74 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



43. CATOSTOMUS NIGRICANS LeSueur. 

 "Hog Sucker"; Black Sucker; Stone-roller. 



Catostomus nigricans LeSueur, Journal Academy Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1817, 102; Lake Erie Cope, 

 18706, 468; French Broad River. Jordan, 18896, 125, 128, 151; Pamlico, Neuse, and tributaries of 

 French Broad River. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 181. Bean, 1903, 914; Cane River, tributs ry 

 of French Broad. 



Diagnosis. — Form elongate, not compressed, the depth contained 4.5 to 5 times in total 

 length; head about equal to depth of body, flattened above, concave between eyes; eye small, 

 about .33 length of snout and .2 length of head; mouth large, lips well developed and covered 

 with numerous small papillae; fins large; dorsal base .66 length of head, its rays 10 or 11; anal 

 rays 7; pectoral longer than dorsal; caudal moderately forked; scales 48 to 55 in lateral series, 

 12 to 15 in transverse series. Color: brownish above, with blackish blotches (becoming obso- 

 lete with age), sides golden or brassy, below white; lower fins dull red; young irregularly 

 blotched, {nigricans, blackish.) 



The black sucker has a range almost as wide as the white sucker; it extends 

 from New York to Minnesota, and thence to South Carolina, Arkansas, and 

 Kansas. In North Carolina it is common on both sides of the Alleghanies. 

 In size and habits it resembles the white sucker, although it is more partial to 

 clear, cold water. Its food value is slight. 



Genus ERIMYZON Jordan. Chub Suckers. 



Small fish of streams and lakes with a wide distribution east of Rocky 

 Mountains. Body rather short, compressed; lower lip large, v-shaped, with 

 many folds; gill-rakers long; pharyngeal teeth small, slender, compressed; scales 

 rather large, crowded anteriorly; dorsal and anal fins short and high, caudal 

 slightly forked or merely concave. One species, variable. (Erimyzon, sucker.) 



44. ERIMYZON SUCETTA (Lacepede). 

 "Mullet"; Chub Sucker. 



Cyprinus sucetta Lac^pfede, Histoire Naturelle des Poi&sons, v, 606, 1803; South Carolina. 

 Moxostoma oblongum, Cope, 18706, 468; Neuse River. 



Erimyzon sucetta, Jordan, 18896, 128, 132; Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. Smith, 1893a, 194; Edenton Bay. 

 Evermann & Cox, 1896, 304; Neuse River. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 185, pi. xxxvi, fig. 89. 



Diagnosis. — Body oblong, compressed, back elevated, depth .33 total length; head 

 rather short, its length .25 total body length; space between eyes broad; mouth small, pro- 

 tractile; eye .20 to .25 length of head; dorsal fin short, high, the rays 12 to 15 in number; anal 

 rays 7; caudal slightly forked; scales closely overlapping, rather large, 35 to 40 in lateral 

 series, 13 to 15 in transverse series. Color: variable with age and environment; adults light 

 brown above, pale below, usually with pale longitudinal streaks along scales, a bronze or 

 coppery sheen over all; young with black lateral band, becoming broken into blotches and 

 forming transverse bands, these disappearing with age; males in spring with several large tuber- 

 cles on each side of snout, {sucetta, from the French sucet, sucker.) 



This handsome and well marked species is abundant in the Great Lakes, 

 the Mississippi Valley, and seaboard streams from Virginia to Texas; a northern 

 variety {oblongus) ranges from Virginia to Maine. The species probably inhabits 

 all the North Carolina streams flowing into the Atlantic, and is known from 

 Albemarle Sound, the Neuse River, and Cape Fear River. It is common in the 



