CATOSTOMUS NIGRICANS. 163 



Eijpentelmm nigricans Jordan & Copeland, Check List, 156, 1876. 



Catostonms nigricans Jordax, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. xi, 345, 1877. 



Hypcntelium nigricans Jordan & Gilbert, in Klippart's Rept. 53, 1876. 



HypenteUum nigricans Jordan, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus, ix, 34, 1877. 



Hypentelium nigricans Jordan, Man, Vert. ed. 2d, 319, 1878. 

 1817 — Catostomus maculosus Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 103. 



Catostonms maculosus DeKay, New York Fauna, i)art iv. Fishes, 203, 1842. 



Catostomus 7naculosus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. xvii, 454, 

 1844, 



Catostomus maculosus Storer, Synopsis, 422, 1846. 



Catostomus maculosus Uiiler &. Lugger, Fishes of Maryland, 139, 1876. 

 1817 — Exoglossum macropterum Rafinesque, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 420. 



Hypentelium macropterum Rafinesque, Ich. Oh, 68, 1820, 



Hypentelium macropterum Kirtland, Rept, Zool. Ohio, 168, 1838. 



Exoglossum macropterum Cuvier & Valenciennes, xvii, 486, 1844, 



Exoglossum macropterum Storer, Synopsis, 428, 1846. 

 1820 — Catostomus xantliopus Rafinesque, Ich, Oh, 57. 



1820 — f Catostomus f megastomus Rafinesque, Ich, Oh. 59. (Most likely mythical.) 

 1844 — Catostomus planiceps Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat, desPoissons, xvii, 450, 

 pi. 516. 



Catostomus planiceps Storer, Synopsis, 426, 1846, 



aa. Subspecies etoivanus. 

 1877 — Catostomus nigricans yar. etou-anus Jordan, Ann, Lye. Nat. Hist, N, Y, xi, 345. 



Habitat, — New York and Maryland to North Carolina ; west to the Great Plains. 

 Var. c/owrtriMS in the Alabama River. Mostcoramon in the Central Mississippi Basin ; not 

 known from the streams of the South Atlantic States, excepting the Savannah River, 



This species is one of the most abundant and widely distributed of 

 our Suckers. It abounds in rapids and shoals, especially in the larger 

 streams, and its singular, almost comical form is familiar to every 

 school-boy in the West. Its powerful pectoral fins render it a swifter 

 fish in the water than any others of its family. Its habit is to rest 

 motionless on the bottom, where its mottled colors render it difficult to 

 distinguish from the stones among which it lies. When disturbed, it 

 darts away very quickly, after the manner of the Etheostoraoids. They 

 often go in flocks of eight to ten. I have never yet found this species 

 in really muddy water, and when placed in the aquarium it is one of 

 the very first fishes to feel the influence of impure water. In my expe- 

 rience, it is a fish as peculiar to the clear streams as the species of 

 Etheostoma or Uranidea are. Professor Agassiz speaks of it as the 

 Mud Sucker, and has named it Hylomyzon, in allusion to its mud-loving 

 habits. It is fortunate that that name has become a synonym, for it is 

 certainly a misnomer. 



This Sucker reaches a length of about 18 inches. It is not much valued 



