SUCKERS. 803 
gg. Second anal spine many times as large as the first. SCI#NIDM. 25. 
cc. Doral fin continuous, with less than five spines, 
h. Vent anterior, near or in front of ventrals; bones of head serrated. 
APHODODERIDZ. 20. 
hh. Ventnormal; bones of head entire. . . . . HLASSOMATIDA. Q1. 
bb. Anterior dorsal of soft rays only; a barbel at tip of lower jaw. 
GADID, 27. 
aa, Skin naked or prickly ; head broad; dorsal finstwo. . Cotripz. 26. 
TeAG Ollie Velie CoA OS OM PE DiEat Th Sit: © Kelikisr 
Body oblong or elongated, covered with cycloid scales of moderate or large size; 
head moderate, naked, the opercular bones normally developed ; nostrils double; mouth 
commonly more or less inferior, usually with thickened lips; the upper jaw is formed 
in the middle by the small, lamelliform premaxillaries and on the side by the max- 
illaries; no barbels; no teeth in the jaws; pharyngeal bones falciform, with a single 
row of many compressed teeth which grow smaller upward; branchial openings 
restricted to the sides, separated by a broad isthmus; branchiostegals three; dorsal 
variously developed, the number of rays from nine to fifty ; anal short and high; caudal 
emarginated or forked; pectorals placed low; ventrals abdominal; intestinal canal 
very long ; stomach simple, without pyloric ceca; air bladder large, not protected by a 
bony capsule, divided by transverse contrictions into two or three regions. Fishes of the 
fresh water, all but two of the known species being American. The latest authority on 
the group (Jordan, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., xii, 1578) recognizes 55 species, arranged in 13 
genera. These fishes feed chiefly on vegetable substances, and on worms, ova, insect 
larve, crustaceans, and small mollusks. All are used as food, but none of them are 
much valued as the flesh is coarse, soft, tasteless, and full of small bones. The young of 
some of the species abound in every brook and pond in the State of Ohio, and they 
form one of the most characteristic features of our fish fauna. 
ANALYSIS OF GENERA OF CATOSTOMIDZ. 
*Dorsal fin eiongated, more or less elevated in front, of 25 or more rays; air bladder 
in two paris. 
t Fontanelle present ; body oblong ovate; scales large; head large. 
a. Mouth large, terminal, protractile forwards; lips thin, nearly smooth. 
IcHTHYOBUS. 14. 
aa. Mouth small, subinferior, protractile downward. 
b. Pharyngeal bones strong, the teeth coarse and large, increasing in size Home 
ward. . ° . ; . : ° -. BusBaticutuys. 15. 
bb. Pharyngeal bones, narrow, their ieoth thin and weak. . CARPIODES. 16. 
tt Fontanelle obliterated by the union of the parietal bones; body elongate; 
scales small; head small. : : 5 : ; CYCLEPTUS, 17. 
**Dorsal fin short, subquadrate, with ten to Gaitsen rays; body oblong or elongate. 
c. Air bladder in two parts. 
d. Lateral line complete; lips papillose ; scales moderate or small. 
CATOSTOMUS. 18. 
_dd, Lateral line interrupted or wanting ; lips plicate ; scales large. 
