68 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



liver on the sixth, and fed ravenously after the eighth day. The fish were 4mm. long when 

 hatched, and grew rapidly, some being 18mm. long on the eleventh day, and at the end of two 

 months their average length was 50mm. Both parents were very zealous in caring for the eggs, 

 keeping them agitated constantly by a gentle fanning motion of the lower fins. The most 

 striking act in the care of the eggs was the sucking of the egg masses into the mouth and the 

 blowing of them out with some force. The fanning and mouthing operations were continued 

 with the fry until they swam freely, when the care of the young may be said to have ceased. 

 During the first few days after hatching, the fry, banked in the corners of the tank, were at 

 irregular intervals actively stirred by the barbels of the parents, usually the male. The pre- 

 daceous feeding habits of the old fish gradually overcame the parental instinct; the tendency to 

 suck the fry into their mouths continued, and the inclination to spit the mout diminished, so 

 that the numbers of young dwindled daily, and the 500 that had been left with their parents had 

 completely disappeared in six weeks, although other food was liberally supplied. 



The yellow cat-fish is frequently eaten, but its food value is decidedly 

 inferior; and in North Carolina it is not regarded with favor and has little com- 

 mercial importance. 



37. AMEIURUS PLATYCEPHALUS (Girard). 

 Mud Cat-fish.; Brown Cat-fish. 



Pimelodus platycephalus Girard, Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1859, 161; Ander- 

 son, S. C. 



Ameiurus platycephalus. Cope, 18706, 486; Catawba and Yadkin rivers. Jordan, 18896, 131, 134, 136; Cape 

 Fear (Haw), Yadkin, and Catawba rivers. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 142, pi. xxvii, fig. 61. 



Diagnosis. — Form very elongate, the depth .12 to .20 total length; head low, flat, broad, 

 .28 total length; upper jaw longer; dorsal fin high, .66 length of head, rays i,6; anal base .16 

 total length, rays 16 to 20; caudal fin emarginate. Color; olive brown, yellowish or greenish 

 above ; a dark horizontal bar or shade at dorsal base ; pale below, (platycephalus, broad-headed.) 



Fig. 18. Brown Cat-fish. Ameiurus platycephalus. 



The range of this species is restricted, embracing only the streams from the 

 Cape Fear to the Chattahoochee. In the streams of the western part of North 

 Carolina, the species is well represented. Dr. Jordan found it excessively abun- 

 dant in branches of Haw River, a tributary of Cape Fear River, in Guilford 

 County; also in Little Yadkin River near Salisbury, in Catawba River near 

 Marion, and in St. Johns River near Morgantown. The maximum length is 

 somewhat over a foot. 



