28 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



10. BLOB (Coitus punctulatm} . 



This little sculpin belongs in the Missouri Basin and abounds in 

 some of the waters of the park. It has been reported to swarm in the 

 grassy-bottom portions of the Madison and Gibbon Rivers and in 

 Canyon Creek and to be numerous in the Gibbon above the falls. It 



FIG. 10. Blob. 



is known also from the Firehole below the falls. The presence of this 

 fish in the Gibbon River above the falls is a freak in distribution that 

 has not been explained. The blob is probably justly accused of 

 being destructive to the eggs of other fishes and appears to be of little 

 use, unless possibly as bait for large trout. It can be taken with a 

 small baited hook. It attains a length of 5 inches. 



11. LONGNOSE SUCKER (Catostomus catostomus). 



This species is of wide natural distribution in northern waters, its 

 geographical range being from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts and 

 into the Arctic regions. It attains a length of 18 inches and a weight 

 of several pounds. Its spawning time is spring and early summer 



FIG. 11. Lonpnose sucker. 



when the males have their anal fin profusely covered with tubercles 

 and the side of the body with a broad red stripe more or less diffuse 

 on the edges. It is not sought as a game fish, but sometimes takes a 

 baited hook and fights fairly well. When taken from cool water 

 and cooked at once it is a good-flavored pan fish, although somewhat 

 bony. It is abundant in Yellowstone and Gardiner Rivers below 

 the Osprey, Undine, and Rustic Falls. 



