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BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
in the other species ; the supraoccipital is broadly triangular, and its upper surface finely grooved, 
while in each of the other species it is much longer and narrower and the upper surface nearly smooth. 
From the blue cat {Ictalurus furcatus) this species differs chiefly in the fewer rays in the anal fin, 
the wider mouth, tho shorter, heavier head, the much longer maxillary barbel, and in the cranial 
characters already given. From the spotted cat (I. punctatus) it may he distinguished by its wider 
mouth, more blunt snout, heavier head, the color, and the cranial characters already mentioned. 
This species is well known to the fishermen of the Atchafalaya River, by whom it is usually called 
the “eel cat,” though the name “willow cat” is sometimes applied to it. It was explained by the 
fishermen that the name “eel cat” was given on account of the long feelers (i. e., barbels) and the 
name “ willow cat” because it is most frequently found about the roots of willow trees. The eel cat 
is not an abundant species in the Atchafalaya River. During six days (April 19-24) spent at Morgan 
City, several hundred catfish were examined at the three fish-houses, and the total number of eel cats 
seen was fewer than twenty-five. The fishermen report that this proportion is about as great as at 
any time of the year. Of the four commercial species of catfishes handled on this river the most 
abundant one is the blue cat ( Ictalurus furcatus), and the next is the yellow cat or goujon ( Leptops 
olivaris ) ; the eel cat comes next and the spotted cat ( Ictalurus punctatus) last. The blue cat and the 
yellow cat probably constitute 98 per cent of the entire catch. 
The eel cat rarely attains a greater weight than 5 pounds, and usually does not exceed 3 pounds. 
Its flesh is firm and of excellent flavor. The spawning season appears to be during the spring, as 
several of the individuals examined were in mature spawning condition. 
Etymology, from Anguilla, the generic name of the eel. 
2 . Notropis hudsonius (DeWitt Clinton). (PI. 6, fig. 3.) 
A specimen of this species, collected by Mr. George D. Head, at Kilpatrick Lake, Minnesota, 
presented certain peculiarities in the dental formula (2, 5-4, 2) and coloration which led us at first to 
identify it as an undescribed species. But other specimens subsequently received from the same lake 
show that all belong to the very variable N. hudsonius. The presence of 5 teeth on one side in the 
inner row and 2 in each of the outer rows is an unusual combination for a species of Notropis, and 
this is, so far as we are aware, the first record of the fact. As long ago as 1886 one of us called* 
attention to the strong tendency of N. hudsonius to vary in this character. The specimen with the 
unusual number of teeth may be described as follows : 
Head 44; depth 4-); eye 3-g- in head; snout 3f; maxillary 3f; interorbital width 3; D. 8; A. 8; 
scales 7—43-4. Teeth 2, 5-4, 2, hooked and with evident grinding surface. Body moderately long, 
slender, and compressed ; profile of back rising gently to origin of dorsal ; head moderate ; mouth 
rather large, oblique, lower j aw included, the maxillary-nearly reaching vertical of pupil ; snout blunt, 
forming an angle in front of nostrils ; eye large, in axis of body ; caudal peduncle long and slender. 
Fins moderate ; dorsal, anal, and pectoral each somewhat falcate; longest dorsal ray equal to length 
of head, If greater than base of fin; longest anal ray 14 in head; pectoral 1J in head, not nearly 
reaching insertion of ventrals ; ventral short, 1)- in head, not reaching vent ; caudal widely forked, 
the lobes subequal and nearly equal to length of head; origin qf dorsal slightly in front of base of 
ventral, nearer tip of snout than base of caudal. Scales large, regularly imbricated, 15 before the 
dorsal; lateral line complete, gently decurved above the pectoral. Color in alcohol, dark olivaceous 
on back; sides and under parts rich satiny silvery, everywhere showing steel-blue iridescence; upper 
parts of head dark, lower parts silvery ; a black blotch at base of caudal fin, as usual in this species ; 
fins all plain. 
3 . Notropis welaka, new species. (PI. 6, fig. 2.) 
Type, No. 48786, U. S. N. M. Cotypes, No. 48785, U. S. N. M. ; No. 529, U. S. F. C. ; and No. 5773, L. S. 
Jr. Univ. Mus. Type locality, St. Johns River, near Welaka, Florida, where numerous specimens were 
-collected March 19, 1897, by Dr. Kendall. 
Head 41; depth 5; eye 3 in head; snout 3J. D. 8; A. 8 or 9; scales 6-35-3; teeth 4-4, hooked. 
Body rather slender, moderately compressed; head short, snout bluntly pointed ; mouth moderate, 
somewhat oblique, lower jaw slightly included, maxillary scarcely reaching front of eye; premaxilla- 
ries protractile. Eye large; posterior edge of pupil at middle of longitudinal length of head; inter- 
orbital width greater than eye; caudal peduncle long and slender. Dorsal fin inserted well behind 
base of ventrals, a little nearer base of caudal than tip of snout, its longest rays shorter th,an head, 
* Fishes of the Monongahela River, in Ann. N. Y. Ac. Sci. 1886, 338. 
