THE CATFISHES 



are pale silver in color, in contrast with the light 

 olive shades on the back of the fish. 



One of the largest of the American catfishes is 

 found in the Great Lakes. It is the Ameiuriis 

 lacustris of the ichthyologist, and in the vernacular, 

 according to its locality, it is variously called the 

 Mississippi catfish, great forked- tail cat, Florida 

 cat, flannel-mouthed cat, mathemeg or ugly fish, 

 and the catfish of the lakes, the technical specific 

 name being from the Latin, and meaning literally 

 "living in lakes." It is especially abundant in the 

 Mississippi River, and is reported to grow to a 

 weight of one hundred and fifty pounds or more; 

 but a newspaper report of a catch, bearing a mark 

 of authenticity, states that a negro has taken a 

 Mississippi catfish on a hand line, the fish weigh- 

 ing three hundred and sixty-four pounds. This I 

 think not improbable, for a fish under the same 

 conditions of food-supply and sluggishness will 

 naturally fatten to the size of prize swine. The 

 upper surface of the head of this fish is quite 

 flat, so that the eyes are much nearer the upper 

 than the lower plane of the head. The barbels 

 or "feelers" are quite long, and all are black; 

 the tail fin is deeply forked, the upper lobe 

 being rather longer than the lower one. The 

 coloration on the back is olive and slightly 

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