272 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



young, which follow the parent fish in great schools. Dr. Theodore Gill has 

 reviewed in Forest and Stream the subject of the Catfishes' care of their young. 



This is a valued food species, though not a choice fish. In Lake Erie, according 

 to a Review of the Fisheries of the Great Lakes, published by the U. S. Fish 

 Commission, the Catfish rank next to Whitefish in number of pounds taken. 



In Lake Erie Catfish are taken chiefly by means of set lines, and the fishing is 

 best during the months of June, July, and August. The method of fishing is thus 

 described in the Review just referred to: "The apparatus consists of from 200 to 

 400 hooks attached by short lines to a main line, which is from 5 to 27 fathoms long, 

 according to place in which set, and is held in place by poles or stakes pushed into 

 the mud. The lines are usually set in the lake, but occasionally short ones are 

 fished in the bayous and marshes. Catfish are taken with a bait of herring, Coregonits 

 artcdi, or grasshoppers, and are mostly used in the families of the fishermen and 

 their neighbors or sold to peddlers. * * * The size of the Catfish ranges from 

 5 to 25 pounds, averaging 8 or 10 pounds." In some parts of Lake Erie the set line 

 fishery for Catfish begins April 15. Some of these lines have as many as 2,000 hooks. 

 The pound nets also take a good many Catfish in the spring and fall. In Toledo 

 these fish bring 4^ cents a pound. Erie receives its supply of Catfish from fisher- 

 men who operate in the lake from Erie to Elk Creek with set lines during the 

 summer months. DeKay had the species from Buffalo, where he saw specimens 

 weighing from 25 to 30 pounds, and heard of individuals weighing 80 pounds. He 

 states that it is usually captured by the spear. 



12. Yellow Cat (Ameiurus natalis LeSueur). 



Pimelodus cupreus DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 187, 1842 (Name only). 

 Ameiurus natalis JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., I, 139, 1896. 



The Yellow Cat, or Chubby Cat, is found from the Great Lakes to Virginia and 

 Texas. It has many varieties, three of which are mentioned by Prof. Cope as 

 occurring in Pennsylvania, two of them in the Ohio River and its tributaries and the 

 third in Lake Erie. The species is not credited to the region east of the Alle- 

 ghanies. Dr. Meek saw only a single specimen from Cayuga Lake. 



The length of the Yellow Cat sometimes reaches 2 feet, but averages much less. 



Nothing special is recorded about the habits of this species. It is most abundant 

 in sluggish streams. 



