108 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
103. B. laccnstQ’as (Walbanm) J. &G. — Cat-fish of Ihe Lakes; Great Fork-tailed Cat; 
Mississippi Cat; Florida Cat ; Flannel-mouth Cat. 
Olivaceous slaty, growing darker with age; sides pale, without dark 
spots ; anal dusky edged. Body rather stouter than in I. punctatus. 
Head much broader, lower, and more depressed than in I. punctatus., 
its greatest width five-sixths its length. Interorbital sjjace somewhat 
more than half the length of head. AVidth of the mouth about half 
head. Eye moderate, wholly in front of middle point of head. Toi) of 
head covered with a thicker skin than in punctatus, so that the bones 
are nearly concealed. Upper surface of Uead quite flattish, so that the 
eyes are much nearer the upper than the lower surface of the head. 
Barbels long, all black, the maxillary barbel reaching beyond head. 
Humeral process very short and blunt, covered by skin, a little more 
than one-third the length of the pectoral spine. Candal deeply forked, 
the upper lobe rather longer and narrower than the lower. Dorsal a 
little nearer snout than adipose fin. Head 4 in length ; depth 5. Dis- 
tance to dorsal spine . Anal base as long as head. D. I, 5 ; P. I, 9 ; 
A. 25. British America to Florida and Texas ; abundant in all large 
bodies of wmter. One of the largest of the cat-fishes, reaching a weight 
of 100 pounds. 
( ? Gadus lacustris Walbaum, Artedi Pise. 1792, 144: ? Pimclodus borealis Richardson, 
Fauna Bor.-Amer. Fish. 135 : fAmiurus borealis Giiuther, v, 100 : Pimclodus nigri- 
cans Lc Sueur, Mdm. Mus. v, 153, 1819: Amiurus nigricans Jordan, 1 . c. 83: Aniiurus 
borealis Jordan, 1. c. 84.) 
bbb. Anal tin Tery long, of '35 rays. 
107. S. poBaden’OSMS (Bean) J. & G. — Great Cat-fish. 
Blnish slate above, whitish below. Form of 1. lacustris, but the 
body deeper and the head and mouth broader. Greatest depth in 
length. Head 3| ; its width 4^-. Dorsal nearer snout than adipose fin. 
Caudal fin not deeidy forked. P. I, 11 ; A. 35. (Bean.) Mississippi 
River (Saint Louis). Probably the largest of the cat-fishes, the original 
type 5 feet in length and weighing 150 pounds. 
(Amiurus piondm'osus Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. ii, 286, 1879.) 
aa. Bony bridge from occiput to dorsal fin complete and continuous. 
d. Anal moderate, its rays 24-30, its base 3^-4 in length of body. 
10§. I. i>BlB5Ctataas (Raf.) Jor. — Channel Cat; White Cat. 
Color light olivaceous above, the sides pale or silvery, and almost 
always with irregular small, round, dark spots. Fins often with dark 
edgings. Body rather long and slender, the back little elevated. 
Head rather small, narrow, convex above, so that the eye is little 
