96 



BRANCH VERTEBRATA. 



Europe, sometimes attains the weight of three hundred 

 pounds. As indicated by its name, it hides itself on 

 muddy bottoms, and is warned of the approach of its 

 prey by means of, its barbels. Its voracity may well give 

 it the name of the "shark of fresh waters." 



ORDER NEMATOGNATHI (nem a to na'thl). 



The Cat-fish, or Horned Pout, has a naked skin, and 

 the mouth surrounded by eight barbels. The dorsal and 

 pectoral fins are each armed with a sharp spine, produc- 

 ing painful wounds, either from a poison-gland at their 



FIG. 104. 



Ami Writs neb ft. lo' sue. Cat-fish, or Horned Pout. (|.) 



base, or from the insertion into the wound of a slime 

 with which their bodies are always covered. Of the 

 twenty-five well-known species, the largest is the great 

 Mississippi Cat-fish, which often exceeds the weight of 

 one hundred pounds. In the spring, the adults are said 

 to lead the young in great schools near the shore, caring 

 for them after the manner of a hen caring for her chick- 

 ens. The great tenacity of life on removal from water 

 of all the different species is almost exceptional among 

 fresh-water species. 



