70 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



are of no economic value. The characters of the genus have been indicated in 

 the foregoing key. The three species known from North Carolina may be dis- 

 tinguished as follows: 



i. Pectoral spines about half length of head, with posterior sense short, their length not . 5 



width of spines; vertical fins with broad black edges insignis. 



ii. Pectoral spines more than . 5 length of head, with recurved posterior serrse nearly as long 

 as spines are wide. 

 a. Color nearly plain brownish, with faint blotches; dorsal black at tip; maxillary barbels 



not reaching gill-opening deutherus. 



aa.. Color light brown, with distinct black saddle-like blotches; fins mottled with black; maxil- 

 lary barbels reaching to gill-opening furiosus. 



(Schilbeodes, like Schilbe, a genus of African cat-fishes.) 



39. SCHILBEODES INSIGNIS (Richardson). 



Mad-tom. 



Pimelodus insiffne Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, iii, 32, 1836; (type locality not known). 



Noturus marginatus, Cope, 18706, 484; Catawba and Yadkin rivers. 



Noturus insignis, Jordan, 18896, 125, 127, 131, 134, 136; Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear, Yadkin, Catawba rivers. Ever- 



maon & Cox, 1896, 304; Neuse River. 

 Schilbeodes insignis, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 147, pi. xxviii, fig. 66. 



Diagnosis. — Form elongate, depth .16 total length; headbroad, flat, contained 4. 25 times 

 in length; upper jaw projecting; humeral process sharp; dorsal fin .25 higher than long, nearer 

 anal than snout; anal rays 14 to 16; pectoral spine .5 length of head, with retrorse teeth 

 on external surface and simple, weak teeth on internal surface. Color: dark mottled brown, 

 fins with broad dark margins, (insignis, distinguished.) 



This species inhabits streams on the eastern slope of the Alleghany moun- 

 tains from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, and is abundant and widely distrib- 

 uted in North Carolina, having been recorded from the Tar, Neuse, Yadkin, 

 Catawba, and Cape Fear rivers. It is the largest mad-tom, reaching a length of 

 1 foot. 



40. SCHILBEODES ELEUTHERUS (Jordan.) 



Mad-tom. 



Noturus elffiUherus JoTda.n, Annals New York Lyceum Natural History 1877, 371; Big Pigeon River, Tennessee, 



tributary of French Broad River. Jordan, 18896 , 151; French Broad River at Hot Springs, N. C. 

 Schilbeodes eleutherv3, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 148; French Broad River. 



Diagnosis. — -Head broad, depressed, a little more than .25 total length; lower jaw in- 

 cluded; eye contained 5.5 times in length of head; anal rays 13; pectoral spine stout, . 5 length 

 of head or longer, the outer margin with retrorse teeth, the inner edge with 6 to 8 curved hooks 

 Color: brown, with fine dark dots and black blotches on back; dorsal fin black at tip. (eleu- 

 therus, free.) 



Peculiar to the Mississippi basin, and recorded from North Carolina only in 

 the French Broad River at Hot Springs, where Dr. Jordan obtained one young 

 specimen in 1888. Length, 4 inches. 



