THE CATFISH OR BULL-HLAD. 377 
I am indebted to President Jordan, of Indiana University, for the 
following remarks upon this group: 
‘The Catfishes are voracious and indiscriminate feeders, any kind of 
animal substance, living or dead, being greedily swallowed by them. They 
are also (especially the species of Amiurus) extremely tenacious of life, 
living for a long time out of water, and being able to resist impurities 
in the water better than any other of our food fishes. They spawn in 
spring, and the female fish keeps a watch over the school of young, much 
as a hen takes care of chickens. The Catfishes are especially adapted for 
stocking ponds and sluggish streams with muddy bottoms, which become 
partly dry in summer, bodies of water not suited for the more aristocratic 
trout and bass.” 
THE CHANNEL OR BLUE CAT, 
The Channel Cat or Blue Cat, /ctalurus punctatus, abounds in all the 
larger Western and Southern streams, living in the river channels. It 
reaches a weight of five to ten pounds and is readily salable, but its flesh 
is not better than that of its less attractive relatives. It takes the hook 
readily. This species is abundant in the St. John’s River, Florida. In 
1878 many were taken near the bar at Mayport in brackish water. For 
table use they are much more highly esteemed than the Mud Catfish. 
The Great Mississippi Cat, /ctalurus ponderosus, the largest of our Cat- 
fish, is found in the Mississippi, and probably in its larger tributaries, 
where it reaches a weight of about one hundred and fifty pounds. Little 
distinctive is known of its habits, which probably agree with those of the 
next species. ‘ 
The Great Lake Catfish, /ctalurus nigricans, the most abundant of the 
large Catfishes, abounds in the Great Lakes and in the larger streams of 
