GENUS CATOSTOMUS. 



151 



by the iubabitants. They rim up the rivers to spawn in June ; feed on 

 the bottom and eat the spawn of better lish ; sj)awuing beds on gravel : 

 bite at hook sometimes ; are extremely numerous, and are considered 

 a nuisance by the lishermen, but they meet with a ready sale in Viiiitcr 

 at an average price of 2^^ cents per pound." 



Specimens in United States l^aiional Museum. 



Genus CATOSTOMUS Le Sueur. 



Calostomus Le Sueuu, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Pbila. i, 1.'~'17, £9. (Equivalent to family Ca- 



iostomidxE.) 

 HijpenteVmm Rafinesquc, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 1, 1618, 421. (As subj^euus of Exo- 



glossum.) 

 Decac<^Zu8 Eafinesque, Ichthyologi a Ohiensis, 1820, CO. (As subgenus of Catostomus, 



including the lO-rayed species.) 

 Hylomyzon Agassiz, Am. Journ. Sc. Arts, 1855, 205. 

 Minomus Girabd, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 1850, 173. 

 Aeomus Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 1853, 173. 

 Catastomua Gill, Cauauian Naturalist, 1865, August. 

 Decadactijlus Jordan*, Man. Vert. 2d ed. 1878, 319. (As subgenus.) 



Type, Cijprinus catostomus Forster, = Catostomus hudsonius Le Sueur, ^ Catostomus lon- 

 (jirostrum Le Sueur. 



Etymology, Kara, low ; orb/xa, mouth. 



Etymolof)]) of Synonyms. 



Hypeiitelium : probably vtto, below; nivTc, five; ?[,o!3o^, lobe, as the name is said to 

 refer to the 5-lobed lower lip, supposed to distinguish it from the 3-lobed subgenus 

 Maxillingua; possibly, however, from virb, below; evr£/i?/f, perfect. 



Decactylus: SeKug, ten^!^uKTv?Mg, too, i. e., 10 ventral raj^s, hence properly Dcca- 

 dactylus. 



Hylomyzon : vie, mud ; fiv^uu, to suck. 



Aeomus and Minomus are probably meaningless words, without etymology. 



Head more or less elongate, its length ranging from 3^ to 5 times iu 

 that of the body, its form varying considerably in the different subgen- 

 era. Eye usually rather small, high up and median or more or less pos- 



