Habitat suitability index models: Channel catfish

The native range of channel catfish (Ictalurus Runctatus) extends from the southern portions of the Canadian prairie provinces south to the Gulf states, west to the Rocky Mountains, and east to the Appalachian Mountains (Trautman 1957; Miller 1966; Scott and Crossman 1973). They have been widely introduced outside this range and occur in essentially all of the Pacific and Atlantic drainages in the 48 contiguous states (Moore 1968; Scott and Crossman 1973). The greatest abundance of channel catfish generally occurs in the open (unleveed) floodplains of the Mississippi and Missouri River drainages (Walden 1964).