136 FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

fish of the same family. In the southern states the name drum is gen- 
erally applied to the species, and in addition the terms thunder pumper, 
gaspergou and jewel-head are used. Gaspergou is a term used in 
Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.. The names drum, croaker and thunder 
pumper have reference to certain sounds produced by the fish either by 
means of its air bladder or by grinding together the large molar-like 
teeth in the pharynx. The name jewel head probably refers to the 
otoliths or earbones, frequently called lucky stones, which are found in 
the skull of this species. In Texas, adjacent to Mexican territory, occurs 
the name gaspagie, a variation of the name gaspergou. 
The fresh-water drum is widely distributed; it occurs in Lake Cham- 
plain and the entire Great Lake region, the Ohio and Mississippi val- 
leys southward to Texas. It is found principally in large streams and 
lakes and rarely enters creeks and small rivers. In western Texas the 
species is rare. In the wilds of Texas, New Mexico and northern Mexico 
Mr. Turpe has found this fish in clear limestone streams emptying into 
the Rio Grande. 
This species is usually found on the bottom, where it feeds chiefly on 
crustaceans and mollusks and sometimes small fishes. It is especially 
fond of crawfish and small shells such as Cyclas and Paludina. Mr. 
Turpe mentions water plants as forming part of its food and states that 
it will take a hook baited with worms or small minnows. 
The fresh-water drum grows to a leneth of four feet and a weight of 
sixty pounds, but the average market specimens rarely exceed two feet 
in length and in many parts of the West much smaller ones are preferred. 
Nothing is recorded about the breeding habits of this species, and as to 
its edible qualities there is the greatest difference of opinion. Some 
writers claim that its flesh is tough and coarse with a disagreeable odor, 
especially in the Great Lakes. Individuals from the Ohio river and 
from more southern streams are fairly good food fish, while in Texas 
Mr. Turpe considers it one of the most excellent of the fresh-water 
fishes, comparing favorably with black bass. Mr. Robert Ridgway of 
the National Museum at Washington, pronounces the species from the 
Wabash river in Indiana, a fine table fish although, he says, other people 
there consider it inferior. Richardson described what is supposed to 
be a deformed specimen of this drum under the name of malashegany, 
which he had from Lake Huron. He described it as a firm, white, well- 
tasting fish, but never fat and requiring much boiling. 
Famiry COTTIDA (Tue Scurrrys). 
Genus URANIDEA Dekay. ; 
154. Uranidea richardsoni Grrarp. 
The Miller’s Thumb. (figure 74.) 
The body is robust with a broad and rather short head; the preopercular spine 
short and sharp, nearly straight, turned upward and backward ; two smaller spines 
