SILURIDiE. 99 



25. NOTURUS FLAVUS, Rafmesque. 



Yellow Stone Cat— Common Stone Cat. 



(Figs. 54 aud 55.) 



Mturus flavus, Raf. (1818), Am. Monthly Mag. and Critical Review, p. 41 ; (16-20). Ich. 

 Oh. G8.—KIUTLAND (18158), Rept. Zuiil. Ohio. IC/J, li):,; (1H4()). \^uM. Joiirn Nat. 

 Hist, iv, 33(5.— Stoi{KU( 1846), Synopsis, 40G.— Gii.r. (IHO'i), Proc. I3o8t..Soc. \ai. 

 Hist. 4.5.— COPK (1804), Proc. Acad. Nat, Sci. Philj. 277 ; (18(;y), Jonrn. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Phila. 2:57.— GuNTHEH (1864), Cat. Fishes, v, 104.— Uhler & Lugger 

 (1876), Fishes Maryland, 151.— Jordan (1877), Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. — 



2iolurus luteus, Raf. (1819), Journ. de Physique, 421. 



Xotiirus occidentalis, Gill (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc.Nat. Hist. 45: 187G), Capt. f Simpson'a 

 Rept. 42:5.— Jordan & Copeland (1876), Check List, 160. 



Noturus plaUjcfiyliahif^, Gunther (1864), Catalogue Fishes, v, 104.— Jordan &. Cope- 

 land (1876), Check List, 160. 



Habitat. — Vermont aud Canada to Virginia, Ohio Valley and Mis- 

 souri Region. 



It is not quite certain which species served as the type of Ratinesque's 

 ^'■flavvs^\ Three distinct species occur about the Falls of the Ohio, 

 flavus, sialis, and miurns. Of these, ^^Jlai'us" is the most abundant 

 in the immediate neighborhood of the river, the others preferring clearer 

 water than is found in most of the streams near the falls. Ratinesque 

 speaks of his Jiavus as being entirely yellowish, and as reaching the 

 length of a foot, Miurus is never yellowish ; and neither miiirus nor 

 fiialis, so far as I know, reach a length of more than six inches. More- 

 over, the JIuvus of Kirtland, Cope, and of most writers, is the spe- 

 cies now under consideration. 



N. occidentalis Gill I also consider the same. There is nothing in the 

 description to indicate difference, and, on examination of specimens 

 supposed to be the original tyiies of occidentalis, I am unable to find any 

 distinctive characters whatever. Like Ichihcdurm punctatus and Ami- 

 iirus lividus, the Noturus fiavus is a species of wide geographical range, 

 and its occurrence in Nebraska is not surprising. 



N. platycephalus Giinther is evidently the same as/ai-«s. iV. occiden- 

 talis GUuther is based on specimens oi Xoturus marginatus, sent by the 

 Smithsonian Institution to the British Museum, Prof. Gill informs me. 



I have examined specimens, which I refer to Jiavus, from Saint Law- 

 rence River, New York, froni Lake Champlain, from the Potomac River, 

 from the Ohio River in West Virginia, in Ohio, and in Indiana, from the 

 Miami, White, aud Wabash Rivers, from the Missouri River, from Lake 

 Michigan, and from Platte River. 



