FAMILY SIRENUXE. 87 



THE BANDED PROTEUS. 



Menobranchus lateralis. 



plate xviii. fiu. 45. — (state collection.) 



Triton lateralis. Say, Long's Expedition, Vol. 1 , p. 5. 



Proteus of the Lakes. Mitchill, Sill. Jour. Sc. Vol. 4, p. 181 ; and Vol. 7, p. 62, pi. 2. 



Menobranchus lateralis. Harlan, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. Vol. 1, p. 233, pi. 16; Med. and Phys. Res. p. 89 and 165. 



Covier, Regne Animal, Griffith's translat. Vol. 9, p. 412 and 475, pi. copied. 

 Proteus lateralis. Barnes, Am. Joum. Sc. Vol. 11, p. 285. 

 P. maculatus. Id. lb. Vol. 13, p. 68. 

 M. lateralis. Holbrook, N. Am. Herpetology, Vol. 3, p. 119, pi. 30. 



Characteristics. Brownish, with blackish spots ; often a dark lateral line. Length one to 

 two feet. 



Description. Body robust, cylindrical, smooth. Head broad, depressed and attenuated in 

 front, where it is truncate and slightly emarginate. Eyes small. Nostrils very minute, and 

 placed in the margin of the upper lip. Jaws covered with loose fleshy lips. Teeth minute, 

 conic, obtuse and separated ; two series in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. Tongue 

 broad, and free near the tip. Gills, three on each side, ramified and fringed, with two 

 branchial apertures. Throat with a fold of skin beneath. Anterior extremities slender, 

 placed near the gills, and with four clawless toes. Hind legs similar, and with four similar 

 toes. Vent a longitudinal fissure. Tail robust, compressed, lanceolate, ancipital. 



Color, of the body and tail dull brownish, spotted with black or blackish brown ; on the 

 back these are rounded, but on the sides of the body and tail become indistinct brownish 

 blotches. Beneath lighter. Frequently a dark stripe from the nostrils through the eyes, and 

 becoming effaced behind. Gills blood-red. 



Length, 12' - 24 '0. 



This curious and interesting aquatic animal is common in the northern and western parts 

 of the State. It is found in Lake Champlain, and is particularly abundant at the falls of 

 Onion river and at the outlet of Lake George. It inhabits Lake Erie, Seneca and the other 

 lakes in the western districts of New-York. It has been found in the Erie canal, and will 

 doubtless ere long be found to have reached the Hudson river. It occurs in all the streams 

 in Ohio emptying into Lake Erie, and sometimes in the tributaries of the Ohio. Their 

 movements in the water are usually slow ; but from their broad and powerful tail, they must 

 occasionally move with great celerity. They are said to come occasionally on land. It is 

 often taken with the hook, and frequently speared. 



The Menobranchus, or Big Water-lizard as it is occasionally called in this State, feeds 

 on fluviatile shells, Crustacea, and the smaller fishes. Its flesh is white, and doubtless very 

 savory, but is never eaten by the ignorant fishermen, who regard them with great disgust and 

 detestation. A closely allied animal, the Axolotl of Mexico (Siredon pisciformis), is consi- 

 dered a great delicacy ; and indeed almost the whole class of reptiles and amphibia furnishes 

 a delicate and savory food. 



