Channel Catfish
Channel catfish, which look like the blue catfish, have rounded anal fins with at least 24-29 rays, forked tails, and black spots that trail along their sides and back. Their bellies are white and their backs are light blue to silvery gray. However, some channels when they get larger lost their black spots and take on a blue-black color. Males especially tend to do thiswhen they are spawning.
Though there are no recorded sub-species there are known, yet rare, times when channel catfish hybridize with the blue and flathead catfish. You can find the channel catfish can be found in big rivers and streams throughout the state of Florida, except in the Florida Keys. They tend to prefer current and deep water with sand, gravel, and rubble bottoms.
These peculiar fish tend to feed at night by using their taste buds in the sensitive barbels and throughout the skin, which they use to locate their prey. They feed off of aquatic insects, crayfish, mollusks, and crustaceans. The larger channel catfish may acctually consume other fish.
More often then none they spawn in rivers and streams in the spring and early in the summer when the water is 70-85 degrees. Yet, there are some that will spawn in larger lakes when their habitat is available to them. They spawn by dropping their eggs in nests that are secluded underneath banks and logs. The male is the one who chooses the location and gaurds the egg and young, while the female will lay 2,000 to 21,000 eggs. These eggs will then hatch 6-10 days after they have been laid, depending on the water temperature.
The largest channel catfish that has been found in Florida was around 45lb. It is more normal for these fish to weigh only 2-4lbs. They usually only live for about 14 years, but sometimes they can live up to 20.