Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several small freshwater North American catfishes of the genus Noturus, having poison glands at the base of the pectoral and dorsal fin spines.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[mad + tom(cat) (probably so called because the fish swim in an excited zigzag manner when agitated).]
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Examples
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I once caught a slender madtom that was almost 5 inces long.
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I once caught a slender madtom that was almost 5 inces long.
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Other threatened fish species include smoky madtom Noturus baileyi, yellow-fin madtom N. flavipinnis (V) and spotfin chub Hybopsis nonacha, which are currently being reintroduced into the park.
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The banded sculpin and slender madtom occur in small streams, especially where aquatic macrophytes are present, and the southern redbelly dace inhabits headwaters.
hernesheir commented on the word madtom
A common name for a kind of ictalurid catfish.
June 27, 2010