S3 



A singular species which I have ne?er seen. I describe it- 

 from a drawing of Mr. Audubon. It is found in the lower 

 part of the Ohio, and is called Buffalo Carp, Buffalo perch, 

 Buffalo Sucker, White Buffalo-fish, Sec. Length about one 

 foot. Very good to eat. Taken with the seine in the spring on- 

 ly. Body broad, dorsal fin broad and large, remarkable by its 

 shape like a double sickle, and first ray which reaches the tail- 

 Anal fin small and falcate. Pectoral fins reaching the abdomi- 

 nal fins. The number of abdominal rays was not observed, if 

 it should have nine it would be nearer to C. Vclifcr and C. sc to- 

 *ns, or it may form a peculiar subgenus. 



The C. tuberculatus of Lcsueur belongs also to this subge- 

 nus, having eight abdominal rays; but its tail is regularly bifid. 

 2d Subgenus Ictiobus. 

 Body nearly cylindrical. Dorsal fin elongated, abdominal 

 fins with nine rays, tail bilobed, commonly equal. 



The C. gibbosus and C. Com?nu?ris,oi Lesucur, appear to be 

 intermediate between this subgenus and the foregoing, haying 

 nine abdominal rays, but an unequal bilobed tail. 



55th Species. Brown Buffalo-fish Catostomus bubalus, 

 Catostome bubale. _____ _. 



Diameter^one fifth ofthg total length; olivaceous brown, pale 

 beneath, fins Mackj^jwactc-ral fjns brown and short: head slo- 

 ping, snout rounded, cheeks whitish: lateral line straight, dor- 

 sal fin narrow with 23 equal rays, anal trapezoidal with 12 rays. 

 One of the finest fishes of the Ohio, common also in the 

 Mississippi, Missouri, and their tributary streams. It is called 

 •very where Buffalo-fish, and Pboneau, by the French settlers 

 of Louisiana. I had called it Amblodon bubalus in my 70 N. 

 G. of American Animals, having been misled by the common 

 mistake which ascribed to it the teeth of the Amblodon gnaini- 

 ens; but it is a real Catostcmus, without any such teeth. Length 

 from two to three feet; some have been taken weighing thir- 

 ty pounds and upwards. It is commonly taken with the dart 

 at night when asleep, or in the seine; it does not readily bite at 

 the hook. It feeds on smaller fishes and shells, and often goes 

 in shoals. It retires into deep water in the winter, yet is some] 

 times taken even then. It comes as far as Pittsburgh. Its flesji 



