This catfish appears to be a freshwater catfish because of its bulk. It is most likely
to be the white catfish, Ictalurus catus, in the family Ictaluridae. This fish lives in the
river drainages of the US Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico from the Hudson
River, New York, to Pascagoula River, Mississippi. Since Mark Catesby painted this
fish it has been introduced to other North American river systems. The largest was
caught in California and weighed 17 pounds. The white catfish has a longer based
anal fin than the one illustrated.

There are two species of catfish that live in the sea in the region covered by Mark
Catesby. The hardhead catfish, Arius felis, family Ariidae, has similar fin
arrangements to the fish illustrated but it is never as bulky, it is darker, and the
barbels on the corner of the mouth are shorter than its head length. It grows to a
length of 2 feet and reaches a maximum weight of 12 lbs.

(Fish notes by Richard Lord, Guernsey)