Virginia Ictalurid Catfishes 
83 
suggests that its presence in the Roanoke is the result of single or multiple 
introductions. Because of difficulties of identification, until specimens 
are examined we still consider /. melas to be absent elsewhere on the 
Atlantic slope in Virginia. Other species recently introduced into the 
Roanoke drainage in the North Carolina part of the Dan at Belews Lake 
are Notropis lutrensis (Baird and Girard) and Pimephales promelas 
(Rafinesque) (DPC 30407-04 and 31201-02, respectively). 
The occurrence of /. melas in the New River drainage is also 
problematic. It appears to have been introduced but now possibly extir- 
pated. The only extant specimens known are four juveniles from Fries, a 
town on New River, taken in 1939 by B. Smith (USNM 109467). The 
only other record of /. melas is from Reed Creek at Wytheville based on 
unretained specimens (Wollitz 1968). Wollitz (pers. comm.) thought the 
Reed Creek specimens resulted from introduction. Ictalurus melas has 
not been taken in recent extensive New River and tributary surveys in 
Virginia, or from New River tributaries in West Virginia (Hocutt et al. 
1978, 1979). Hocutt et al. (1978) reported /. melas as stocked in Sherwood 
Lake, Greenbrier River system. West Virginia. Like other bullheads, it 
may be widely introduced in farm ponds. 
Ictalurus natalis. — The yellow bullhead is native to Virginia, occur- 
ring in all drainages except the New. The only record for the latter, from 
the Gauley River system of the lower New, West Virginia, may represent 
an introduction (Hocutt et al. 1979). 
Ictalurus nebulosus. — The brown bullhead is native to the Atlantic 
slope of Virginia; it occurs in all Atlantic slope drainages as well as being 
the only ictalurid known from the diminutive freshwater ichthyofauna of 
the southern part of the Delmarva Peninsula. Ictalurus nebulosus is 
probably introduced to the New drainage. In Virginia it is known from 
only two collections, both from tributaries entering New River below 
Claytor Lake: a juvenile (VPI 2039) was rotenoned in 1971 from East 
River just above its mouth and immediately upstream from the Virginia 
— West Virginia state line; and two juveniles were collected in 1972 from 
Meadow Creek, Montgomery County. Hocutt et al. (1979) reported 
another specimen taken in 1976 from a lower New River tributary 
system. West Virginia. It may have been stocked in farm ponds in much 
of the state, but is unknown from the Tennessee River drainage in 
Virginia. 
Ictalurus platycephalus. — The flat bullhead occurs only in the 
Roanoke drainage, including the Meherrin River branch of the Chowan 
system, in Virginia; this is the northern limit of its distribution (Yerger 
and Relyea 1968; Fig. 1). The species generally occurs in small to 
moderate-size streams draining the Piedmont, where it inhabits sluggish 
waters and is known from reservoirs. In the Roanoke drainage it extends 
into smaller streams than it is “typically” associated with elsewhere on 
the Atlantic Slope. The possible historical absence of /. brunneus in the 
