FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



The other salt-water form ( Galeichthys felis) is 

 the common sea cat so numerous in the waters of 

 Florida, and reported as being sometimes found 

 near Cape Cod. It has a deeply forked tail, the 

 upper lobe of which is larger than the lower one, 

 and the body is round, long, and tapering towards 

 the tail. Its extreme length is two feet, and its 

 color is steely blue on the back, and silvery on the 

 sides and belly. The abundance of this catfish in 

 our southern waters makes it a pest to the fisher- 

 man, who does not and cannot value it, either as a 

 game or food fish. 



The channel cat, white cat, or blue cat, as it is 

 locally and variously called, is found in the Cana- 

 dian rivers of the Great Lake region. It seeks 

 from preference the channels of the rivers that are 

 comparatively pure, hence is an excellent food-fish, 

 and gives a lively fight to the angler, the flies of 

 whom it is said to take viciously when the feathers 

 are trailed upon the surface. Its weight reaches 

 twenty-five pounds, and it is very abundant in 

 the streams of the southwestern part of the 

 United States. Its technical name, Ictalurus punc- 

 tatus, is from two Greek words, signifying " fish " 

 and "cat/' and from the Latin, punctatus, 

 " spotted," the latter indicated by the many small 

 round black spots that appear on the sides, which 

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