Bullheads tolerate pollution and common fish toxicants better then other fish. All it needs is wet grass. They're one step above rocks. Bullheads of all three species spawn in late spring and summer, nesting in shallow depressions in sand or mud bottoms. Soon after the eggs hatch, hundreds to thousands of black young swarm near the surface as the parents patrol the margins of the school against predators.
Bullheads are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates and vegetation and some small fish.
Bullheads of all species are important prey for walleyes and largemouth bass. The yellow bullhead is distinguished from other bullhead species by its whitish lower barbels, long anal fin, and rounded tail. It has 24 to 27 anal fin rays, including rudimentaries. It occasionally exceeds 2 pounds. The yellow bullhead lives in many clear, relatively deep, weedy bass-panfish lakes and ponds in central and southern Minnesota.