450 TEXTBOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



Family Muraenidae. — Moray eels. In this type there is an absence 

 of pectoral, as well as pelvic, fins. The skin is thick, leathery, and 

 scaleless. 



Suborder Eventognathi. — Suckers, Carp, and Minnows. 



Family Catostomidae. — Suckers. This is a large and important 

 group in fresh water. These fish have elongated bodies covered with 

 cycloid scales, toothless jaws without barbels, and a round sucking 

 mouth. The air bladder is large and connected with the alimentary 

 canal. They feed on plant tissue and small animals. There are 60 

 species in the fresh waters of North America. 



Family Cyprinidae. — Carp, Dace, and Minnows. A group of fish 

 whose air bladders are usually large and commonly divided into 

 anterior and posterior lobes. As in the suckers, the jaws of this 

 group are toothless. They range from small minnows, two inches 

 in length, to large carp of two feet in length. Some of the most 

 abundant species of general distribution fall in this family. 



Suborder Nematognathi. — Catfish. 



Family Ameiuridae. — Fresh-water Catfishes. These fish are de- 

 void of scales, have barbels on the lips, and a large, tough air blad- 

 der. As a group, they are excellent commercial and food fish, and 

 all are tenacious of life. The bullhead catfish and channel catfish 

 are very well known and almost universally distributed over the 

 United States, east of the Rocky mountains. 



Family Ariidae. — Sea Catfish. These, too, are scaleless and have 

 barbels. Bagre marina, the Gaff-topsail Catfish, and Oaleichthys 

 felis, common sea cat, are very common along the shores of the south- 

 ern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. 



Suborder Iniomi. — 



Family Synodontidae. — Lizard Fishes. The body of this type of 

 fish is elongate and covered with cycloid scales. The head is de- 

 pressed and the mouth is quite wide with strong teeth. 



Suborder Haplomi. — Mud Minnows, Pikes, and Pickerels. 



Family Umbridae. — Mud Minnows. These carnivorous minnows 

 live in the mud of sluggish streams. They have no lateral line and 

 are covered with cycloid scales. There are at least three American 

 species. 



Family Esocidae. — The Pikes or Pickerels. These fish have a 

 slender body, a large mouth with the lower jaw projecting, and a 



