Catfish industry is a major contributor to the economic sustainability of the southern United States. Viral diseases are a major concern in the hatchery and nursery phases of catfish rearing. The associated fish mortalities can affect availability of catfish fry and fingerlings impacting the viability of farm operations. Since treatment options are limited in the case of several viral diseases, early disease diagnosis and prophylactic measures are key to successful fish health management. For the emergent, emerging, and any uncharacterized fish viruses, the pathogenicity, potential host range, and viral inhibition methods need to be studied. The ability to propagate fish viruses in vitro using cell cultures is imperative in advancing virus research and to facilitate pathogen-targeted management strategies including vaccines and antiviral agents. Though cell lines are a very relevant research tool in virology, cell lines originated from ictalurid catfish are limited. The ictalurid cell line (channel catfish ovary (CCO - ATCC® CRL-2772)) previously available from ATCC cell repository has recently been reported as cross-contaminated by brown bullhead (BB) cells. Lack of host-specific cell lines and contamination issues necessitated initiation of cell cultures from the fin tissues of hybrid catfish (? channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus x ? blue catfish, I. furcatus). A combination approach involving tissue explantation and enzymatic digestion methods were employed to develop the hybrid catfish fin (HCF) cell line. The fin cell cultures were passaged over 100 times and transitioned into an established cell line (Figure 1). The HCF cell line has been characterized, maintenance conditions optimized, species of origin molecularly authenticated, and its susceptibility to fish viruses evaluated. Susceptibility of HCF cell line to catfish viruses demonstrated the potential of these cells to propagate ictalurid viruses. This established ictalurid catfish cell line could serve as an efficient tool for virus studies, antiviral agent screening, and vaccine development benefitting catfish aquaculture.