24 CHECK LIST OF THE 



(14) Stone Catfish. 



(Noturus flavus.) 



Body moderately elongate ; head broad and flat ; barbels short, longer 

 barbel on chin not quite half as long as the head ; nasal barbel when laid 

 back reaches end of eye. The low adipose fin begins over the anal origin 

 and continues into the caudal ; in adult specimens it is deeply notched. 

 Caudal fin rounded. Pectoral spine retrorse serrate in front, roughish 

 behind. Colour nearly uniform yellowish brown. 



Length about twelve inches. 



D. L, 6; A., 16; V., 9; P. I., 9. 



This species appears to be generally distributed through the Lake 

 Ontario and Erie waters, but is not abundant. It is an unpleasant fish to 

 handle because of the painful wounds produced by its pectoral spines. 

 There is a minute pore at the base of the pectoral spine which is the outlet 

 of a noxious fluid secreted by a poison gland. When this poison is dis- 

 charged into a wound it causes a very painful sore. 



GENUS SCHILBEODES. 



Body moderately elongate, rounded anteriorly, compressed posteriorly ; 

 head flat ; skin very thick, concealing bones of head ; superoccipital not 

 joined to the head of the second interspinal ; mouth large, anterior, the 

 upper jaw somewhat the longer ; awl-shaped teeth in broad bands in the 

 jaws, the band in the upper jaw abruptly truncate at each end and not 

 prolonged into a backward extension as in Noturus ; branchiostegals nine ; 

 dorsal fin nearer to ventrals than to pectorals, with a short spine and 

 seven rays ; adipose fin long and low, adnate to the body and continuous 

 with the caudal fin, the adipose membrane sometimes high and continuous, 

 sometimes emarginate ; caudal fin very obliquely truncated or rounded, its 

 base also obliquely rounded ; many rudimentary rays both above and below 

 the caudal peduncle ; anal fin short, with twelve to twenty-three rays ; 

 ventrals rounded ; pectoral fins with a sharp spine of varying form ; vent 

 well in front of anal fin ; lateral line complete. A poison gland opening 

 by an orifice in the axil of the pectoral. Wounds caused by the pectoral 

 spines are exceedingly painful. 



SUBGENUS SCHILBEODES. 



(15) Tadpole Stone Cat. Mad Tom. 



(Schilbeodes gyrinus.) 



Body short and stout, sloping rapidly downward from the dorsal 

 origin to the tip of the snout. Head short, broad and depressed, its width 

 nearly equal to its length ; jaws nearly equal ; snout short ; eye small. The 

 maxillary barbel reaches to the base of the pectoral ; the outer mandibulary 



