196 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 
The specimen purports that it came from the interior of the State. It approaches in its 
general form the gibbosus of Lesueur, but is sufficiently distinguished by the number of the 
dorsal rays. 
GENUS CATOSTOMUS. Lesueur, Cuvier. 
Both lips thick, fleshy, and crenated or plaited ; the lower lip pendant. Dorsal placed above 
the ventrals, and usually short. 
Oss. This genus, as far as hitherto known, contains exclusively North American species. 
THE COMMON SUCKER. 
CarosTtomus COMMUNIS. 
PLATE XXXII. FIG. 106. 
Catostomus communis. Lesugur, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Vol. 1, p. 96, plate. 
Characteristics. Body long, rounded and tapering. Caudal fin lunate, almost furcate. Length 
12-14 inches. 
Description. Body cylindrical, sub-compressed, broad and rounded above to the origin of 
ithe dorsal fin, and compressed towards the tail. Head smooth, scaleless. Scales reticulate, 
small on the back and anterior part of the body, larger near the dorsal fin, and increasing in 
size to the tail. Lateral line not concurrent with the back, slightly concave, nearly straight. 
Three to five smooth tubercular elevations towards the extremity of the snout, scarcely ob- 
vious in the fresh, but manifest in the dried specimen. A row of mucous ducts (sutures of 
Forster) extend from near the upper angle of the opercle, across the nape, to the same spot 
on the opposite side, and separating the smooth head, on what is sometimes called the basal 
line of the head, from the scaly body. From this transverse line proceed two others forward, 
about half an inch apart, in a sinuous course over the eyes and nostrils, and are lost in the 
vicinity of the tubercles before mentioned. From near the extremity of the snout, proceed 
two other series. of mucous ducts (one on each side) upwards beneath the orbits, thence be- 
hind the orbits, rising up in an irregular curve, and turning down at the upper angle of the 
branchial aperture, where it is lost in the lateral line. These various lines are not exhibited 
on the plate, but are manifest in the recent specimens. Eyes moderate. Nostrils oval, appa-. 
rently single, contiguous ; the posterior closed by a valve. Mouth protractile, with thick 
puckered lips ; the lower lip bilobate, as represented in the plate. 
The dorsal fin subquadrate, highest in front, with its margin slightly concave, arising nearly 
equidistant from the snout to the base of the caudal fin. Pectorals inserted nearly on a hori- 
zontal plane, and very low down, long, pointed; as long as the head. Ventrals broad, trun- 
cated, shorter than the pectorals, and placed under the middle of the dorsal. Anal fin long, 
pointed, higher than broad, its extremity reaching to the-base of the caudal fin; the first ray 
