338 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



CYPRINID.E. 

 Red Horse or Lake Sucker. — Catostomus cepedianum. 



A large red-finned sucker weighing from one to six pounds. 

 Often eaten fresh, but much better corned ; very bony. They are 

 qu-ite a handsome fish, like many of the family. It is taken only 

 with spear, seine and snare — the latter method the best. In very 

 hot, sultry days they swarm by the acre, playing, jumping and 

 tumbling on or so near the surface as to be plainly seen. In Lake 

 Pepin they are described as so numerous that not a foot of water 

 for acres in extent is undisturbed. They spawn early in spring. 

 The young are much valued for bait, and are well adapted for the 

 aquarium. 



Buffalo. — Buhalichthys bubalus. Agassiz. 



One of the largest of the suckers icatostomidcE) found in the 

 Ohio River, and in many Western waters. An excellent food fish. 



SCIENID^. 



Malasheganay ; sheepshead. — Corvina richardsonii. — Cuv. and Val. 



This species is common in Lake Huron where it is highly 

 prized as food, and also occurs in Lake Erie. It is taken with 

 crayfish, on which it principally feeds. Length from one to two 

 feet. Color, grey with dark transverse bands above ; sides silvery ; 

 abdomen yellowish. The sheepshead of Lake Pepin is not valued 

 as food. 



SILURID^. 



There are but two species of catfish found in the west — the 

 Mud Cat and the Lake or Channel Cat. The former is worthless, 

 but the latter, which is common in the waters of the Upper 

 Mississippi, is universally regarded as a fine and healthy food 

 fish, and is much sought for by many. It is of a dark brown 

 color, sometimes nearly black ; attains a large size, occasionally 

 weighing as much as a hundred pounds, taken with hook and line, 

 with any kind of bait from a piece of wheat dough to any piece of 

 meat. Beef's liver is a favorite bait. On the hook they are strong and 

 most obstinate, and will often carry away the very strongest tackle. 



