The Mud Cat 



oblong, subtruncaU-. with numerous accessory rays, recurrent 

 above and behind; pectoral with a broad, compressed spine, 

 serrated on both margins, and with a prolonged fleshy integu- 

 ment, obliquely striated. Only one species known. 



Mud Cat; Goujon 

 Lcptops olii'aris (Rafinesque) 



Body slender, depressed anteriorly; the head very flat, the 

 lower jaw projecting; barbels short; dorsal spine very weak, 

 half the length of the fin; caudal slightly emarginate; anal short, 

 of 12 to 15 rays; humeral process short. Colour, yellowish, more 

 or less mottled with brown and greenish; paler below. 



The goujon is a large, coarse fish, said to reach a length of 5 

 feet, and a weight of 100 pounds. A ripe female examined by us at 

 Morgan City, Louisiana, was 41 inches long and weighed 46 pounds. 

 This fish dressed 27 pounds. Another, 38 inches long, weighed 37 

 pounds, and still another 57 inches long weighed 36 V pounds. 



This species is found in all suitable waters throughout the 

 Mississippi Valley and in the Gulf States from Alabama west and 

 south to Chihuahua. It is a fish of the lowlands, and is most 

 abundant in the lower courses of the large streams and in the bayous 

 and overflow ponds of the lower Mississippi Valley. It is perhaps 

 most plentiful in the lowlands of Arkansas, West Tennessee and 

 Louisiana. In the Atchafalaya River it is, next to the blue cat, the 

 most important food fish. It is caught in the same ways during the 

 same seasons, and is dressed and marketed in the same manner. Its 

 flesh is of fine texture and of exellent flavour, and there is no really 

 tM'od reason for the prejudice against it which obtains in many 

 localities. The fact that it is a lame, rather repulsive looking fish, not 



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