THE SUCKERS. 615 



it readies a length of two feet or more. In small brooks it is mature at eight or ten inches. It is 

 a soft, poor fish. It varies much in size, color, and form in the different streams. It bites at a 

 small hook baited with a \\cum. and is one of the numerous tribe of boy's fish which may be found 

 on every urchin's string. 



All tin- lakes and rivers of the Rocky Mountain region and the Pacific slope are inhabited 

 liy one or more species of this genus, or of the allied genera Chaamistes and Pantosteus. In Utah 

 Lake, said to be the "greatest Sucker-pond in the world," are found Catostomus fecundun and 

 ardent, Chasmintes liorus and Pantosteus platyrhynchus, all in abundance. In Lake Tahoe, Cato- 

 utonius tahtHJntut; in the Sacramento C. occidental; in the Columbia C. macrochilus; in Klamath 

 Lake, Chanmistfx I it.ru tun and Ch. brevirostris, abound, while in the Great Lakes and all waters 

 thence to Alaska and the Arctic Ocean C. longirostri* is an important food fish. The Stone- 

 roller or Hammer head Sucker, Catostomvs nigricang, abounds in most waters from the Great Lakes 

 southward. The Stone-roller is extremely abundant in every running stream in the North and 

 West, where its singular, almost comical form is familiar to every school-boy. It delights in rapids 

 and shoals, preferring cold and clear water. Its powerful pectorals render it a swifter swimmer 

 than any other of its family. Its habit is to rest motionless on the bottom, where its mottled 

 colors render it difficult to distinguish from the stones among which it lies. When disturbed it 

 darts away very quickly, after the manner of the etheostomoids. They often go in small schools. 

 I have never found this fish in really muddy water, and when placed in the aquarium it is the first 

 fish to die as the water becomes foul. Although called the "Mud Sucker" in the books, it is most 

 characteristically a fish of the running streams. This species reaches a length of about two feet, 

 and is often caught in its spawning season by means of a spear or snare. It is, like C. Commersoni, 

 a "boy's fish," and not worth the eating. 



THE BLACK HORSE CYCLEPTUS ELONGATUS (Le S.) Ag. 



The "Black Horse," "Gourd-seed Sucker," "Missouri Sucker," or "Suckerel" is found chiefly 

 in the river channels of the Ohio and Mississippi. It reaches a considerable size, weighing five to 

 twelve pounds, and is said to be a much finer fish in flesh than any other of its family. The writer 

 has had no opportunity of testing this. 



THE CABP SUCKER CARPIODES CYPRINUS. 



The different species (Ictiolnis cyprinus, carpio, etc.) known as "Carp," "Carp Suckers," 

 " Spear-fish," " Sail-fish," " Quill-back," etc., abound in all the larger bodies of water south and 

 west of New York as far as the Rio Grande. The species are probably but two in number, very 

 similar. They reach a weight of four or five pounds, and form an abundant but not excellent food. 



THE BUFFALO-FISHES. 



The three species known as " Buffalo-fishes" (Ictiobus bubalus, urus, and cyprinella) are found 

 mainly in the river channels of the Mississippi and its tributaries. They are the largest of the 

 Suckers, reaching a weight of fifteen pounds or more. In the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys they 

 form a largo percentage of the food-fish consumed. They usually bring a better price than the 

 smaller Suckers, excepting the Black Horse, but at the best they are coarse, poor fishes, the flesh 

 being full of small bones and scarcely worth the trouble of picking. The Buffalo- fishes are found 

 by Professor Forbes to feed on small crustaceans more than do the other Suckers, and less on 

 moll asks. 



