102 



Runs from the .salt water into our creeks and l)rai)elie.s in 

 April — May to spawn, and is then taken hy the hook in large 

 numbers. It is a savory little lisli, and hij^'hly ])opular with 

 Baltimore anglers. 



Acad. Coll, 



lA.— CYriUMD.E. 



OATOSTOMUS, Lesueur. 



1 . ('. COM.MUNIS. 



The Mud Sucker. 



Body cylindrieal, broad and rounded above the origin ol 

 the dorsal fin, and compressed towards the tail. Head 

 smooth, scaleless; caudal tin almost furcate. Scales small on 

 the anterior part of body, increasing in size towards the tail. 

 Head dark gi'eeii, nearly black; clieeks bronze and golden; 

 body above purplish, with pink and metallic tints on the 

 sides; beneath M-hite. 



Fin-rays:— D. i:]— U ; P. IG— IS ; V. 10 ; A. ,8—9; C. 

 17— 18|." 



Catosfomis coinmunis^ Lesueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 

 I, p. 1817, p. 95; DeKay^, New York Fauna, Fishes, p. 196, 

 pi. 33, tig. IOC). 



Common in most of our small streams away from brackisii 

 water. The rank taste of the tiesli renders it distasteful to 

 many persons, but in the interior sections of the Western 

 shore it is generally eaten by the })eople. 



In early Summer these tish build tlieir nests of piles of 

 sand and stones, and shortly afterwards their dead bodies 

 may sometimes be found in dozens along the shores of streanis 

 such as Gwynn's Falls. 



Acad, Coll. 



