Hello Catfishers,

I was grubbing around in the Neches River in east Texas yesterday, and picked up a rotten chunk of wood and threw it out of the water. This little fellow flopped out onto the ground, and my daughter picked him up. I know the pic is poor, but after fighting the autofocus for 30 minutes, and with no photo tank set up, this was the best I could do. I'm ignorant about Madtoms, but I'm pretty sure this IS one... While browsing pics on the net, I find some that are darker with fewer spots (N. gyrinus), and some that are lighter with more spots (N. nocturnus), but I'm not really sure where this one fits. Can one of you experts ID it from the sorry photo? Many thanks,


Don

I would say Noturus nocturnus. That fish looks too slender and elongated to be N. gyrinus. Also, the freckling pattern throughout the body and especially on the fins hints at N. nocturnus as well. Cool find!

Blake

I would say Noturus nocturnus. That fish looks too slender and elongated to be N. gyrinus. Also, the freckling pattern throughout the body and especially on the fins hints at N. nocturnus as well. Cool find!

Blake

Thanks Blake. I thought his head looked flatter than most of the N. gyrinus pics. In fact I thought it was going to be a baby Flathead when I first saw him, albeit a really elongated one. I guess I'll see if he can survive in the tank with the bluegills.

Cheers,



Don

Looks like N. nocturnus to me, too. Look at the mouth; on N. gyrinus it will be terminal, and on N. nocturnus it will be subterminal, or as I usually say, underslung (while I make a weird hand motion).

That's a nice catch. The Neches basin is a blast to catch fish in. Head to the Sabine for even more fun.

Edited by rjmtx, 10 September 2009 - 12:29 AM.

Thanks RJM. I have a buddy who has been chasing Madtoms, but hasn't found N. nocturnus yet, so I wasn't too sure that I had, either. It's a very cool fish, though. I'll hit the Sabine one of these days, it's definitely on my list, but since I spend most of my time between the Trinity and the Neches, it's kind of hard to break loose and drive the extra hour. Looks like there's going to be lots of water in the Trinity the next few days, and it's almost time for the secondary gar spawn, so...things should get interesting!

Cheers,



Don