BULL-HEA D—HORNPOUT. 193 
19. Amrurus MELAS (Rafinesque) Jordan and Copeland. 
Small Black Catfish. 
Silurus melas, RAFINESQUE (1820), Quart. Journ. Sei. Lit. and Arts, Lond., 51. 
Pimelodus melas, RAFINESQUE (1820), Ich. Oh., 66. 
Amiurus melas, JORDAN and COPELAND (1876), Check List, 195.—JoRDAN (1877), Bull. U. 
S. Nat. Mus., x, 89; (1578) Man. Vert., Ed. 2d, 332. 
Pimelodus catulus, GIRARD (1859), U.S. Pac. R. R. Surv., 208. 
Pimelodus confinis, GIRARD (1859), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 159. 
Amiurus obesus, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 45.—Gix~t (1876), Ich., Capt. 
Simpson’s Expd., 420. 
Description —Body very stout, short and deep; head moderate, somewhat contracted 
forwards, the front steeply elevated, the body thick across the shoulders, rather rapidly 
narrowed behind; jaws nearly equal; dorsal fin inserted nearer adipose fin than snout ; 
anal basis nearly 5 in length of body, the fin short and deep ; color very dark or blackish ; 
membrane of anal fin almost always distinctly black, contrasting with the paler rays; 
head 34; depth 34 to 4; anal 18 to 20. Length 1 foot. 
Habitat, Mississippi Valley and Great Lake region. 
Diagnosis.—The short, chubby form and short and deep anal fin usually 
readily distinguish this species from the closely related A. catus. 
Habits—This small species is rather common in the Ohio River. It is 
confounded by the fishermen with A. xanthocephalus and A. catus. 
20. AmiuRuS catus Gill. 
Bull-head; Hornpout; Catfish. 
Silurus catus, LINNZUS (1758), Syst. Nat., x, p. 305; (1766) xii, p. 504.—BLocH. SCHN. 
(1801), 387.—M1TcHIL (1818), Journal Lit. and Philos. Soc. N. Y., i, 433. 
Pimelodus catus, CUV. and VAL. (1840), xv, 124.—DrKay (1842), Fishes N. Y., 182.—STORER 
(1846), Synopsis, 402. 
Amiurus catus, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 44.—GUNTHER (1864), Cat. Fishes, 
v, 99 (excl. syn. pars).—UHLER and LUGGER (1876), Fishes of Maryland, 152.— JORDAN 
(1877), Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., x, 90; Man. Vert. E. U. S., 332. 
Pimelodus nebulosus, LESUEUR (1819), Mem. du Museum, v, 149.—STORER (1838), Rept. 
Fishes Mass., 102. 
Amiurus nebulosus, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hiat., 44.—Copsr (1870), Proc. Am. 
Philos. Soc., 485. 
Pimelodus atrarius, DEKay (1842), Fishes N. Y., 185.—SrorER (1846), Synopsis, 404 ; 
(1855) Fishes of Mass., 279. 
Amiurus atrarius, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 44—JoRDAN (1876), Man. 
Vert., 30.—NELSON (1876), Bull, Ills. Mus. Nat. Hist., 50.—JORDAN and COPELAND 
(1876), Check List, 159.— JORDAN (1877), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 46. 
Pimelodus felis, AGAssiz (1850), Lake Superior, 251. 
Amiurus felis, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 44. 
Pimelodus hoyi, GIRARD (1859), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila,, 159. 
Amiurus hoyi, GILL (1862), Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 44.—Corx (1870), Proc. Am. Philos. 
