790 FISHES—SILURIDA. 
Pimelodus cerulescens in part, of RAFINESQUE, KIRTLAND, and others; the big ‘‘ Chan- 
nel Cats” all belong to this species. 
Description —Body moderately stout, head narrow, longer than broad ; mouth moder- 
ate, the upper jaw the longer ; barbels long; pectoral spines short and stout, dentate ; 
caudal fin strongly furcate, but less so than in the Channel Cats; anal fin very long; 
color dark, sometimes mottled with paler; anal 25 or 26. Head 44 in length; its width 
5. Length, 2 to 6 feet. 
Habitat.— Great Lake region to Texas and Florida, abundant in the larger streams and 
]&kes. 
Diagnosis. —This species may be known from the other Amiuri by the 
forked tail. The form is stouter and the colors darker than in any of the 
species of Ichthxlurus. 
Habits—This species is the common Cat-fish of the lake fishermen, in 
contra-distinction to the Bull-head, as A. catus is usually called. In the 
Ohio it is the Mississippi Cat. It is found only or chiefly in the larger 
bodies of water, and reaches a very great size. It is valued as food, al- 
though the flesh is rather coarse and flavorless. I have seen specimens 
of nearly a hundred pounds weight, and have heard of Cat-fish weighing 
two or three hundred pounds, but I presume them to have been weighed 
by: guess. 
16. AmiuRUS NATALIS (LeSeur) Gill. 
Catfish; Yellow Cat. 
a. var natalis. 
Pimelodus natalis, LESUEUR (1819), Mem. du Museum, v, 154.—SrorER (1846), Synopsis, 
A05. 
Amiurus natalis, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 44.—GuNTHER (1864), Cat. 
Fishes Brit. Mus., v, 101.—JoRDAN (1877), Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., x, €6. 
Pimelodus puma, GIRARD (1859), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 160.—JORDAN (1678), Man. 
Vert., Ed. 2, 331. 
b. var. lividus. 
Silurus lividus, RAFINESQUE (1850), Quart. Journ. Sci. Lit. and Arts, London, 48 (et var. 
Suscatus). 
Pimelodus lividus, RAFINESQUE (1820), Ich. Ohiensis, 65. 
Amiurus lividus, JORDAN (1876), Man. Vert., 302.—JORDAN and COPELAND (1876), Check 
List, 159. : 
Pimelodus felinus, GIRARD (1858), U. S. Pac. R. R. Expl., x, 209. 
Amiurus felinus, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 44-——Cope (1870), Proc. Am. 
Philos. Soc , 485 —JORDAN and COPELAND (1876), Check List, 159. 
Pimelodus catus, GIRARD (1859), Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 160 (not of DeKay and most 
authors). 
Amiurus catus, Copr (1870), Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 484.—JORDAN and COPELAND, Check 
List, 159. 
Pimelodus cupreoides, GIRARD (1859), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 159. 
