{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Madtom | image = Noturus placidus.jpg | image_caption = Neosho madtom, ''Noturus placidus'' | taxon = Noturus | authority = Rafinesque, 1818 | type_species = ''Noturus flavus'' | type_species_authority = Rafinesque, 1818 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = | synonyms = *''Schilbeodes''<br /><small>Bleeker, 1858</small> *''Pimelodon''<br /><small>Lesueur, in Vaillant, 1896</small> *''Rabida''<br /><small>Jordan & Evermann, 1896</small> }}
'''Madtoms''' are freshwater catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the genus '''''Noturus''''' of the family Ictaluridae. It is the most species-rich genus of catfish in North America,<ref name=flmuseumict>{{cite web|url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fish/catfish/ictaluridae/|title=Ichthyology: Ictaluridae, North American (or Bullhead) Catfishes|website=Florida Museum|date=24 August 2018|access-date=9 December 2024}}</ref> native to the central and eastern United States, and adjacent parts of Canada.<ref name="Burr"/> Their fin spines contain a mild venom with a sting comparable to that of a honey bee.<ref name=flmuseumict/>
Nearly half the species of madtom catfishes were described in a single comprehensive revision of the group. Morphology is very conserved in this genus; most of the species look very similar and telling them apart with the usual meristic and morphometric characters used to identify species is difficult. The more conspicuously variable attributes of these secretive fishes are features of pigmentation, which also are more difficult to quantify and often vary according to substrate and water quality.<ref name="Burr">{{cite journal|title=Two New Species of ''Noturus'' (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae) from the Tennessee River Drainage: Description, Distribution, and Conservation Status|editor1-first=J. W.|first=Brooks M.|editor1-last=Armbruster|last=Burr|author2=Eisenhour, David J. |author3=Grady, James M. |journal=Copeia|year=2005|issue=4|pages=783–802|doi=10.1643/0045-8511(2005)005[0783:TNSONS]2.0.CO;2|volume=2005}}</ref> These species have small to tiny or fragmented ranges, and aspects of pigmentation are important diagnostic characters of each.<ref name="Burr"/> Over one-quarter of the recognized species diversity in ''Noturus'' remains undescribed.<ref name="Near">{{cite journal|url=http://www.yale.edu/eeb/near/29.pdf|title=Phylogenetic Relationships of ''Noturus stanauli'' and ''N. crypticus'' (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae), Two Imperiled Freshwater Fish Species from the Southeastern United States|editor1-first=J. M.|first=Thomas J.|editor1-last=Quattro|last=Near|author2=Hardman, Michael|journal=Copeia|year=2006|issue=3|pages=378–383|doi=10.1643/0045-8511(2006)2006[378:PRONSA]2.0.CO;2|volume=2006}}</ref>
A number of madtom species are narrowly distributed and extremely rare, and thus are at great risk of extinction. ''Noturus trautmani'' was last sighted in 1957 and declared extinct in 2023.<ref name="Burr"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-16 |title=21 Species Delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to Extinction {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-10/21-species-delisted-endangered-species-act-due-extinction |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=FWS.gov |language=en}}</ref>
== Species == The 29 recognized species in this genus are:<ref>{{FishBase genus | genus = Noturus| month = December | year = 2011}}</ref> * ''Noturus albater'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (Ozark madtom) * ''Noturus baileyi'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (smoky madtom) * ''Noturus crypticus'' <small>Burr, Eisenhour & Grady, 2005</small> (chucky madtom) * ''Noturus elegans'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (elegant madtom) * ''Noturus eleutherus'' <small>D. S. Jordan, 1877</small> (mountain madtom) * ''Noturus exilis'' <small>E. W. Nelson, 1876</small> (slender madtom) * ''Noturus fasciatus'' <small>Burr, Eisenhour & Grady, 2005</small> (saddled madtom) * ''Noturus flavater'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (checkered madtom) * ''Noturus flavipinnis'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (yellowfin madtom) * ''Noturus flavus'' <small>Rafinesque, 1818</small> (stonecat) * ''Noturus funebris'' <small>C. H. Gilbert & Swain, 1891</small> (black madtom) * ''Noturus furiosus'' <small>D. S. Jordan & Meek, 1889</small> (Carolina madtom) * ''Noturus gilberti'' <small>D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1889</small> (orangefin madtom) * ''Noturus gladiator'' <small>Thomas & Burr, 2004</small> (piebald madtom) * ''Noturus gyrinus'' <small>(Mitchill, 1817)</small> (tadpole madtom) * ''Noturus hildebrandi'' <small>(R. M. Bailey & W. R. Taylor, 1950)</small> (least madtom) * ''Noturus insignis'' <small>(J. Richardson, 1836)</small> (margined madtom) * ''Noturus lachneri'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (Ouachita madtom) * ''Noturus leptacanthus'' <small>D. S. Jordan, 1877</small> (speckled madtom) * ''Noturus maydeni'' <small>Egge, 2006</small> (Black River madtom) * ''Noturus miurus'' <small>D. S. Jordan, 1877</small> (brindled madtom) * ''Noturus munitus'' <small>Suttkus & W. R. Taylor, 1965</small> (frecklebelly madtom) * ''Noturus nocturnus'' <small>D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1886</small> (freckled madtom) * ''Noturus phaeus'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (brown madtom) * ''Noturus placidus'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (Neosho madtom) * ''Noturus stanauli'' <small>Etnier & R. E. Jenkins, 1980</small> (pygmy madtom) * ''Noturus stigmosus'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (northern madtom) * ''Noturus taylori'' <small>N. H. Douglas, 1972</small> (Caddo madtom) * ''†Noturus trautmani'' <small>W. R. Taylor, 1969</small> (Scioto madtom)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Noturus}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3759463}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Noturus Category:Ictaluridae Category:Freshwater fish of the United States Category:Fish of Canada Category:Fish of the Eastern United States Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque