Missouri Department of Conservation
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Flathead Catfish

Pylodictis olivaris
Family: 
Ictaluridae (bullhead catfishes) in the order Siluriformes (catfishes)
Description: 

Missouri catfishes have smooth, scaleless skin and barbels (“whiskers”) around the mouth. This species has a broad, flattened head with small eyes on top, and the lower jaw projects beyond the upper jaw. The tail fin is mostly squared off, with a slight notch, and the anal fin is rounded, with 24-29 rays. The body is often strongly mottled with brown or black. Back and sides are pale yellow to light brown or olive; the belly is pale yellow or cream-white. Tail fin is dark brown or black except for the upper lobe. Young are darker and more boldly marked than adults.

Size: 
Total length: 15-45 inches; width: 1-45 pounds
Habitat and conservation: 
Prefer reservoirs or large streams with slow current. Avoids streams with high gradients or intermittent flow. Never found in headwater creeks. The young are often found among rocks on riffles; adults occur in pools, near submerged logs, piles of drift or other cover.
Foods: 
Smaller flatheads eat insect larvae; adults prefer fish and crustaceans. Unlike channel catfish, they are not scavengers and will not eat dead or decaying material.
Distribution in Missouri: 
Statewide in reservoirs and large streams with slow current.
Status: 
One of the most abundant of the larger catfishes in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and in their principal tributaries of the Prairie Region. Also in the larger streams and ditches of the Bootheel lowlands. In the Ozarks, it is largely restricted to reservoirs and the downstream sections of the larger streams.
Life cycle: 
Spawns in late spring or early summer. Male selects and guards nest site in dark secluded areas such as cavities in drift piles, logs, undercut banks and rocks. Adults are solitary, each staking out a favorite spot in deeper water or under cover during the day. At night they move into riffles and shallow areas to feed.
Human connections: 
An important commercial and sport fish. Before the commercial fishery for catfish was closed in the Missouri River, the harvest of this species by Missouri's commercial fisherman was more than 208,000 pounds.
Ecosystem connections: 
Flathead catfish are aquatic predators, but that doesn't mean they don't get preyed upon themselves. The young of even the largest species of fish are vulnerable to predation, and so are the eggs. This is one reason why catfish, and many other fish, guard their eggs and sometimes the fry.

Related Information

  • Game Fish Regulations

    Find out specific regulations and permit requirements for a variety of Missouri's game fish.

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