THE CATTISH OR BULL-HEAD. 
3 79 
The Gaff-topsail Catfish, AE lunchthys mar inns, which ranges from Cape 
Cod to Florida, is found chiefly in brackish water. It is not uncommonly 
taken at Arlington, Florida, and Empire Point. It is known here and at 
Pensacola as the “Sea Cat,” and at Brunswick, Ga., as “Gaff-topsail,” 
in allusion to the shape of the first dorsal fin. According to Mr. H. S. 
Williams, it is abundant in the Indian River. It is common also along 
the Gulf coast, but is nowhere valued as food. Many of the fishermen 
believe this species to be viviparous. Mr. S. C. Clarke, writing from New 
Smyrna, March 31, 1874, remarks: “They have eggs in them as large as 
cherries.” 
The Salt-water Catfish, Arius feiis, is found along the coasts of the Gulf 
of Mexico to as far north as Cape Hatteras. In the first volume of the 
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, p. 278, is an interest¬ 
ing account of its breeding habits, as observed by Prof. N. T. Lupton. 
The species spawns there in July, and the parent (sex not stated) carries 
the eggs in its mouth. Silas Stearns says of this fish : 
“ The Salt-water Catfish is very abundant everywhere on the Gulf coast. 
It is found on the sea-beaches, the shores and bottoms of bays and bayous, 
and even some distance up fresh-water streams. It is a bottom-loving 
fish, feeding upon worms and small crustaceans chiefly, but will readily 
eat anything else—fish, flesh, or fowl, dead or alive, As the pest of these 
waters, it is ever present and never welcome. It breeds in the summer, 
in June, July, and August. The spawn is deposited in the depression in 
the sand and impregnated with the milt. One of the parent fish then 
takes the eggs in his mouth and by some movement fixes them against the 
gills, or between the leaves of the gills. The eggs are carried in this 
position until the embyro fish are hatched and have become perfect and 
able to care for themselves. The eggs when full size resemble white 
grapes; they are large and clear. Sometimes the parent fish’s jaws are 
much distended by the eggs and young inside, and its appearance is. 
comical. 
