408 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
act in the care of the eggs was the sucking of the egg masses into the mouth and the blowing of them out 
with some force. The fanning and mouthing operations were continued with the fry until they swam 
freely, when the care of the young may be said to have ceased. During the first few days after hatch- 
ing, the fry, banked in the corners of the tank, -were at irregular intervals actively stirred by the barbels 
of the parents, usually themale. The predaceous feeding habits of the old tish gradually overcame the 
parental instinct; the tendency to suck the fry into their mouths continued, and the inclination to 
spit them out diminished, so that the number of young dwindled daily, and the 500 that had been 
left with their parents had completely disappeared in six weeks, although other food was liberally 
supplied. 
In Sebago Lake, Maine, in a shallow, sandy pool, on July 6, the writer observed 
one cat-fish (Ameiurus nebulosus), sex undetermined, with a brood of young thickly 
clustering under it, in the manner previously described. From Dr. Smith’s obser- 
vations, they might have been 8 or 10 days old; from Dr. Ryder’s, about 15 days of 
age. They were about 12 mm. long. The development doubtless would be some- 
what retarded in the cooler waters of this more northern latitude. 
Introduction into other waters. — Several species of cat-fish have been successfully 
introduced into new waters in the United States, and attempts have been made to 
provide some European waters with American cat fish, with uncertain results, how- 
ever. A detailed account of the results of the attempts to acclimatize cat-fishes in 
the Pacific States may be found in the Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission for 
1895, 379. The cat-fishes handled were Ameiurus nebulosus, Ameiurus catus, and 
Ictalurus punctatus. In California the cat-fishes have become very abundant and 
widely distributed. In the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers they are also very 
numerous. In 1884 ten individuals, presumably Ameiurus catus or nebulosus, were 
transferred from the Potomac to the Colorado River in Arizona (Bull. U. S. F. C. 1884, 
212). The shipment consisted at first of 100, only 10 of which survived the journey. 
Their status in those waters at the present time is unknown. Some spotted cats 
(Ictulurus punctatus) have been placed in the Potomac, of which species one or two 
now and then make their appearance in the catches of the fishermen. 
A number of years ago, at different times, small consignments of Ameiurus 
nebulosus were sent to Europe. They survived transportation very well and the last 
accessible records show that they continued to do well after reaching their destina- 
tions. What the ultimate results have been the writer has been unable to ascertain. 
Available records of shipments of young cat-fish (Ameiurus nebulosus) to Europe 
give the following data: 
Nov. 15, 1884. — One hundred were shipped to Ghent and on the 28th of November 95 were received. 
July 7, 1885. — Thirty sent to Amsterdam. 
June 16, 1885. — Fifty shipped, and later 49 were received in Germany. 
July 18, 1885. — One hundred sent to France, and 81 were received in good condition. 
June 20, 1885. — Fifty consigned to England, and 48 were received in good condition at South Kensington. 
The latest information possessed by the writer regarding any of these plants is 
found in early bulletins of the Fish Commission. The following is quoted from the 
Bulletin for 1886, 197-199: 
The first practical attempt in this direction was made in Belgium. Mr. Thomas Wilson, United 
States consul at Ghent, first suggested placing cat-fish in the Scheldt, a river which, owing to the large 
number of factories on its banks, does not contain many fish. It was presumed that the cat-fish would 
be particularly adapted to the river Scheldt, because it had been sufficiently proved in America that 
