Yellow Bullhead
Ameiurus natalis (Lesueur, 1819)

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygoxene

Realm

Aquatic

Distribution

Range

Known from 20 counties across three states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Florida, Kentucky

Counties

Alabama

Jackson, Madison, Morgan

Florida

Alachua, Columbia, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Holmes, Jackson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Levy, Madison, Marion, Suwannee, Wakulla, Washington

Kentucky

Breckinridge

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

Assessed in 2013.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

National ranks

Canada

N4 Apparently Secure

United States

N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Ontario

S4 Apparently Secure

Quebec

S3 Vulnerable

British Columbia

SNA Not Applicable

Minnesota

SNR Unranked

Kentucky

S4 Apparently Secure

Vermont

S4 Apparently Secure

Tennessee

S5 Secure

South Carolina

S5 Secure

NE

S4 Apparently Secure

Oregon

SNA Not Applicable

Michigan

S5 Secure

Pennsylvania

S5 Secure

NN

SNA Not Applicable

Illinois

S5 Secure

West Virginia

S5 Secure

Massachusetts

SNA Not Applicable

ND

SU Unrankable

Louisiana

S5 Secure

Wyoming

SNA Not Applicable

Arkansas

S4 Apparently Secure

NJ

S5 Secure

Alabama

S5 Secure

Mississippi

S5 Secure

Montana

SNA Not Applicable

Missouri

SNR Unranked

RI

SNA Not Applicable

New Mexico

SNA Not Applicable

Arizona

SNA Not Applicable

New York

S5 Secure

Oklahoma

SNR Unranked

Kansas

S5 Secure

Georgia

S5 Secure

District of Columbia

S4 Apparently Secure

Connecticut

SNA Not Applicable

Wisconsin

S5 Secure

Washington

SNA Not Applicable

Indiana

S5 Secure

Utah

SNA Not Applicable

South Dakota

S5 Secure

NH

SNA Not Applicable

Iowa

S4 Apparently Secure

DE

S3 Vulnerable

Idaho

SNA Not Applicable

Maryland

S5 Secure

North Carolina

S5 Secure

Nevada

SNA Not Applicable

Texas

S5 Secure

Florida

SNR Unranked

Virginia

S5 Secure

Ohio

S5 Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

• Armstrong, J.G. & Williams, J.D. 1971. Cave and spring fishes of the southern bend of the Tennessee River. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 46: 107–115.
• Cooper, J.E. 1965. Further commentary on cave-associated salamanders. The Baltimore Grotto News 8: 202.
• Franz, R., Bauer, J. & Morris, T. 1994. Review of biologically significant caves and their faunas in Florida and south Georgia. Brimleyana 20: 1–109. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229726.
• Hobbs, H.H. Jr., Hobbs, H.H. III & Daniel, M.A. 1977. A review of the troglobitic decapod crustaceans of the Americas. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 244: 1–183.
• Lewis, J.J. & Sawicki, T.R. 2016. Mexistenasellus floridensis sp. n., the first stenasellid isopod discovered from the Floridan aquifer (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota). Subterranean Biology 17: 121–132. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.17.7703
• McGregor, S.W., Rheams, K.F., O'Neil, P.E., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1994. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 226 pp.
• McGregor, S.W., O'Neil, P.E., Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1997. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 166: 1–198.
• Morris, T.L. 2006. A biological inventory of aquifer caves in Florida with special emphasis on troglobitic crustaceans and salamanders. Final report S0057 to Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 44 pp.
• Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
• Pearson, W.D. & Boston, C.H., Jr. 1995. Distribution and status of the northern cavefish, Amblyopsis spelaea. Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program,, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. 99 pp.
• Poucher, S. 2022. Wildlife of Florida's Springs. An Illustrated Guide to over 150 Species. Pineapple Press, Palm Beach, Florida, USA. 196 pp. ISBN 9780000000000.
• Pylka, J.M. 1957. Cave vertebrates of Florida. The Florida Speleologist 1: 6–7.
• Relyea, K. & Sutton, B. 1973. Egg-bearing in the troglobitic crayfish, Procambarus pallidus (Hobbs). Florida Scientist 36: 173–175. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24319455.
• Relyea, K. & Sutton, B. 1973. Cave dwelling yellow bullheads in Florida. Florida Scientist 36: 31–34. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24319674.
• Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & McGregor, S.W. 1992. Geologic, hydrologic, and biologic investigations in Arrowwood, Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and selected caves, Madison, County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 262 pp.
• Streever, W.J. 1992. Report of a cave fauna kill at Peacock Springs Cave System, Suwannee County, Florida. Florida Scientist 55: 125–128. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24320493.
• Walsh, S.J. 2001. Freshwater macrofauna of Florida karst habitats. Proceedings of the 2001 U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group, USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 01–4011: 78–88. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_talks/101/.

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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