Ameiurus
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Ameiurus Temporal range: Oligocene - recent |
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| Ameiurus nebulosus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Ictaluridae |
| Genus: |
Ameiurus Rafinesque, 1820 |
| Synonyms | |
Amiurus Agassiz, 1846
Gronias Cope, 1864
Ameiurus is a genus of catfishes in the family Ictaluridae. It contains the three common types of bullhead catfish found in waters of the United States, the black bullhead (Ameiurus melas), the brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), and the yellow bullhead (Ameiurus natalis), as well as other species, such as the white catfish (Ameiurus catus or Ictalurus catus), which are not typically called "bullheads".
The species known as bullheads can be distinguished from channel catfish and blue catfish by their squared tailfins, rather than forked.
Ameiurus is recognized as monophyletic, meaning it forms a natural group. It is mostly closely related to the clade formed by Noturus, Prietella, Satan, and Pylodictis genera.
There is a sister group relationship between the species A. melas and A. nebulosus.
There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:
There are currently eight recognized fossil species in this genus: The oldest, A. pectinatus, gives a minimum age estimate for the genus at approximately 30 million years, during the Oligocene.
Living species of Ameiurus catfishes are natively distributed east of the North American continental divide, from their westernmost point in central Montana, south to Texas, in streams of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast, north to New Brunswick and Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
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