5 -DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW OR LITTLE-KNOWN GENERA AND SPECIES OF 
FISHES FROM THE UNITED STATES. 
By BARTON W. EVERMANN and WIEEIAM C. KENDAEE. 
The recent investigations of the United States Fish Commission in Florida, Louis- 
iana, and elsewhere have resulted in large and important collections of fishes from 
those regions. The preliminary study which has been given to these collections has 
shown that they contain a number of species new to science, besides several others 
which have not hitherto been taken in the wnters of the United States, or are of 
rare and unusual occurrence within our limits. Among the collections of especial 
interest which have not yet been fully studied are those made in the St. Lawrence 
Basin in 1S94, in Florida in 1896, and in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1897. A multi- 
plicity of duties having delayed the completion of the detailed reports, it has been 
thought desirable to publish in advance, in the present paper, descriptions of three 
new genera and eight of the new species. Descriptions are also given of Anisotremus 
lAirinamensis and Lophogobius cyprinoides, species not until now known to occur in our 
waters. Illustrations are presented, showing both the male and female of the Alabama 
shad. 
1. Ictalurus anguilla, new species. Eel Cat; Willow Cat. (PI. 6, fig. 1.) 
Type, No. 48788, U. S. N. M., a ripe female, 14 inches long. Cotypes, No. 48787 and 48789, U. S. N. M. ; 
No. 1078 and 1079, U. S. F. C. ; and No. 5772, L. S. Jr. Univ. Mus. Type locality, Atchafalaya . River, 
Louisiana. Collectors, Evermann and Chamberlain. 
Head 4; depth 4f; eye 7 in head; snout 2±; interorbital 14; maxillary (without barbel) 3; free 
portion of maxillary barbel longer than head; dorsal spine 2 in head; pectoral spine 2; width of 
mouth 2. D. i, 6; A. 24; vertebrae 42. Head large, broad, and heavy; the mouth unusually broad; 
cheeks and postocular portion of top of head very prominent; interorbital space fiat, abroad, deep 
groove extending backward to origin of dorsal fin ; body stout, compressed posteriorly ; back scarcely 
elevated. Eye small ; maxillary barbel long, reaching considerably past gill-opening ; other barbels 
short. Origin of dorsal fin equidistant between snout and origin of adipose fin, its distance from 
snout 2f in length of body; base of dorsal fin 3.) in head; longest dorsal ray If in head; dorsal spine 
strong, entire both before and behind; pectoral spine strong, entire in front, a series of strong, 
retrorse serrae behind ; humeral process 24 in pectoral spine ; ventrals barely reaching origin of anal, 
i heir length 2 in head ; anal fin long and low, the longest rays about 24 in head; base of fin greater 
than head, 3J-.in body ; caudal moderately forked, the middle rays about 24 in outer rays, which are 
about If in head. 
Color, uniform pale yellowish or olivaceous ; no spots anywhere. 
An examination of the 6 cotypes shows that there is not much variation, all the important charac- 
ters remaining quite constant. The maxillary barbel varies somewhat in length, in some individuals 
scarcely reaching gill-opening, and the number of anal rays varies from 24 to 26. 
A comparison of the skull of this species with that of I, furcatus and I. pwnotatus of the same 
size shows a number of very marked differences. Nearly all the bones in J. anguilla are heavier than 
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