184 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



THE BROWN CATFISH. 



Pl.MELODUS PULLUS. 

 PLATE XXXVn. FIG. 117. — (STATE COLLECTION.) 



Characteristics. Pectorals pointed. Ventrals subacute. Caudal fin emarginate. Length 

 nine to twelve inches. 



Description. Hj;ad flattened, with a granular surface above ; its length compared to the 

 total length, is as one to four and a half. The upper jaw slightly the longest. Lateral line 

 shghtly concave under the dorsal fin, and then straight. Breadth of the head slightly less 

 than its length. Eyes small, two-tenths of an inch in diameter, and far apart. Nostrils 

 double ; the posterior pair half an inch apart, patent, oval, with an erectile cirrus on their 

 anterior margins ; the anterior pair subtubular, and near the edge of the jaws. A long cirrus, 

 stout and fleshy at its base, at each angle of the jaws, and an inch and a half long. A pair 

 of slender cirri 0*6 long, on the summit of the head; four others under the lower jaw, 

 arranged in a curved line an inch in extent ; the internal pair shortest, and all slender. 

 Humeral bone with a blunt spine over the pectoral, and a short obtuse angular projection 

 beneath. Mouth very ample and dilatable. A band of small recurved teeth in each jaw, 

 broadest in the centre, and diminishing to a point on the sides. Vomer and palatines smooth. 

 Two rounded patches of minute recurved teeth in the upper pharyngeals ; opposite to them, 

 a few scattering minute teeth. 



The dorsal fin commences half an inch posterior to a point vertical to the origin of the pec- 

 torals, subquadrate, and a little more than an inch high. Its first ray is a robust spine, 

 slightly serrated on its posterior margin, and much shorter than the remaining rays. Adipose 

 fin rounded, and opposite the termination of the anal fin. Pectorals placed low down, and in 

 advance of the posterior angle of the opercle ; its spine stout and pointed, with its anterior 

 and posterior margins serrated, and its upper and under surfaces corrugated : the spine is 

 shorter than the four following rays. Ventrals somewhat pointed, and originate at a point 

 three-tenths of an inch behind the end of the first dorsal. Anal fin with seventeen rays, an 

 inch and a half long, and six-tenths of an inch high. Caudal fin slightly but distinctly emar- 

 ginate ; the accessory rays indistinct. Vent with a double orifice. 



Color. A uniform dusky brown above, approaching to black ; beneath bluish white. Fins 

 and cirri black ; the former tinged with red. 



Length, 9-0; of the head, 2-0. 



Fin rays, D. 1.5.0; P. 1.7; V. 8 ; A. 17; C. 19. f 



This is very common in Lake Pleasant, Lake Janet, and many of the other lakes in the 

 northern districts of the State. There are many varieties in its markings, and it occasionally 

 exceeds a foot in length. Its principal use in those regions appears to be, to serve as bait for 

 the lake trout. 



