106 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
Greatest width of the head contaiued about times in its length. 
Dorsal lin slightlj' nearer the snout than the adipose tin, nnnsnally 
high, its spine long, as in the species of Ictalurus. Pectoral spine very 
strong, about half as long as the head. Anal lin long, deep, nearly one- 
third the length of the body, and composed of 21- rays. Adipose tin 
large. Caudal tin rather short, truncate behind. Jaws equal. ISupra- 
occipital bone but little free behind. Branchial apertures rather more 
restricted than usual. Ilesembles I. lacustns, but with the truncate 
caudal of A. natalis. Eivers of Florida. 
(Jordan, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. x, 85.) 
56.— flCTAL,UKUS Ralluescine. 
Channel Cats. 
(Rafiuesqne, Iclith. Oh. 1820, Cl : type Nih/rHspaHctotus Rafiuesqne.) 
Body elongated, slender, and much compressed. Dead usually slen- 
der and conical. The supraoccipital bone is prolonged backward, and 
its emarginated apex, in typical species, receives the acuminate anterior 
point of the second interspinal, thus forming a continuous bony bridge 
from the head to the dorsal spine. In some species, this connection is 
more or less imperfect, as in Aniiurus, to which genus all such species 
have been hitherto referred. Mouth transverse and terminal, the up- 
per jaw protruding beyond the lower. Teeth subulate, aggregated into 
a short, laterally truncated band on each jaw. Branchiostegal rays 8 or 
9. Dorsal tin situated over the interval between the pectoral and ven- 
tral tins, higher than long, with one long spine, and usually 0 articulated 
rays. Adipose fin pedunculated, over the iiosterior portion of the anal. 
Anal fin long, with 20-35 rays ; it commences near the vent. Ventral 
fins each with 1 simple and 7 branched rays. Pectoral tins each with a 
stout spine, retrorse-serrate within, and about 9 branched rays. Caudal 
tin elongated and deeiily forked, with the lobes pointed, the upper fre- 
quently the longer. Coloration silvery. Fresh waters of North Amer- 
ica, one species southward to Guatemala;* one in Western Mexico,! 
*1. mcridionalis (Gihitber) Jordan. Allied to I. furcatus, but the anal shorter, the 
depth 5 in length. A. 28-29. Rio Usumaeiuta, Guatemala. (Amiurus mcridionalis 
Gunther, v, 102.) 
t/. ditgcsi (Beau) J. & G. Closely allied to I. albidus, hut with a narrower head (its 
width 5 in length) ; the width of the premaxillary hand of teeth about one-third the 
length of the head ; humeral process slightly furrowed, not strongly rugose as in I. 
albidus. Caudal deeply forked. Color plumbeous, silvery below. B. 8 ; D. I, 0 ; A. 
21 ; P. I, 8. Rio Turhio, Guanajuato, Mexico (west of the Sierra Madre). (Amiurus 
dugesi Beau, Proc. U, S. Nat. Mus. ii, 304, 1879.) 
