10 AMERICAN CATFISHES. 



The spotted cat (Ictalurus punctatus), previously mentioned as one 

 of the most highly esteemed channel cats, thrives best in streams. 

 Regarding this species Jordan ° says: 



The channel cat abounds in all flowing streams from western New York westward 

 to Montana and southward to Florida and Texas. It is perhaps most common in 

 Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. It seems to prefer running waters, and young and 

 old are most abundant in gravelly shoals and ripples. The other catfishes prefer slug- 

 gish waters and mud bottoms. I have occasionally taken the channel cat in ponds 

 and bayous, but such localities are apparently not their preference. They rarely enter 

 small brooks unless these are clear and gravelly. Whether they will thrive in artificial 

 ponds we can only know from experiment. 



Forbes and Richardson (op. cit.) state of the spotted cat that it 

 lives in clear, swift-flowing water, and for this reason and for the fact 

 that it is a "trimmer" and more active fish than any of the related 

 species, it is well esteemed by anglers in many localities. 



Evermann (op. cit.) states that in Louisiana the blue cat (Ictalurus 

 furcatus) and goujon (Leptops olivaris), called also yellow cat, are 

 influenced in their movements by the temperature of the water. Dur- 

 ing the winter they corrwe farther down the river, where the water is 

 warmest, and in the summer they run farther upstream or retire to 

 the deeper waters. The goujon is said to be most abundant in 

 the Atchafalaya River from September to November, or until the 

 fall floods begin, when it gradually disappears. This is the best sea- 

 son for catching, although a few may be found at any season. The 

 best fishing for the blue cat, on the other hand, is said to be during the 

 high water in the spring. These fish leave the rivers, lakes, and 

 bayous and take to the woods. Good "woods" or "swamp" fishing 

 is sometimes had as early as March. 



The blue catfish of the Mississippi Valley and Southern States, as 

 stated elsewhere, attains a weight of at least 150 pounds and is of 

 considerable importance in that region. According to Forbes and 

 Richardson (op. cit.), it frequents the deeper waters of the river 

 channels, coming out into the river sloughs and backwaters in spring. 

 The goujon is an abundant species in parts of the Mississippi basin 

 and in the Gulf States, and is one of the most important catfishes in 

 certain localities. Regarding this fish the same authors state that it 

 is most abundant in the lower course of the larger streams, and in the 

 bayous and overflow ponds of the lower Mississippi Valley. 



Evermann states that the blue cat and the goujon are by far 

 the most important species of the Atchafalaya River, Louisiana, 

 and probably constitute 98 per cent of the entire catch. According 

 to the same authority, the maximum size of the blue cat is about 

 the same as that of the goujon. The largest of which Evermann 



a Jordan, David Starr: The habits and the value for food of the American channel catfish (Ictalurus punc- 

 tatus Raflnesque). Bull. U. S. Fish Commission, vol. v, 1885, p. 34. 



