28 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY III. 



SILURID^. 



Grenus AMIURUS Bafinesque. 

 36. Amiurus brunneus Jordan. 



Amiurus plafijccphalus Cope (1&70), Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 485. (Not Pimelodus plaly- 



cephalus Grd.) 

 Amiurus 6>«wHeMS Jordan (1870), Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. 366. 



This is the commou cat-fish of the Saluda, and is knowu as the Mad 

 Cat. Adult specimens reach a length of about 18 inches, and bear little 

 resemblance to the young, from which the species was first described. 

 The adults are extremely elongate, nearly terete behind, with flac, thin, 

 broad heads. In color, they are of a more or less clear yellowish-green, 

 more distinctly green than is any other species. The name " hnmnens" 

 only applies well to the young. The species may be known from the 

 related A. platycejphalus by the more elongate form, the shorter anal fin 

 (10 to IS rays instead of 20), and by the mouth, which is somewhat 

 inferior, the lower jaw being much the shorter, while in A. platyceplialua 

 the jaws are equal. The color is also different in the two species. A. 

 platycejphalus is yellowish, dark above, and more or less marbled on the 

 sides with darker, resembling, in that respect, A. marmoratus. In A. 

 hrunnei(S, the caudal fin is usually unequal, the upper lobe being the 

 longer, and the rudimentary caudal rays are unusually numerous. A 

 specimen nearly a foot long had the alimentary canal four times the 

 length of the body, and filled with Podostcmon- ceratophyllum. The 

 stomach contained eight adult males of Codoma pyrrhomelas. 



As Professor Cope counted 17 anal rays in his ^^platycephalus'^', it is 

 likely that he had this species instead of Girard's, which has pretty uni- 

 formly 20 or 21 rays. Both Amiurus brunneus and platycephahis are 

 valued as food. 



37. Amiurus platycephalus (Girard) Gill. 



PimelodHS platycephahis Gikard (1859), Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 160. 



Many specimens of this species were taken in Bannister's mill-pond, 

 on the Ennoree. The fishermen confound it with the preceding under 

 the name of Mud Cat, but the species may be readily distinguished by 

 the characters given above. 



A "Blue Cat*' is said to occur in the Saluda, but we obtained no 

 specimens. 



