siLURiD^. yy 



25. NOTURUS FLAVUS, Rafinesqiie. 



Yello-w Stone Cat— Common Stone Cat. 



(Figs. 54 and 55.) 



Noturus flavus, Eaf. (1818), Am. Monthly Mag. and Critical Keview, p. 41; (lS-20), Ich. 

 Oh. (58.— KiRTLAND (1838), Eept. Zuol. Ohio, 169, 195 ; (1846). Bost. Joura. Nat. 

 Hist, iv, 336.— Stoker (1846), Synopsis, 406.— Gill (1862), Proc. Bost. Hoc. Nac. 

 Hist. 45.— Cope (1864), Proc. Acad. Nat, Sci. Phila. 277; (1869), Jonrn. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Phila. 237.— GiJNTHER (1864), Cat. Fishes, v, 104.— Uhler & Lugger 

 (1876), Fishes Maryland, 151.— Jordan (1877), Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. — 



Noturus luteus^ Rap. (1819), Journ. de Physique, 421. 



Noturus occidentalis, Gill (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc.Nat. Hist. 45: 1876), Ca.pt. ? Simpson's 

 Eept. 423.— Jordan & Copeland (1876), Check List, 160. 



Noturus plaUjceplialus, Gunther (1864), Catalogue Fishes, v, 104.— Jordan «& Cope- 

 land (1876), Check List, 160. 



Eal)itat. — Vermont and Canada to Yirgiuia, Ohio Valley and Mis- 

 souri Eegion. 



It is not quite certain which species served as the type of Rafinesque's 

 "/?aws". Three distinct species occur about the Falls of the Ohio, 

 flavus, stalls, and miurus. Of these, ^'■flavus'^'' is tbe most abundant 

 in the* immediate neighborhood of the river, the others preferring clearer 

 water than is found in most of the streams near the falls. Rafinesque 

 speaks of his flavus as being entirely yellowish, and as reaching the 

 length of a foot. Miurus is never yellowish; and neither'wiMnts nor 

 sialis, so far as I know, reach a length of more than six inches. More- 

 over, the flavus of Kirtland, Cope, and of most writers, is the spe- 

 cies now under consideration. 



N. occidentalis Gill I also consider the same. There is nothing in the 

 description to indicate difference, and, on examination of specimens 

 supposed to be the original types of occidentalis, I am unable to find any 

 distinctive characters whatever. Like Ichthcelurtis punctatus and Ami- 

 urus lividus, the Noturus flavus is a species of wide geographical range, 

 and its occurrence in Nebraska is not surprising. 



N. platycephalus Gtinther is evidently the same as flavus. N. occiden- 

 talis GUnther is based on specimens of Ifoturus marginatus, sent by the 

 Smithsonian Institution to the Britisli Museum, Prof. Gill informs me. 



I have examined specimens, which I refer to flavus, from Saint Law- 

 rence River, New York, from Lake Champlain, from the Potomac River, 

 from the Ohio River in West Virginia, in Ohio, and in Indiana, from the 

 Miami, White, and Wabash Rivers, from the Missouri River, from Lake 

 Michigan, and from Platte River. 



