SILUBLD^E. CX. 329 



in length; dorsal region not especially elevated; spines 

 long; coloration of the others, bluish silvery, young 

 spotted with olive. New York to South Carolina, West 

 to the Rocky Mountains and Mexico, very abundant. 

 It has been described under some twenty-three different 

 specific names. [I. ccerulescens, (Raf.) Gill.] 



2. AMIURUS, Rafinesque. CAT FISHES. 



* Caudal fin forked, its lower lobe the larger ; upper jaw longest ; 



colors more or less olivaceous or silvery, 

 f Anal fin elongate, of 23 to 28 rays. 

 a. Head rather broad ; anal rays 25 or 26. 



1. A. nigricans, (LeS.) Gill. GREAT FORK -TAILED 

 CAT. CAT FISH OP THE LAKES. MISSISSIPPI CAT, 

 FLORIDA CAT. GREAT BLUE CAT. Head comparatively 

 small, 4^ in length, its width 5; barbels long; spines 

 short and stout, serrated; body rather low and moder- 

 ately stout; colors dark, mottled with paler; size very 

 large. Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley and South to 

 Florida, much the largest of our cat fishes, reaching a 

 weight of 100 to 200 ft>s. 



CM. Head narrow, decidedly longer than broad 

 f Anal rays 23 or 24. 



2. A. lupus, (Grd.) Gthr. Caudal fin deeply furcate; 

 head narrow, longer than broad; anal rays 23 or 24; 

 pectoral spines long and slender, dentate; barbels long; 

 depth about 5 in length; body rather slender; head nar- 

 rowed, its width 4f in length, being less than its length 

 above; distance from snout to dorsal spine 1^- to 1^ in 

 distance from dorsal spine to adipose fin; base of anal 

 as long as head. The species strongly resembles the 

 species of Ichthcelurus, and is almost intermediate 

 between the two genera, the supraoccipital bone being 



