Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 137 



Subgenus HAUSTOR, Jordan & Evermann. 

 209. AMEIURU& LACFSTRIS, (Walbaum.) 



(CATFISH OF THE LAKES ; GREAT FORK-TAILED CAT ; MISSISSIPPI CAT ; FLORIDA CAT ; FLANNEL 



MOUTH CAT; MATHEMEG, OR UGLY PISH.) 



Head 4 in length; depth 5; distance to dorsal spine 2^. D. I, 5; P. I, 

 9; A. 28 (25 to 32). Body rather stouter, head much broader, lower, 

 and more depressed than in Ictalurus punctatus, its greatest width $ 

 its length. Interorbital space somewhat more than the length of head. 

 Width of the mouth about i head. Eye moderate, wholly in front of 

 middle point of head. Top of head covered with a thicker skin than in 

 2>unctatu8, so that the bones are nearly concealed. Upper surface of the 

 head quite nattish; so that the eyes are much nearer the upper than the 

 lower surface of the head. Barbels long, all black, the maxillary barbel 

 reaching beyond head. Humeral process very short and blunt, covered 

 by skin, a little more than & the length of the pectoral spine. Caudal 

 deeply forked, the upper lobe rather longer and narrower than the lower ; 

 dorsal a little nearer snout than adipose fin. Anal base as long as head. 

 Olivaceous slaty, growing darker with age; sides pale, without dark 

 spots ; anal dusky edged. Saskatchewan River and Great Lakes to 

 Florida and Texas ; abundant in all large bodies of water, especially 

 in the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. One of the largest of the cat- 

 fishes, reaching a weight of 150 pounds or more, (lacustris, living in 

 lakes.) 



Gadus lacustris, WALBAUM, Artedi Pise., 1792, 144, Arctic America, based on the Mathemeg, 



or Land Cod, of Pennant. 



Pimelodus nigricam, LE SUEUR, Mem. Mus., v, 153, 1819, Lake Erie; Lake Ontario. 

 Pimelodm nigrescens, RICHARDSON, Fauna. Bor. Amer., in, 1836, 134, after Le Sueur. 

 Pimelodus borealis, RICHARDSON, I. c., 135, 1836, Pine Island Lake. 

 Amiurtis borealis, GUNTHER, Cat., v, 100,18(54; JORDAN, 7. c., 84,1877. 

 Iclalurus lacustris, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 108, 1883. 



Amiurus ponderosm, * BEAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1879, 286, St. Louis. (Type, 23388.) 

 Ictalurus ponderosus, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 189, 1883. 

 Ictalurus nigricam, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 882, 1883. 



210. AMEIURUS LUPUS, (Girard). 



Anal 23. Body rather slender. Head narrow, longer than broad, its 

 width 4f in length, being less than its length above. Dorsal spine much 

 nearer snout than adipose fin. Base of anal longer than head. Pectoral 

 spines long and slender, dentate. Barbels long. Supraoccipital bone 

 almost meeting the interspinal ; the relations of the species therefore very 

 close to Ictalurus punctatus. Dusky olivaceous, sides silvery. Rio Nueces 

 and Rio Pecos, Texas ; a rather doubtful species, apparently intermediate 

 between Ictalurus punctatus and Ameiurus catus. (lupus, wolf.) 



Pimelodm lupus, GIRARD, Pac. R. R. Expl., x. 211, 1858, Rio Pecos; JORDAN, I. c., 83, 1877; 



GUNTHER, Cat., v, 101,1864. 

 Tctalurus lupus, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 107, 1883. 



* Amiurm ponderosus, Bean, described from the Mississippi River at St. Louis from a sporimcn 

 5 feet long, weighing 150 pounds, is probably a giant example of this species, from which it 

 differs only in the presence of 35 anal rays. In 4 specimens, which \ve refer to A. lacustris, 

 we count 25, 27, 28, and '.'>'l rays. We see no reason for doubting the identity of the "Land Coil." 

 or Mathemeg of the Hudson Bay region, with Ameiurus nigricam. This northern species, called 

 borealis by Richardson, is the original lacustris of Walbaum. 



