Hey Ken,
I have never heard of white catfish. Can you provide any details? They sound perfect!
Bill,
Here are two good links that describe them well:
Maryland Fish Facts - White Catfish Here is another good description:
Virginia Tech University White Catfish Virtual Aquarium They can be a little difficult to find from fish dealers. I got mine accidentally from a local fish farm in a batch of channel cats.
A few years later I thought my channel cats were reproducing in my pond. I put up a picture of a fish that I knew was too small to have been stocked. Travis (CJBS) identified it as a white catfish.
I continue to catch them. They reproduce in my pond, but they have never become a problem. I've added several to one of my other ponds.
I really like the white catfish. They are actually "bullheads" but they generally don't over populate. They don't become overgrown pests like channel cats -- and bigger cats like blues and flatheads. They get to a perfect size of 2-3 lbs., and don't seem to become hook shy like channel cats.
They are a little difficult to distinguish when compared to channel cats. As adults in the 18-24 inch range, the white catfish have larger heads compared to channel cats. The white catfish tail is not quite as forked as on a channel catfish. The picture below is pretty good, but in real life, it is really difficult to casually distinguish the difference between an 18 inch white catfish from an 18 inch channel cat.
The best way to determine the difference is by counting the number of rays in the anal fin. White catfish have 19-23 rays in their anal fin. Channel catfish have 24-30 rays in their anal fin. The white catfish have more white whiskers than channel cats, but at least to my eyes, that really becomes subjective unless you have the two types side by side.
