350 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
29. Ameiurus nebulosus (LeSueur). Common bullhead; horned pout. 
RECORD OF CAPTURE 
The common bullhead is restricted to the sheltered bays of Lake Erie, and the 
larger, sluggish streams and ponds of the region. 
DESCRIPTION 
The bullhead is easily distinguished from Idalurus by its rounded or truncate 
tail, broad head, and a complete separation of supra-occipital and predorsal proc- 
esses; from Villarius (which also has separate processes) by its rounded tail; from 
Noturus by the free posterior margin of adipose; and from Ameiurus natalis by the 
anal rays, 21 to 24 {natalis usually has 25 or 26), and by its gray to black mental 
barbels, usually white in natalis. 
22-millimeter stage. — Total length, 22.0; standard length, 18.5; length to vent, 
9.9; length of head, 5.7; greatest depth before vent, 4.5; depth behind vent, 3.5; 
diameter of eye, 1.05 millimeters. Vertebrae apparent, 14 to vent plus 26 behind. 
Dorsal I, 6; anal 21; caudal short, stout, and rounded or square. Eight barbels; 
maxillary barbels about as long as head. 
Pigmentation. — The body is entirely covered with small, round, close-set chro- 
matophores giving an even gray color. The chromatophores are heaviest over top 
and sides of head, on dorsal aspect of body, and fins and lightest in belly region. 
All barbels are dark. 
BREEDING 
C. W. Nash (1908) describes the spawning of the bullhead thus: 
Early in June, when about to spawn, the catfishes select a spot in quiet shallow water near 
aquatic weeds and there they make a nest, from eight inches to one foot in diameter, by clearing 
out a slight depression in the mud or sand. In this nest about two thousand eggs are deposited, 
over which the parents keep guard, the male being most assiduous in the work of protection. In 
about a week the eggs are hatched and the young, which look very like little black tadpoles, follow 
the parent fish along the shores until nearly the middle of July, when they are left to shift for them- 
selves; after this the fry soon scatter and disappear into deep, weedy water. They grow rapidly, 
and, under favorable circumstances, are said to attain maturity in three years. 
30. Ameiurus natalis (LeSueur). Yelkw catfish. 
RECORD OF CAPTURE 
This catfish is much rarer than the common bullhead, being found by the survey 
only at Dunkirk Bay in Lake Erie, and in Muddy and Little Sister Creeks. 
DESCRIPTION 
The yellow catfish is distinguished from the common bullhead by anal rays, 
25 or 26 {nebulosus has 21 to 24), and white mental barbels (gray to black in nebu- 
losus). An exception occurs when the specimen is found on a dark bottom, in which 
case these barbels may be dusky. Distinguishing characters of the genus are con- 
sidered under A. nebulosus, above. 
