118 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



Notwithstanding its homely appearance, this cat-fish is much superior as food to many- 

 species which have a higher reputation. 



The horned-pout is a shiggish fish, fond of tlie mud, and gi'owing best in weedy 

 ponds and waters which have no current. They stay near tlie bottom and move 

 slowly about with their barbels widely sjiread, watching for anything eatable. They 

 will take any kind of bait from an angle- worm to a piece of a tin tomato-can ; they 

 bite firmly, and without any sort of coquetry, and rarely fail to swallow the hook. 

 They are very tenacious of life, and will live in any sort of jiond or pool where froo-g 

 or salamanders can exist. They can endure removal from water longer than any other 

 of our fresh-water fishes, except Amia calva and perhaj)s Umhra limi. Tliey spawn 

 in the spring, and the adult fishes lead the young in great schools near the sliore, 

 apparently caring for them as a hen cares for her chickens. 



JNIost of the species of Amiurus are brown in color, and have the caudal fin trun- 

 cate. There are other species in which the caudal is more or less forked, and the 

 coloration more silvery or more black. These species reach a much larger size, two 

 of them, Amiurus nigricans, the great lake cat-fish, and Amiurus ponderosus, the 

 great Mississippi cat, often exceeding the weight of one hundred pounds. The latter, 

 which is the largest of our cat-fishes, perhaps reaching two hundred pounds. 



The genus Ictalurus comprises the channel-cats, species distinguished from Amiu- 

 rus by the backward prolongation of the supra-occipital bone, which in its emargi- 

 nate apex receives the pointed anterior end of the second interspinal bone, thus 

 forming a continuous bony bridge under the skin from the skull to the dorsal fin. 

 The skin is thin, the color silvery, and the caudal fin is deeply forked. The channel 

 cats, of which three species are known, live in the running streams, and are much 

 more active tlian the Ainiuri, and correspondingly less tenacious of life. Tliey reach 

 a weight of eight to fifteen pounds. The most widely distributed species is Ictalurus 

 p^mctatus, an excellent food fish. 



The sub-family Pimelodin:e represent in tropical America the Ictalurinte of the 

 north. A few species are also found in Africa, the total number now known being 

 nearly one hundred. None of them have more than six barbels ; many are noteworthy 

 for the spatulate form of the long snout, and still others for the great length of the 

 adipose fin. Some have teeth on the palate, while others have this region naked. 

 Nearly half the species are referred by Dr. Giinther to the typical genus Pimel- 

 lodus, to which genus all the North American cat-fish were very erroneously referred 

 by Valenciennes and by many American writers, both before and after him. 



The Ariinte, or sea cat-fishes, resemble in a general way the channel-cats {Ictalurus) 

 of our rivers. The nostrils ai-e, however, closer together and without barbels, the 

 number of these appendages being thus reduced to six or ioww There is also a bony 

 shield, ' occipital process,' covering the posterior part of the head and the nuchal region, 

 and behind this a smaller ante-dorsal shield before the dorsal fin. The skin of the 

 head sometimes covers these membrane bones, but in most cases they are exposed, 

 and very hard. The dentition varies very much among the Ariinse, but there are 

 usually teeth on the palate. Tlie skin of the body is usually smooth. 



The Ariinse are mostly rather large fishes, ranging from less than a foot to more 

 than five feet in length. They are held in low esteem as food. Most of them are 

 marine, living near the shore, especially on sandy bottoms, and often found in the 

 surf. More than a hundred species are known, three fourths of which belong to the 

 typical genus Galeichthys {Arius). They are most numerous in the East Indies, and 



