33^ REPORT OF THE 



\3t0ne CSit,— Sc/i!/l?eodes £-j'rirnes (Mitchill). 



The genus Schilbeodes includes those small catfishes, about a dozen species, which 

 have the adipose fin continuous with the caudal fin, which have a poison gland at 

 the base of the pectoral spine, which are of very small size, and which are usually 

 found in shallow water on rocky or gravelly beds. None of the species exceeds a 

 few inches in length, usually not more than 3 or 4. The pectoral spine is usually 

 strong and strongly serrated, and capable of inflicting a severe wound, which becomes 

 very painful on account of the poison from the gland at the base of the spine. 



All the species of the genus are doubtless used to some extent for bait, but the 

 Stone Cat is the only one in New York State which is used for that purpose. This 

 species occurs from the Hudson River westward through the region of the Great 

 Lakes, thence southward in the Mississippi Valley to northern Alabama. It Avas 

 originally described by Mitchill from the Wallkill River. 



This, like other small catfishes, is of but little value in trolling, but it is some- 

 times used in still-fishing for bass. 



Head 4 to 5)^; depth 3I/2 to 4; A. 13. Body comparatively short and thick; 

 head large, its width 3^/ to 4^4 in length of body ; spines stout and rather long, 

 that of the pectoral fin straight, not serrated, grooved behind, 2^^ in the distance 

 from snout to origin of dorsal fin ; dorsal higher than long, inserted nearer anal than 

 snout; jaws nearly equal ; humeral process short. 



Color, nearly uniform yellowish brown, sometimes blackish, without transverse 

 blotches; a narrow dark lateral streak and one or more dorsal ones. 



Common Fine-scaled ^QCl^er,— Catostomus commersonU (Lacep^de). 



The young of practically all the species of the sucker family {Catostoinidce) are 

 used more or less as bait in angling for freshwater game fishes. This includes not 

 only young suckers proper, but the young of those species known as redhorse, fresh- 

 water mullet, quillbacks, and buffalo. The species most often used is the Common 

 or Fine-scaled Sucker, also known as White Sucker, Black Sucker, and Brook Sucker. 

 This sucker is found in streams, ponds, and lakes from Quebec westward through 

 the Great Lakes to Montana and Colorado, and southward in the Mississippi Valley 

 to Arkansas and Georgia. It is the commonest of the suckers and is exceed- 

 ingly abundant from Massachusetts to Kansas, especially in the smaller streams. It 

 occurs in probably all the waters of New York. 



The small "June Sucker" of the Adirondacks described from Blue Mountain 



