138 



L¥— CYFRINID^; 



CAT0ST0MU8, Lesueiir. 



i~0. communis. 



Mild Sucker, 



Body cylindrical, broad and rounded above the origin of 

 tlie dorsal fin, and compressed towards the tail. Head 

 smooth, scaleless; candal fin almost furcate. Scales small on 

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

 Head dark green, nearly black; cheeks bronze and golden: 

 body above purplish, with pink and metallic tints on tlu' 

 sides; beneath white. Length, 14 to 16 inches. 



Fin-ravs:— D. 13—14; P. 16—18; Y. 10; A. 8—9; C. 

 17—18. " 



Gatostomis communis, Lcsueur,- Jouru. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. 

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

 pi. 33, fig. 106. 



Common in most of our small streams away from brackish 

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

 many persons, but in the interior sections of the Western 

 shore it is generally eaten by tlie people. 



In early Summer these fish build their nests of piles of 

 sand and stones, and shortly afterwards their dead bodies 

 may sometimes be found in dozens along the shores of streams 

 such as Gwynn's Falls. 



AczVD. Coll. 



2— C. nigricaas. 



Black, or Mud Smoker. 



Similar in shape to the preceding. Head large and srjuaro. 

 Black above; reddish yellow on the sides, with black blotches; 

 beneath white. Dorsal fin black, the other fins reddish. — 

 Length, 10 to 13 inches. 



Fin-rays:— D. 11; P. 18; Y. 9; A. 8; C. 18. 



G. nigricans, Lesueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc, I. 1817, p. 102; 

 Kirtland, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., V. p. 273, pi. 21, fig. 3. 



Found in the Youghioghany Piiver. in the mountains of 

 Maryland. 



S. I. 



