194 SILURID^. 



The commonest and the largest species both belong to the 

 subgenus Pimelodus, and are well known as Cat-fish. The ordi- 

 dinary kind measuring only a few inches in length, and never 

 exceeding a few ounces' weight ; the largest reaching a hundred 

 or even a hundred and fifty pounds, especially in the great 

 northern lakes, and in the western rivers. The great Huron 

 Pimelode, or, as it is often called, the Channel Cat-fish, which 

 is the largest of the family, is thus described by Richardson. 



"Profile oval, tapering into the tail. Head broadly oval, 

 forming two-ninths of the total length. Orbits small, and 

 nearer to the snout than to the gill-openings. Nostrils situate 

 some distance before the eye. A slender barbel, half an inch 

 long, springs from their posterior margin. Snout obtuse. 

 Labials ending in a tapering barbel, which is an inch and a 

 quarter long, and reaches to the gill-opening; there are also 

 two slender barbels, one on each side of the chin. Both jaws 

 are armed with a brush-like band of short teeth. The palate 

 and vomer are smooth. In this genus the sub-operculum is 

 wanting ; the pre-operculum is attached to the operculum by 

 bone, and can be traced by its elevated ridge. The inter-oper- 

 culum cannot be traced through the skin. There are nine gill- 

 rays. The gill-openings are rather narrow. The dorsal rays 

 are — one spinous, seven soft ; second dorsal, adipose. Pectorals, 

 one spinous, eight soft ; ventrals, eight ; anals, twenty-four ; 

 caudals, seventeen. 



The skin is smooth, thick, adipose, and lubricated by a mucous 

 secretion. The colour is a dingy greenish brown above, and 

 dirty white below. The flesh is very rich and gelatinous, and 

 not dissimilar either in quality or flavour to that of the Eel. In 



