i68 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE ^lUSEU:^!. 



ventral 2j4 ', caudal 1^/7 ; least depth of caudal peduncle 2 J^ ; base 

 of anal 1%. Body rather elongate, compressed. Head de- 

 pressed, profile broadly rounded when viewed above. Snout 

 broad, depressed, and profile rounded. Eye small, elongate and 

 anterior. Mouth broadly crescent-shaped with upper jaw pro- 

 truding a little. Teeth fine, in rather broad bands in jaw. Max- 

 illary barbel reaching near first third of pectoral. Outer mental 

 barbel also longer than usual, and equals pectoral fin. Inter- 

 orbital space broadly convex. Gill-rakers rather small, not num- 

 erous. Dorsal inserted about opposite tip of pectoral spine. Adi- 

 pose fin large, near last third of postdorsal space over posterior 

 rays of anal. Anal inserted midway between origin of pectoral 

 and base of caudal. Caudal rounded. Pectoral reaches Ys to 

 ventral. Ventral inserted about midway in body just behind base 

 of dorsal. Color black, belly soiled whitish. Mental barbel whit- 

 ish, maxillary and nasal dark. Length 8 inches. Batsto River. 

 Type (cotype) of Aniiurus prosthistiiis Cope. 



This cat fish is confined to the rather quiet cedar-stained 

 streams flowing into the Atlantic, such as the Great Egg Harbor, 

 Batsto and Wading Rivers. Besides the material of Cope, on 

 which I have already reported, are 3 examples which I secured 

 in the Wading River near Speedwell, Burlington County, April 

 30th, 1904. In life they were deep blackish-olivaceous, except 

 on the lower or ventral regions of head and abdomen, which were 

 white. Mandibular barbels white. Ends of maxillary barbels 

 whitish, otherwise black like nasal barbels. Fins black, bases of 

 pectoral and ventral paler. Iris dull yellow. These were taken 

 on a hook baited with raw pork during the evening. In the same 

 locality as man}^ as 25 were said to have been taken during a 

 single evening, and occasionally large examples are reported from 

 the larger and deeper bodies of water. They apparently seek 

 concealment in the deep pools during the day, only taking the 

 hook at dusk or after dark. I have never seen them swimming 

 about. Their flesh is said to be good and held in some estimation 

 as a food-fish by the farmers. 



Amiunis prosthistius Cope, Proc. Acad. Xat. Sci. Phila., 1883, 

 p. 132. — Cope, Am. Nat., XXX, 1896, p. 943. 



