present.

The North American ' Black Bullhead' adapts well to aquarium conditions but do bare in mind that it does grow big along with the capable size of its mouth! so if housing with other temperate fish you would be better going for larger stock such as yellow perch or the larger sunfishes. Putting them in with goldfish is not a good idea, not for the poor goldfish anyway!. They adapt well to most aquarium conditions as long as you give them a cave of some sort and to keep the lighting down to a minimum for viewing purposes.

In its natural habitat in early spring the females lays its eggs in the substrate and one or both parents guards them, the eggs can number into the thousands. The resulting fry are protected by both parents. Difficult to distinguish between sexes but the female is noticeably fuller in the breeding season.

Adults eat just about everything, pellet food, tablet food, frozen bloodworm, earthworms, shrimps and prawns.

Ameiurus: A reference to the tail.
melas: Black.

Schleser, David M. North American Fishes for the Home Aquarium.
The Audubon Society, Field guide to North American Fishes, Whales & Dolphins.

Photo Credits

Top: © Allan James @
Bottom: © David Proudfit