SUNFISH^ CARP, CATFISH AND SUCKERS. 181 



The buffalo fish is found in the Mississippi and its 

 branches. It grows to a weight of fifteen pounds. It is 

 caught by still fishing with somewhat heavier tackle, baited 

 with worms. The large mouthed buffalo is found in the 

 Mississippi also, as well as in other large rivers of the 

 South and central portion of the United States. It reaches 

 a weight of fifty pounds. Heavier, stronger tackle must 

 be used for them. The red horse is also called a mullet 

 It resembles the white sucker somewhat but is brown in 

 color. Suckers are not highly esteemed as food fish but 

 the white sucker taken^from swift, hard-bottomed streams is 

 not at all bad. 



The White Sucker. 



The only other bottom-feeding fish that I will mention is 

 the eel. This is the strangest fish inhabiting fresh water 

 and appears to be the connecting link between the fishes and 

 something else. It is long, slender and cylindrical, usually 

 being about two and a half feet long and only one and a 

 half inches in diameter at the thickest part. The dorsal, anal 

 and candal fins are all in one, commencing about the middle 

 of the back and running clear around the tail to the under 

 side and well forward. It has no scales, but a very tough 

 skin. The color is slaty on the back and white beneath 

 Some are yellow on the sides and in under. 



