194 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



the ''cushawn," a corruption of the French goujon. Other 

 local names are mud-cat, flat-belly, and nigger-belly. 



This fish frequently reaches a weight of 50 to 75 pounds, 

 and is said by Dr. Evermann occasionally to weigh as much as 

 a hundred pounds. It lives and feeds on or near the bottom, 

 and fishermen at Havana say that they frequenth^ find it in 

 hollow logs. Fishes are, so far as known, its principal food. 

 Among those eaten by it we have observed a common river 

 sunfish (Lepomis), several minnows, and a bullhead. In the 

 Southern States, fresh hickory-shad is greatly valued as a live 

 bait for the mud-cat, and crawfishes and cut bait made from 

 eels are also used. This fish is caught both on set-lines and in 

 f^'ke-nets, and is often taken by jugging, the bait being attached 

 to a jug filled with air, the effect of which is finally to bring the 

 worn-out fish to the surface. It is commonly regarded as one of 

 the very best of the catfishes for food, the flesh being of a fine 

 texture and an excellent flavor. The spawning time in Illinois 

 is in May or later, according to Havana fishermen. The species 

 is found in all suitable waters throughout the Mississippi Valley, 

 and in the Gulf states, from Alabama west and south to Mexico. 

 It is most abundant in the lower courses of the larger streams, 

 and in the bayous and overflow ponds of the lower Mississippi 

 VaUey. 



Genus NOTURUS (Eafinesque) 



Form more or less elongate, the head broad and much flattened above, 

 the body behind dorsal nearly cylindrical. Skin thick and tough and ap- 

 preciably villose. Band of teeth in upper jaw with a backward prolongation 

 on each side, as in Leptops. Adipose fin adnate to the back, separated from 

 the caudal by a notch, as in Schilheodes. A poison gland present at base of 

 pectoral fin. The single species belonging to this genus is similar in ap- 

 pearance and habit to the species of Schilheodes, though it grows to a much 

 greater size and frequents large streams rather than brooks. The broad flat 

 skull of Noturus, the dentition, and the thick and villose skin, are characters 

 which ally the genus closely with Leptops. 



NOTURUS FLAVUS Eafinesque 



STONECAT 

 (Map LVII) 



Raflnesque, 1818, Amer. Month. Mag., 41. 



G., V, 104 (also platycephalus); J. & G., 100; M. V., 41; J. & E., I, 144; N., 50; J., 

 67; F., 84; L., 10. 



Body moderately elongate, broad and flattened in front of dorsal, sub- 

 cylindrical behind it, the tail compressed; depth 4 to 5 in length. Length 9 



