180 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Genus ICTALURUS (C. and V.). 



Body elongated and compressed ; the head not so broad and flat as in 

 Ameiurus. Supraoccipital bone extending backward to join the second 

 interspinal, a continuous bridge thus formed from the head to the front 

 of the dorsal fin. Head narrow and rather high ; upper jaw projecting 

 beyond the lower. Anal fin long, of from twenty to thirty five rays. 

 Ventrals of eight rays. Tail forked. 



Anal fiu of thirty-two to thirty four rays. furcatug p. 180. 



Anal fin of twenty-four to thirty rays. j->unctaf>i>; p.' 180. 



ICTALURUS FURCATUS (C. and V.) 



'Chuckk-headeci Catfish. 



Jordan and Gilbert, 1882, S, 100; Jordan, 1882, 2, 785. 



Slender, with the l^ody much compressed from behind the head. 

 Head narrow, its width four-fifths ils length. Head in length of fish a 

 little over four times. Profile steep and somewhat concave. Eye small, 

 one-sixth of head; situated entirely iu irout of ihe middle of the head. 

 Depth of body in its length about four and one-half times. Anal fin 

 long, of from thirty-two to thirty-f)ur rays: its b:(se one-third the length 

 of the fish Color olive above, silvery on the sides and belly. Sides 

 sometimes slightly spotted. Fins all dark edged. Length said to reach 

 two feet. Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Apparently not common. I 

 have a specimen which I obtained at Madison, on the Ohio River. It is 

 eleven inches from tip to tip. Drs. Jordan aud Evermann appear to 

 have taken it in the Ohio River in 1887 (^-^, '.;'3, 70). 



ICTALURUS PUNCTA'lUS (Raf). 



Channel Cat-fish; White Cat-fish. 



Jordan and Gilbert, 1882, S, 108; Ichthdurus pnnctatus, Jordan. 

 1882, 3, 786. 



Body rather more slender than in /. furcatns ; the depth iu the length 

 about five times. Head in length four times. Profile from the snout to 

 the dorsal fin convex. Eye larger than in the preceding species, about, 

 five in head ; situated so that the middle of the head strikes the posterior 

 border. Anal fin rather short; of twenty-four to thirty rays; its base 

 in length of fish three and one-half to four. Color olive, the sides 

 silvery, and often with round dusky spots. It is said to reach a maxi- 

 mum size of three feet, but it is usually smaller. 



Distributed from Vermont to Montana and south to Georgia and 

 Mexico. It is verv common in Indiana. Ohio River (LeSueur, Mem. 



