338 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



CATOSTOMID/E. 



Red Horse or Lake Sucker. — Myxostoma ntacroUpidotum. 

 A large red-finned sucker weigBing from one to six pounds. 

 Often eaten fresh, but much better corned ; very bony. They are 

 quite a handsome fish, hke many of the family. It is taken only 

 with spear, seine and snare — the latter method the best. In very 

 hot, sultry days they swarm by the acre, playing, jumping and 

 tumbling on or so near the surface as to be plainly seen. In 

 Lake Pepin they are described as so numerous that not a foot 

 of water for acres in extent is undisturbed. They spawn early 

 in spring. The young are much valued for bait, and are well 

 adapted for the aquarium. 



Buffalo. — Ichthyobus bubalus. — Agassiz. 

 One of the largest of the suckers {catostomidtz) found in the 

 Ohio River, and in many Western waters. An excellent food fish. 

 There are thirty or forty varieties of this tribe. 



SCIAENID^. 



Sheepshead, drum, croaker, thunder-pumper. — Haploldonotus-^unniens. 

 This species is common in Lake Huron where it is highly 

 prized as food, and also occurs in Lake Erie. It is taken with 

 crayfish, on which it principally feeds. Length from one to two 

 feet. Color, grey with dark transverse bands above ; sides sil- 

 very; abdomen yellowish. The sheepshead generally is not 

 valued as food. 



SILURIDiE. 



Jordan names /ourteen species of catfish found in Ohio alone. 

 The best of the kind in the whole west are the Lake and Chan- 

 nel cats, known by different local names, and are universally 

 regarded as a fine and healthy food fish, and are much sought 

 for by many. In color they are 'blue, brown, yellow, and some- 

 times nearly black; attain a large size, occasionally weighing 

 as much as a hundred pounds; taken with hook and line, with 

 any kind of bait from a piece of wheat dough to any piece of meat. 

 Beefs liver is a "favorite bait. On the hook they are strong and 

 most obstinate, and will often carry away the very strongest tackle. 



