---
title: "Blue Catfish"
description: "Ictalurus furcatus — Peixes. The blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of 65 in (170 cm) and a weight of 143 lb (65 kg)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/blue-catfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Blue Catfish

> Ictalurus furcatus — Peixes. The blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of 65 in (170 cm) and a weight of 143 lb (65 kg).

- Scientific name: *Ictalurus furcatus*
- Category: `fish` (Peixes)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lagos e rios)
- iNaturalist observations: 2436
- Wikidata: [Q882644](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q882644)
- iNaturalist taxon: [103276](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/103276)

## Names

- en: Blue Catfish
- de: Blauer Katzenwels
- es: Bagre azul
- fr: Poisson-chat bleu
- pl: Sumik błękitny

## Countries with the most observations

US (2057), MX (11)

## Summary

The blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of 65 in (170 cm) and a weight of 143 lb (65 kg). The continent's largest catfish, it can live to 20 years, with a typical fish being between 25–46 in (64–117 cm) and 30–70 lb (14–32 kg). Native distribution is primarily in the Mississippi River and Louisiana drainage systems, including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas Rivers, the Des Moines River in south-central Iowa, the Rio Grande, and south along the Gulf Coast to Belize and Guatemala.
An omnivorous predator, it has been introduced in a number of reservoirs…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_catfish

## Photo

![Blue Catfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/blue-catfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: pynklynx · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/26647056

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/blue-catfish?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).