180 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



behind. Ventrals less than the pectorals ; the adipose dorsal small ; the upper lobe of the 

 caudal is one-fourth longer than the lower. Five branchial rays. 



Color. Brownish steel-blue, verging to blackish above ; silvery beneath. Adipose dorsal 

 blackish ; the others grey or brownish. Liver yellow, of two lobes, subdivided into many 

 smaller ones. Gall bladder small. Stomach elongated, cylindrical. Kidneys thick, and of 

 moderate length. Air-bladder pointed behind, and supplied with thick muscles. 



Fin rays, D. 1.7; P. 1.10; V. 6; A. 17; C. 15. 



I am acquainted with this species only through the work of Messrs. Cuvier and Valencien- 

 nes, from which I have adopted the description. Numerous specimens were sent to Cuvier 

 from New-York by Milbert, and from Charleston, S. C, by Dr. Holbrook. I am induced to 

 conjecture, although it is not mentioned by Cuvier, that this species is found in salt water. 



GENUS PIMELODUS. Cuvier. 



Palate smooth, and without teeth. Barbels varying from six to eight. Casque occasionally 

 present. 



Obs. This genus, now more circumscribed than in the last edition of the Regne Animal, 

 comprises forty-three species. Of these, ten are described from North America ; but the 

 actual number will probably be found much greater, when the species shall have been care- 

 fully examined. All the North American species hitherto known, have the casque continuous 

 with the buckler, and are furnished with eight barbels. 



THE GREAT LAKE CATFISH. 



PlMELODUS NIGRICANS. 



PLATE L1I. FIG. 170. — (STATE COLLECTION.) 



Le Pimelode noirdtre. Lesueuk, Memoires du Museum, Vol. 5, p. 153, pi. 16. 



The Black Pimelode, P. nigrescens ? Richardson, Northern Zoology, Fishes, Vol. 3, p. 134. 



Le Pimelode noirdtre. Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. Vol. 15, p. 133. 



Characteristics. Large. Deep olive brown. Caudal forked. Anal fin with twenty-five or 

 twenty-six rays. Two to four feet. 



Description. Head broad and rounded. Skin smooth, glossy, scaleless, with very faint 

 traces of a straight lateral line. In the larger specimens, a somewhat remarkable depression 

 on the nape anterior to the dorsal. Eyes small. Orbits 0'7 in diameter, and 4'0 apart. 

 Barbels eight ; two at the anterior margin of the posterior nostrils, on the upper part of the 

 head, small, erectile, tapering to a fine point, and exceeding an inch in length. Posterior 

 nostrils oblong slits, equidistant between the orbits and the central part of the snout, and rather 

 more than that distance apart. The anterior nostrils smallest, placed in a cavity with a 



