CATFISH GENUS NOTURUS RATINE SQUE 



65 



Map 2. — Distribution of Noturus exUis Nelson. Circles represent localities whence I have 

 examined specimens. The dashed line indicates the known range. This line is not con- 

 nected from the region of the lower Tennessee basin to southeastern Missouri because 

 the two populations may be isolated by lowlands. The locality of a single specimen from 

 West Virginia is not shown; it is thought to be the result of a transposition of locality 

 information, and thus in error. Other literature records from outside the indicated range 

 are either known misidentifications or of dubious reliability. 



The report of exilis from Root River, Wisconsin, in the Great 

 Lakes basin, by Jordan (1877d), is also doubted. As noted in the 

 synonymy, Illinois River, lUinois, and Root River, Wisconsin, are 

 both given as the locality for the specimen Jordan illustrated. The 

 Illinois River locality coincides ^vith the range as presently known. 

 However, two specimens of a Noturus are listed as Noturus exilis in 

 the United States National Museum catalog books. These specimens 

 (USNM 1420) were collected by S. F. Baird from Root River, Racine, 

 Wisconsin, in July 1853 and entered in the catalog book in February 

 1859. They may have been sent to Agassiz in March 1859 and not 

 returned, for the specimens have not recently been found. Thus it is 



