CATOSTOMUS NIGRICANS. 163 



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



Caiosiomus nigricans Jordan, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. xi, 345, 1877. 



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



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



Uypenlelium nigricans Jordan, Man. Vert. ed. 2cl, 319, 1878. 

 1817 — Caiostomtts macnlosus Le Sueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Pbila. 103. 



Catostomus macuJosus DeKay, New York Fauna, part iv. Fishes, 203, 1842. 



Catostomus macuJosus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. ties Poiss. xvii, 454, 

 1844. 



Catostomus maeulosus Storer, Synopsis, 422, 1846. 



Catostomus maculoms Uhler & Lugger, Fishes of Maryland, 139, 1876. 

 1817 — Exoglossum macropterum Eafinesque, Jonrn. Ac. Nat. Sc. Pbila. 420. 



Hypcntelium mo.ci'opterum Eafinesque, Ich. Oh. 68, 1820. 



Hypentelium mao'ojHerum Kirtland, Eeiit. Zool. Ohio, 168, 1838. 



Exoglossum macrojiterum Cuvier Sz, Valenciennes, xvii, 486, 1844. 



Exoglossum 7nacropterum Storer, Synopsis, 428, 1846. 

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



1820 — f Catostomus fmegasiomus Eafinesque, Ich. Ob. 59. (Most likely mythical.) 

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

 pi. 516. 



Catostomus planiceps Storer, Synopsis, 426, 1846. 



aa. Subspecies etowanns. 

 1877 — Catostomus nigricans var. eioivanus Jordan, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. xi, 345. 



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

 Var. etowanus in the Alabama Eiver. Most common in the Central Mississippi Basin ; not 

 known from the streams of the South Atlantic States, excepting the Savannah Eiver. 



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

 our Sucliers. It abounds in rapids and slioals, especially in the larger 

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

 schoolboy 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 

 n:!Otionless 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 Etheostomoids. 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 TJranidea are. Professor Agassiz speaks of it as the 

 Mud Sucker, and has named it Hylomyzon, iu 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 



