SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



63 



eye placed low on side of head; dorsal rays i,7, situated far forward, the spine terminating in a 

 long filament; pectoral spine ending similarly; anal rays 23. Color: dusky above, silvery 

 below, {felis, cat.) 



This sea cat-fish ranges from Massachusetts to Texas, being common in the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States in salt and brackish water; it also enters fresh 

 water, such as the western end of Albemarle Sound, where it is recognized by the 

 fishermen as a straggler from salt water and called "silver cat-fish". It is prob- 

 ably ovoviviparous. The food value of the species is slight. 



Genus GALEICHTHYS Cuvier & Valenciennes. Sea Cat-fishes. 

 A numerious genus of marine cat-fishes, only one species inhabiting United 

 States waters. Mouth comparatively small, the lower jaw shorter; teeth in 

 patches on vomer and palatines; dorsal fin short and high; anal fin short; caudal 

 deeply forked. (Galeichthys , weasel-fish.) 



31. GALEICHTHYS MILBERTI (Cuvier & Valenciennes). 

 "Cat-fish"; "Sea Cat-fish"; Small-mouthed Cat (S. C). 



Arius milberti Cuvier & Valenciennes, xv, 74, 1840; New York; Charleston. 



Ariopsis milberti, Yarrow, 1877, 216; Beaufort. 



Ariopsis felis, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 385; Beaufort. 



Oaleichthys felis, Jordan, 1886, 26; Beaufort. Jenkins, 1887, 85; Beaufort. 



Hexanematichthys felis, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 128, pi. xxiii, fig. 53. 



Galeichthys milberti, Jordan & Evermann, 1900, 3196. Linton, 1905, 349; Beaufort. 



Diagnosis. — Body elongate, depth .2 total length; head small, depressed, rather more 

 than .25 total length; mouth small, maxillary barbel nearly as long as head; dorsal rays i,7; 

 anal rays 16; caudal deeply forked. Color: steel blue above, silvery sides and belly. (Named 

 after the French naturalist, Milbert.) 



Fig. 16. Sea Cat-fish. Galeichthys milberti. 



This species is found along the entire coast of the United States south of 

 Cape Cod, but is not common northward. It frequents the North Carolina 

 beaches, sounds and bays, and is the most abundant of the salt-water cat-fishes. 

 It attains a length of 2 feet and a weight of 12 pounds, but averages much smaller. 



It is a bottom-loving fish, feeding chiefly on worms and small crustaceans 

 but readily eating fish, flesh, or fowl, dead or alive. At Beaufort, its food com- 

 prises fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, as well as sea-cucumbers, worms, and algse. 



