Caddo Madtom
A minute nocturnal catfish occupies clean gravel and rubble in one Arkansas river system, making intact cover and confidential locations more valuable than a forced sighting.
Artwork inspired by Donald Roller Wilson
The Caddo Madtom is a very small catfish restricted to the upper Caddo River drainage. Its mottled body, sensory barbels, and low profile suit clear flowing runs where gravel, cobble, and organic cover create daytime shelter and nocturnal feeding space.
A casual glimpse cannot securely separate this fish from other madtoms. Capture, seining, and rock turning disturb the same microhabitat needed for survival, while gland-associated pectoral spines can inflict a painful puncture. Treat the card as a lesson in endemic-stream protection, not an invitation to search an exact reach.
- Entire range
- Upper Caddo River drainage in Arkansas
- Habitat
- Clear flowing gravel and rubble runs with cover
- Observation limit
- Expert identification; no handling or rock turning
Quick guide
- Read the system
- Connect clean current, stable gravel, cover, and watershed condition
- Leave the fish hidden
- Do not seine, net, lift rocks, or publish exact locations
Understand the Caddo Madtom without dismantling its shelter
- Begin with endemism
- Trace the upper Caddo River drainage on a watershed map.
- Read habitat from the bank
- Look for clear flowing runs with stable gravel, rubble, woody cover, and connected side habitats.
- Know why a glimpse is insufficient
- Compare any tiny mottled catfish with other Ouachita madtoms only through expert characters and lawful survey methods.
- Protect information and flow
- Use a private report to Arkansas or U.S.
Good to know
Read the Caddo Madtom pectoral spine as more than a sharp ray: associated glandular tissue can make a puncture painful, reinforcing why identification belongs with permitted specialists.
Notice these
- Minute mottled catfish
- Sensory barbels
- Gland-associated pectoral spines
- Upper Caddo endemic