CATFISH FAMILY (Ictaluridae) 



Brown Bullhead 



Ictalurus nebulosus (LeSueur) 



The brown bullhead, or hompout as it is frequently called in 

 Maine, is distributed throughout New England southward in the Atlantic 

 drainage to Virginia and westward to North Dakota. These fish are 

 commonly found in weedy waters of lakes and sluggish streams. Young 

 and adults are chiefly nocturnal, increasing their activity with the ap- 

 proach of darkness. 



Brown bullheads usually spawn in late spring or early summer in 

 May or June although occasional ripe females may be taken later. Nests 

 are usually located near some shelter over a sandy bottom in shallow 

 water one-half to two feet deep. The adhesive eggs are cream colored 

 and laid in masses resembling those of the frog. Average incubation pe- 

 riod is between 3 and 5 days depending on water temperature. One or 

 both parents remain to guard the eggs and young. Adults ward off in- 

 truders and some observers report that the eggs are sucked into the 

 mouth of the parent and blown out again into the nest. It is presumed 

 that this serves to aerate as well as clean the eggs. Parent fish remain 

 with the school of young bullheads until the young fish are one to two 

 inches in length. Young bullheads will be found together throughout 

 the first summer in the relatively shallow waters sheltered among the 

 aquatic vegetation. 



Bullheads are omnivorous feeders eating many kinds of plant and 

 animal material. Stomachs examined from 44 bullheads taken from 

 Maine waters contained mostly algae and other plant remains, fish, and 

 aquatic insects. Fifty-one percent of 143 bullheads examined during the 

 spawning period of lake trout in one lake contained lake trout eggs in 

 their stomachs. 



Bullheads over 18 inches are rarely taken in Maine. 



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