COMMON FISHES OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
175 
a spent fish. In 1916 eggs about mature were received from Luther McAdams, who 
had obtained them from six large Fulton catfish purchased June 17 near Alexandria, 
Mo. The eggs attain a diameter of 2.5 millimeters. The species is not known to breed 
north of Keokuk, nor is there even a definite record of its occurrence north of that 
point; 16 but the absence of records signifies little, since the fishes of the Mississippi 
River have been little studied. Confusion arises from the fact that the spotted cat in 
a certain phase is frequently called Fulton or blue Fulton. At Keokuk, however, 
commercial fishermen and dealers usually distinguish the species correctly. 
From the best information obtainable, Fulton catfish were always rare in the 
vicinity of Muscatine and Fairport, Iowa, but, before the construction of the dam 
they were not uncommon at Keithsburg, 111., and were seasonally abundant in the 
old rapids just above Keokuk. Mr. Kaya, at Lynxville, Wis., stated that he had seen 
rare examples in that vicinity. Evidently the rapids at Keokuk marked the normal 
upper limit of range in the Mississippi River for most of the fish of this species. 
In 1916, the banner year for Fulton catfish at Keokuk, the unusual abundance 
was quite local, not extending even to Canton, 20 miles down the river. Examples 
were seen by Stringham each month from May to September, the earliest record being 
May 2, 1915, and the latest September 15, 1916; but Trumer Jackson, of Warsaw, 
111., had one on April 23, 1915, and again two in October of the same year. Diligent 
inquiry among fishermen failed to elicit a single report of the Fulton cat having ever 
been taken localty in winter, and, as the fish is highly esteemed it would almost cer- 
tainly be captured sometimes, and remembered, if it were present. 
According to information received in 1926, Fulton catfish are still commonly taken 
in the river just below Keokuk, especially in the latter part of May and in June and 
July. Only rarely is one ever taken northward of the dam near Montrose or above. 
It likes rocky bottoms, so that the rapids was a favorite haunt before the dam inter- 
cepted the passage way from the south to the rapids. The author obtained a freshly 
caught specimen at Warsaw, 111., on August 24, 1926. 
The principal apparatus of capture at Keokuk is the set line, operated anywhere 
in the river. From Keokuk, southward, they were taken by “jugging,” short lines 
being attached to floats or jugs, which are watched from small boats as they float 
down the river. In 1926 that practice was said to have been discontinued except as 
a mode of sport fishing. They are now taken in floating trammel nets, but occasionally 
a Fulton is found in a fyke net. 
The indications, then, are that Keokuk is near but not quite at the northern limit 
of the summer range of the Fulton cat, and that, if not checked by the dam, they 
might still proceed a little farther north. It is thought that in the vicinity of Keokuk 
the fish breed in June. 
Spotted cat. Idalurus pundatus (Rafinesque) 
CHANNEL CAT; FIDDLER 
The spotted cat, the most widely distributed and most generally esteemed of all 
catfishes, is commonly known in the Mississippi when small as “fiddler,” and when 
large as channel cat. Some are also called, unfortunately, blue Fultons, the form of 
the blue Fulton being said to be intermediate between fiddlers and channel cats. 
This catfish occurs throughout the Mississippi Valley and the Gulf and Great 
Lakes regions. Its range extends from Florida and northern Mexico to Ontario and 
n Meek (1890, p. 70) refers to it as not common in Iowa, and found only in the larger rivers. 
