28 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY III. 



SILURDXaS. 



Grenus AMIURUS Rqfinesque. 

 36. AMIURUS BRUNNEUS Jordan. 



Amiurus platycephalus COPE (1870), Proc. Am. Philos. Soc, 485. (Not Fimelodus plaly- 



cephalas Grd.) 

 Amiurus Irnnneus JORDAN (1870), Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. 366. 



This is the common cat-fish of the Saluda, and is known as the Mad 

 Cat. Adult specimens reach a length of abont 18 inches, and bear little 

 resemblance to the young, from which the species was first described. 

 The adults are extremely elongate, nearly terete behind ; ,with flat, thin, 

 broad heads. In color, they are of a more or less clear yellowish-green, 

 more distinctly green than is any other species. The name " Itrunneus" 

 only applies well to the young. The species may be known from the 

 related A. platycephalus by the more elongate form, the shorter anal fin 

 (10 to 18 rays instead of 20), and by the mouth, which is somewhat 

 inferior, the lower jaw being much the shorter, while in A. platycephalus 

 the jaws are equal. The color is also different in the two species. A. 

 platycephalus is yellowish, dark above, and more or less marbled on the 

 sides with darker, resembling, in that respect, A. marmoratus. In A. 

 brunneits, the caudal fin is usually unequal, the upper lobe being the 

 longer, and the rudimentary caudal rays are unusually numerous. A 

 specimen nearly a foot long had the alimentary canal four times the 

 length of the body, and filled with Podostemon ceraiophyllum. The 

 stomach contained eight adult males of Codoma pyrrhomelas. 



As Professor Cope counted 17 anal rays in his " platycephalus''^ it is 

 likely that he had this species instead of Girard's, which has pretty uni- 

 formly 20 or 21 rays. Both Amiurus brunneus and platycephalus are 

 valued as food. 



37. AMIURUS PLATYCEPHALUS (Girard) Gill 



Plmelodus plaiyceplialus GIRARD (1859), Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 160. 



Many specimens of this species were taken in Bannister's mill-pond, 

 on the Ennoree. The fishermen confound it with the preceding under 

 the name of Mud Cat, but the species may be readily distinguished by 

 the characters given above. 



A "Blue Cat* 7 is said to occur in the Saluda, but we obtained no 

 specimens. 



