270 SEVENTH REPORT OK THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



A single small example of this sturgeon was brought to the New York Aquarium 

 from Gravesend Bay, May 13, 1896, and was alive and in good condition in 

 November, 1898. 



Dr. Smith records the occurrence of the species along with the common sturgeon 

 at Woods Hole, Mass., but says it is less numerous. It is captured in the traps. 



10. Channel Cat (Ittalurus pnnctatits Rafinesque). 



Icialiiriis puiictatiis Jordan, Bull. Buffalo See. Nat. Hist., 95, 1876 ; Jordan & Gilbert, 

 Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus., 108. 1883 ; Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mas., I, 134, 1896, J)]. XXV, fig. 58, 1900. 



This species is variously styled the Channel Cat, White Cat, Silver Cat, Blue 

 Cat and Spotted Cat. It is found over a vast extent of country, including the 



CHANNKI, C.Al. 



Mississippi and Ohio Valleys and the Great Lakes region. In the Eastern States 

 it is absent from streams tributary to the Atlantic, but occurs from Vermont south 

 to Georgia, westward to Montana, and southwestward to Mexico. In Pennsylvania 

 it is limited to the Ohio and its affluents. 



The adults of this species are bluish silvery, and the young are spotted with 

 olive. It is one of the handsomest of the famil\- of catfishes and an excellent 

 food fish. The .Spotted Cat grows to a length of 3 feet and a weight of 25 pounds. 

 It is extremely variable in color and in number of fin rays, and has consequently 

 been described under more than 20 different names. It is most abundant in large 

 clear streams. The species is less hardy than most of the other catfishes. 



