Trends and distribution of hardhead catfish in Texas estuaries—shifting relative abundance of a highly ubiquitous generalist predator

Hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis) are one of two Ariidae catfishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico and are one of the most common fishes found in the coastal waters in this region. As a generalist consumer with a unique reproductive life history and limited information on long-term population dynamics in the Western Gulf of Mexico, the objectives of this study were to assess trends in Texas estuaries using long-term fishery independent and dependent data sets and to conduct habitat suitability analyses in these same estuaries for both young-of-the-year and adult hardhead catfish. Some estuaries have experienced decreasing trends in catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of adult hardhead catfish beginning in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, and widespread decreasing trends in adult mean length were additionally observed for central and lower coast estuaries. Compared to the CPUE of finfish in the larger community, adult hardhead catfish largely exhibited decreasing trends in their relative contribution (expressed as percentage of CPUE) across most Texas estuaries. When combined with the larger Ariidae species grouping, and compared to the relative contribution of common Sciaenids, it was generally observed that the contributions of these two species groupings were converging for many estuaries. This was primarily characterized by increasing Ariidae trends. Given the trophic role of Ariidae catfishes, they clearly have the potential to exert major trophic influence on estuarine food webs. Our study highlights the value of long-term monitoring and the study of non-gamefish species in the larger assessment of community change across time.