  In spite of the abundance and commercial importance of these two species,
there is little published weight-length data for the gafftopsail catfish (Bagre
marinus) and hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis). For this study 84 catfish were
caught (hook and line) from the Calcasieu Estuary in Southwest Louisiana near
the Gulf of Mexico and estuaries and near shore waters close to bayou
Lafourche. Using least squares regression, best fit curves were determined for
weight (W) vs. total length (L) relationships in gafftopsail catfish, W(L) =
1000(L/484.73)^3.2660, while the best-fit equation for the hardhead was W(L) =
1000(L/469.53)^3.0188, where W is the weight in grams and L is the total length
in millimeters. Results showed that, when compared to gafftopsail and hardhead
catfish caught in Florida, Louisiana gafftopsail catfish tend to weigh less at
similar lengths; whereas, the Louisiana hardhead catfish tend to weigh about
the same. Results also show that the total length (TL) can be related to the
fork length (FL) as TL = 1.184 FL in gafftopsail catfish with R^2 = 0.9922 and
TL = 1.140 FL with R^2 = 0.9667 in hardhead catfish.
