182 NEW- YORK FAUNA. 



black. All beneath bluish white, varied with darker. Base of the ventrals and pectorals 

 whitish. Pupil black ; irides varied with blackish and golden. 



Fin rays, D. 1.6.0; P. 1.9; V. 1.8; A. 26; C. 17 §. 



A specimen twenty-eight inches long, offered the following dimensions : 



Girth over the opercles, 14 "0 Length of the two lower outer pair, 3" 5 



— behind the pectorals, . . 12" — of the pectorals, 3"0 



— around the tail, 4 - — of the ventrals, 2 ' 5 



Length of the upper cirri, .. 1'3 — of the dorsal, , 3"0 



— of the buccal cirri, . . 6 " — of the adipose fin, l'O 



Distance between the tips of the caudal fin, 6"0 



This Lake Cat-fish was taken at Buffalo, and weighed eight pounds. I have seen them 

 weighing from twenty-five to thirty pounds, and have heard of others which reached the weight 

 of eighty pounds. It is held in very little estimation as an article of food, I should judge, 

 from the prices asked for them in the towns along the lake. I have seen them weighing ten 

 or twelve pounds, offered for six cents apiece. Like all its congeners, it prefers muddy bot- 

 toms. It is usually captured by the spear. 



THE COMMON CATFISH. 



PlMELODUS CATUS. 



PLATE XXXVII. FIG. 119. —(ST ATE COLLECTION.) 



Silurus catus, Linneus, Syst. Nat. 



Common Fresh-water Cat-fish, S. catus. Mitchill, Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y. Vol. 1, p. 433. 



Pimelodus nebulosus. Lesueur, Mem. du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 5, p. 149. 



Tlie Horned Pout. Stoeer, Massachusetts Report, p. 102. 



Le Pimelode nihuleux, et Chat. Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. Vol. 15, p. 124 and 132. 



Characteristics. Dusky, becoming darker on the back and upper part of the head. Two 

 concealed spines near the base of the pectoral. Caudal nearly even, 

 rounded. Length six to ten inches. 



Description. Body elongate, depressed before the anterior dorsal, compressed behind. 

 Head flattened, smooth, declivous. The anterior nostril near the edge of the upper lip ; the 

 posterior nearly equidistant between the snout and the eye, with a short erect barbel on 

 its anterior margin, and partially concealing it ; these barbels, when extended backwards, 

 pass a short distance beyond the eyes. Depending from the upper jaw are two thick fleshy 

 barbels, which reach to the middle of the pectorals. Four filaments are placed under the 

 lower jaw ; the exterior, on each side, reach beyond the branchial aperture beneath ; the two 

 interior shorter. Body smooth, scaleless. The lateral line nearly straight, occasionally ob- 

 scure. Eyes small, a short distance behind the angle of the mouth. Branchial aperture 



