BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Ameiurus nebulosus
Brown Bullhead
| Scientific Name: | Ameiurus nebulosus (Lesueur, 1819) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Brown Bullhead | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | F-AMNE | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Aug 2015) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | SNA (Jul 2025) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Exotic | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Spawns in late spring and summer. Eggs hatch in 6-9 days. Parents stay with eggs and hatchlings. Usually first breed in third year (Becker 1983, Moyle 1976). | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Moves widely in large lakes, as much as 26 km from point of release (Moyle 1976). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Habitat includes ponds, lakes, sluggish creeks and small to large rivers, sloughs, backwaters, and reservoirs. Usually this bullhead occurs in vegetated shallows over sand, rock, mud, or silt (most often soft substrates), in clear to turbid water (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 2011). It may burrow into soft bottoms and become inactive in winter. Eggs are laid in open excavations in sand, gravel, or (rarely) mud, often in shelter of logs, rocks, or vegetation, or in holes, burrows, or debris. Nest made by one or both sexes usually are around shores or in coves or creek mouths. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Bottom feeder. Young eat chironomid larvae and small crustaceans. Adults eat larger insect larvae and fishes, also fish eggs, mollusks, carrion, and plant material (Becker 1983, Moyle 1976). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Crepuscular: Adult, Immature
Nocturnal: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Phenology Comments: | Mostly nocturnal. May burrow into soft bottom and become inactive at low temperatures (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 53/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This bullhead is native in most of the eastern United States and adjacent southern Canada, west to southeastern Saskatchewan, Nebraska, and Louisiana; it is common in the Northeast and on the Atlantic and Gulf slopes, sporadic elsewhere (Page and Burr 2011). It is widely introduced and established outside the native range. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Oct 15, 2011 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1,052 pp. |
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Emig, J. 1966a. Brown bullhead. pp. 463-465 in A. Calhoun (ed.) Inland fisheries management. California Department of Fish and Game. |
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Lundberg, J. G. 1992. The phylogeny of ictalurid catfishes: a synthesis of recent work. Pages 392-420 in R.L. Mayden, editor. Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xxvi + 969 pp. |
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Manooch, C. S., III. 1984. Fisherman's guide. Fishes of the southeastern United States. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh. 362 pp. |
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Metcalfe, C. D. 1989. Tests for predicting carcinogenicity in fish. Reviews in Aquatic Sciences 1(1):111-129. |
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Moyle, P. B. 1976a. Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 405 pp. |
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Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp. |
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Raney, E.C. and D.S. Webster. 1940. The food and growth of the young of the common bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus nebulosus (LeSueur), in Cayuga Lake, New York. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 69(1939):205-209. |
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Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. |
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Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2011. Species Summary: Ameiurus nebulosus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Oct 22, 2026).