﻿[45] 
  DEVELOPMENT 
  OF 
  OSSEOUS 
  FISHES. 
  533 
  

  

  The 
  illustrations 
  accompanying 
  the 
  present 
  note 
  on 
  the 
  development 
  

   of 
  Clupea 
  sapidissima 
  have 
  been 
  drawn 
  in 
  part 
  with 
  the 
  camera 
  lucida 
  at 
  

   various 
  times 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  five 
  years; 
  a 
  number 
  are 
  redrawn 
  from 
  a 
  

   series 
  of 
  very 
  successful 
  micro-photographs 
  made 
  by 
  Mr. 
  T. 
  W. 
  Smillie, 
  

   under 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  author. 
  

  

  XVIII. 
  — 
  Ictalurus 
  albidus 
  (Le 
  Sueur) 
  J. 
  & 
  G. 
  ( 
  White 
  Cat-fish 
  ; 
  

   Channel 
  Cat 
  of 
  the 
  Potomac.) 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  already 
  given 
  a 
  short 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  this 
  

   species 
  elsewhere, 
  49 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  many 
  remarkable 
  phases 
  presented 
  by 
  

   its 
  larval 
  growth 
  cannot 
  be 
  understood 
  without 
  illustrations, 
  I 
  will 
  now 
  

   give 
  a 
  fuller 
  and 
  more 
  detailed 
  description, 
  with 
  such 
  figures 
  as 
  are 
  

   ready 
  for 
  publication. 
  

  

  A 
  number 
  of 
  individuals 
  of 
  this 
  Siluroid 
  were 
  brought 
  from 
  the 
  Poto- 
  

   mac 
  Eiver 
  to 
  the 
  Armory 
  Building 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1883, 
  and 
  deposited 
  

   in 
  the 
  large 
  aquaria 
  in 
  that 
  institution 
  at 
  about 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  shad- 
  

   hatching 
  season 
  of 
  that 
  year. 
  One 
  pair 
  of 
  these 
  fishes 
  afterward 
  

   spawned 
  while 
  in 
  confinement, 
  and 
  thus 
  afforded 
  the 
  writer 
  the 
  oppor- 
  

   tunity 
  of 
  observing 
  and 
  describing 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  interesting 
  phases 
  

   of 
  development 
  of 
  this 
  singular 
  family 
  of 
  fishes. 
  There 
  has 
  hitherto 
  

   been 
  little 
  attention 
  paid 
  to 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  this 
  type, 
  probably 
  

   from 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  opportunity 
  ; 
  and 
  these 
  notes 
  may 
  therefore 
  prove 
  of 
  

   interest 
  to 
  naturalists. 
  The 
  literature 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  is 
  scanty; 
  and, 
  

   besides 
  a 
  paper 
  by 
  Jeffries 
  Wyman 
  50 
  on 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  Aspredo 
  

   IcBvis 
  and 
  Bagrus, 
  I 
  know 
  of 
  no 
  separate 
  essays 
  on 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  

   this 
  group, 
  except 
  some 
  remarks 
  in 
  Giinther's 
  Introduction 
  to 
  the 
  Study 
  

   of 
  Fishes, 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  article 
  Ichthyology, 
  ninth 
  edition 
  of 
  the 
  Encyclopae- 
  

   dia 
  Britanuica, 
  on 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  Arius. 
  An 
  egg 
  of 
  this 
  genus 
  is 
  

   there 
  figured 
  in 
  an 
  advanced 
  state 
  of 
  development, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  ap- 
  

   pears 
  that 
  this 
  form 
  is 
  very 
  similar 
  in 
  its 
  embryological 
  features 
  to 
  

   JEluriehthys, 
  some 
  ova 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  in 
  my 
  possession, 
  measuring 
  three- 
  

   fourths 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  their 
  longest 
  and 
  five-eighths 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  their 
  

   shortest 
  diameter. 
  Arius 
  and 
  JElurichthys 
  are 
  marine 
  forms, 
  and 
  the 
  

   males 
  have 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  carrying 
  the 
  ova 
  in 
  the 
  hinder 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   oral 
  cavity 
  or 
  branchial 
  region 
  until 
  the 
  young 
  are 
  hatched. 
  These 
  

   marine 
  species, 
  however, 
  have 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  very 
  large 
  ova 
  so 
  concealed 
  

   in 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  at 
  one 
  time. 
  They 
  are 
  probably 
  far 
  less 
  pro- 
  

   lific 
  than 
  the 
  species 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  about 
  to 
  be 
  described. 
  

  

  The 
  adults 
  were 
  kindly 
  identified 
  for 
  me 
  by 
  Professor 
  Gill. 
  Its 
  habits 
  

   of 
  spawning 
  and 
  care 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  are 
  probably 
  characteristic 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  

   the 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  genus, 
  of 
  which 
  there 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  eight 
  found 
  within 
  

   the 
  limits 
  of 
  JSTorth 
  America. 
  

  

  49 
  J. 
  A. 
  Ryder. 
  Preliminary 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  development 
  and 
  breeding 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  

   Potomac 
  cat-fish, 
  Amiurus 
  albidus 
  (Le 
  Sueur) 
  Gill. 
  Bull. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Fish. 
  Com., 
  iii, 
  1883, 
  

   pp. 
  225-2:50. 
  

  

  50 
  J. 
  Wyman. 
  On 
  some 
  unusual 
  modes 
  of 
  gestation. 
  Am. 
  Journ. 
  Arts 
  and 
  Sciences, 
  

   xxvii, 
  1859, 
  pp. 
  5-13. 
  

  

  