Range Extension of Spotted Bullhead, Ameiurus serracanthus, Family Ictaluridae, in Peninsular Florida

Jennifer Moran^1,*, Travis Tuten², Chris Anderson², Kirk Dunn¹,Jason O’Connor², John Saxton¹, Chelsea Buescher¹, Kyle Miller¹, Eric Nagid², Lyzeveli Ortiz², Lynn Simonton², and Kym Rouse Holzwart³

¹Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 585 Prineville Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33954. ²Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Gainesville Freshwater Fisheries Office, 7386 NW 71st St, Gainesville, FL 32653.³Southwest Florida Water Management District, 2379 Broad Street, Brooksville, FL 34604. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist,Volume 20, Issue 3 (2021): N92–N97

Abstract
We report new occurrences of the catfish Ameiurus serracanthus (Spotted Bullhead) in the Withlacoochee River drainage, a tributary of the Gulf of Mexico, in Citrus County, FL. Spotted Bullhead in Florida were previously known to occur as far south as the Suwannee River drainage. We collected 12 specimens downstream from the Inglis Lock and Dam on the Withlacoochee River, which indicates an increase in the southern extent of the species’ known range and its occurrence in a new river drainage. Further sampling and genetic analysis are needed to determine if this population is genetically isolated from populations in the Suwannee River and other drainages in its range.

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