Popular Bottom Fresh=Water Fish 



tion, being found in ponds, lakes, and streams 

 all over the United States and Canada. It multi- 

 plies so rapidly in any kind of water that it soon 

 clears out all edible matter which would be useful 

 food for better fish. This species reaches a maxi- 

 mum length of eighteen inches and a weight of 

 four pounds, but the average size of market speci- 

 mens is much smaller. There are 

 ?nd "^Specres ^^^y species of this family, each re- 

 joicing in a number of names, the 

 largest kind being the lake catfish, which is some- 

 times caught in the Mississippi River weighing 

 over one hundred pounds. In Lake Erie, specimens 

 have been taken up to fifty pounds. The United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries propagates and distrib- 

 utes the most valuable members of the family, the 

 channel catfish, spotted cat, yellow cat, black 

 cat, marbled cat, blue cat, black bull-head, and 

 the pout. They are all dull, slow-moving fish, 

 but when hooked are surprisingly lively. 



The catfish are a hardy race, and are very 



tenacious of life, opening and shutting their 



mouths half an hour after their heads have been 



severed, and so prolific that, in some places, the 



water seems a living mass of fish. When the 



mature fish grow to a large size they feed on the 



young of their own species if their food is scarce. 



Many instances are recorded where a 



small fish having been hooked, a larger 



fish has taken it and swallowed it, and so got 



caught. The catfish retains its freshness much 



longer than any other fish, and it has compara- 



95 



