Noturus exilis
Slender Madtom
NS
G5
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Siluriformes (Catfishes)
Ictaluridae (North American Catfishes)
Noturus
Noturus exilis (Slender Madtom)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated.
Distribution
North America: Green, Cumberland and Tennessee River drainages in central Kentucky to northern Alabama, USA; upper Mississippi River basin from southern Wisconsin and southern Minnesota to Ozark and Ouachita Highlands of Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma in USA.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. demersal.
Biology
Inhabits rocky riffles, runs, and flowing pools of clear creeks and small rivers. Rarely found in springs and along wave-swept margins of large impoundments (Ref. 5723, 10294). Feeds on aquatic insect immatures (midges, mayflies, caddisflies) and small crustacea (isopods, amphipods, copepods) (Ref. 10294).
Max length: 15.0 cm TL; common length: 10.1 cm TL; max age: 4 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-03-01. Resilience: Medium (tmax=4).
References
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
Etnier, D.A. and W.C. Starnes (1993) The fishes of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. (pls. check date).
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