202 NEW- YORK FAUNA. 



be full of worms. The dusky longitudinal lines, which are distinctly visible in the newly 

 captured fish, disappear almost immediately after death. It is a very beautiful and distinct 

 species. 



THE BLACK SUCKER. 



Catostomus nigricans. 



Catostomus nigricans. Lesueur, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Vol. 1, p. 102. 

 C. nigricans, The Black Sucker. Stoker, Massachusetts Report, p. 86. 



Characteristics. General hue approaching to black. Head large, quadrangular. Anal fin 

 straight; its extremity reaching the base of the caudal fin. Length 13 

 inches. 



Description. Body subquadrangular near the head. Tail straight, short. Eyes oblong. 

 Scales moderate, roundish. The lateral line runs in a straight course from the branchial 

 aperture, below the range of the eye, to the tail. Dorsal fin quadrangular and small. Anal 

 fin with its third and fourth rays longest, reaching on to the caudal fin. Caudal fin forked, 

 with pointed lobes. 



Color, of the back, blackish ; sides and abdomen reddish yellow, with dusky blotches ; 

 beneath white. Pectoral, abdominal and anal fins reddish ; caudal and dorsal fins dashed with 

 black. 



Length, 13-0- 20-0. 



Fin rays, D. 13 ; P. 18 ; V. 9 ; A. 8 ; C. 18. 



This species is common in Lake Erie, where it is frequently called by the whimsical name 

 of Shoemaker, probably in allusion to its being something of the color of shoemaker's pitch. 

 Dr. Storer has observed it at Walpole (Mass.) 



THE LARGE-SCALED SUCKER. 



Catostomus macrolepidotus. 

 PLATE. 

 C. macrolepidotus. Lesueur, Joum. Acad. Nat. Sc. Vol. 1, p. 94. 



Characteristics. Bluish above ; sides whitish. Dorsal fin short ; the anterior lobe elevated 

 and pointed ; the posterior lobe rounded. Scales large. 



Description. Body compressed and fusiform, elevated on its anterior part, rounded near the 

 nape. Head somewhat declivous, longer than deep. Scales large, and disposed in a lozenge 

 form. The lateral line rises at the nape of the neck, descends along the gill-cover, and thence 

 to the tail in a line with the centre of the eye. Dorsal fin short. Pectorals and ventrals small. 



