270 CATFISHES 



our series, all save four are confined to the eastern half of 

 the United States. 



THE MISSISSIPPI CATFISH/ or BLUE CAT, of the Mis- 

 sippi River and Gulf states is the giant of its genus. Even 

 when alive and in good health, it is a very ugly fish heavy - 

 paunched and mud-colored. It looks like a fish modelled out 

 of river mud. I saw a specimen taken at Burlington, Iowa, 

 which weighed 93 pounds, and have heard of others exceed- 

 ing 100 pounds. Jordan and Evermann say the "record 

 specimen weighed 150 pounds," and was caught at St. Louis; 

 but the mischievous evenness of the figure casts doubt upon 

 the reliability of the record. 



Very naturally, the tons of edible flesh annually contrib- 

 uted by this fish to our national food supply are not wasted. 

 Thousands of persons like the flesh of Catfish and bullheads, 

 and in twelve months of 1899-1901, twenty-six states and 

 six great lakes yielded twelve and a half million pounds, 

 worth $503,562. Illinois headed the list with 1,569,615 

 pounds, worth $68,535. 



THE CHANNEL CATFISH 2 is the large Catfish of the North, 

 and also the Mississippi Valley, which so closely resembles 

 the preceding species that it is at best very difficult and 

 sometimes impossible to distinguish them. It is, however, 

 much smaller than the blue cat, and instead of frequenting 

 sluggish waters, it displays a decided preference for river 

 channels and clear water when it can be found. Naturally 

 enough, its flesh is said to be of better flavor than the more 

 sluggish, mud-inhabiting blue cat. 



1 Ic-tu-lu'rus fur-ca'tus. * Ic-tu-lu'rus punc-ta'tus. 



