Virginia Ictalurid Catfishes 
81 
been transferred from the Yadkin system of the Peedee, where both I. 
brunneus and 1. melas occur. Although I. brunneus is not known from the 
lake (D. Cloutman, pers comm.) it occurs in the immediate area, and the 
/. melas stocking may have included the superficially similar /. brunneus. 
Belews Creek was impounded in 1970 and the lake reached full pool in 
1973 (Harrell et al. 1973). If /. brunneus dispersed from the Belews Lake 
area, its mobility would have been similar to that of introduced Pylodictis 
olivaris now spreading in the Cape Fear drainage (M. Corcoran, pers. 
comm.). However, the Belews Lake area may not have been the point of 
origin; possibly more than one stocking occurred. 
Ictalurus catus. — White catfish are native to the major Atlantic slope 
drainages of Virginia, occurring widely in Piedmont and Coastal Plain 
parts of large streams and reservoirs. Jordan (1889) reported it from 
Maury (North) River and elsewhere in the upper James drainage in the 
Ridge and Valley. It also has been taken in South Fork Shenandoah 
River (Potomac drainage) in the Ridge and Valley. Clay (1975) noted 
that I. catus introduced to Kentucky were from the James River. 
Ictalurus furcatus. — The presence in Virginia of the blue catfish, a 
primarily Mississippi basin and Gulf slope species, has been widely 
reported, but the species has only recently been verifed as introduced. It 
was stocked in lower Rappahannock (1975 and 1977) and James (1977) 
rivers by the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries (L. 
Hart, pers. comm.). Juvenile specimens from these stockings have since 
been collected by Virginia Institute of Marine Science personnel (J. 
Gourley, pers. comm.; VIMS specimens examined by us). It is not known 
whether the species is reproducing. Ictalurus furcatus is unknown from 
the Potomac, York, New, Roanoke and Tennessee (in Virginia) River 
drainages. Records from the Potomac and New River drainages are dis- 
cussed in detail. 
Ictalurus furcatus may have been introduced into the Potomac River 
near Washington, D.C., between 1898 and 1905. The old U.S. Fish Com- 
mission rearing and holding ponds in that area were an early active center 
of fish dispersal. It was not recorded by Smith and Bean (1898), but was 
reported as introduced (probably with /. punctatus) based on 1905 
records by Bean and Weed (1911), and by McAtee and Weed (1915) 
based on two specimens collected in 1912. We located an adult /. 
punctatus (USNM 70281) previously misidentified as /. furcatus, 
apparently one of the specimens on which McAtee and Weed (1915) 
based their record. Radcliffe and Welsh (1916) reported I. furcatus from 
the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, along the Potomac River, Maryland. 
The single specimen was reportedly sent to Washington, but it was not 
found by us at the USNM. It is unknown whether /. furcatus was in- 
troduced and failed to establish, or if all records are actually of /. 
punctatus. Elser (1950) and Manville (1968) based their records of I. fur- 
catus on these early reports. A second body of literature (Wiley 1970; 
