HABITS OF SOME OF THE COMMERCIAL CAT-FISHES. 
BY WILLIAM CONVERSE KENDALL. 
Assistant, United States Fish Commission 
The fresh-water cat-fishes of the United States of more or less commercial 
importance may be classified in a popular way as channel cats ( Ictalurus ), mud cats 
(Ameiurus), yellow cats (Laptops), and stone cats ( Noturm ). This arrangement is 
not wholly satisfactory, however, owing to the confusion of the common names, for 
a mud cat of one locality may be the yellow cat of another, and the yellow cat of 
some place be the stone cat in another locality, and so on. Then, too, there is no 
distinct line between channel cats and mud cats. The technical nomenclature and 
synonymy of these fishes are not in much better shape than the popular classifi- 
cation; therefore the discussion in the following pages will be more or less generic. 
The cat-fishes are of such commercial value as food that there have arisen exten- 
sive and almost special fisheries for them in the South, the Mississippi Valley, and 
the Great Lakes region — that is to say, in the centers of their greatest abundance. 
Of about a dozen species appearing in the markets, probably not more than one-half 
are very common or merit more than passing notice. The largest are the “great 
forked-tail cat” of the Mississippi (Ictalurus furcatus) and the Great Lakes cat 
(Ameiurus lacustris). The first attains a weight of 150 pounds, the other perhaps 
50 or more. Of the smaller cats the more important are the spotted cat (Ictalurus 
punctatus ), Potomac channel cat (Ameiurus cat us), and bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus). 
There is very little published information on the habits of any species of cat- 
fish, and it has been thought that it might be of use to bring together the most 
important published and otherwise available facts on this subject. Owing to the 
similarity of habits, for this purpose it is unnecessary to refer to more than those of 
the most common forms except in a very general way. 
The cat-fishes are a hardy race, very prolific, in habits and structure compara- 
tively safe from enemies. For these reasons wherever they occur they are usually 
very abundant. In late years, however, the demand for these fish has reached such 
dimensions that in some localities extensive inroads have been made upon their 
numbers and there has arisen the problem of how to repopulate the depleted waters. 
It has not, until recently at least, been considered necessary to resort to artificial 
propagation of cat-fishes, and there have been but few, if any, attempts in that 
direction. There are a few instances of pond culture, which will be referred to in 
another place. 
Food qualities. — In flavor and other edible qualities the cat-fishes differ somewhat 
among themselves. As a rule the channel cats, especially the spotted cat (Ictalurus 
\ punctatus and I. furcatus), seem to possess more delectable qualities than the mud 
cats. This is possibly due to difference in habits and habitat. 
F. C. B. 1902—26 
II 
401 
