American food and game fishes : a popular account of all the species found in America, north of the equator, with keys for ready identification, life histories and methods of capture . ^US LEPTOPS RAFINESQUEMud Cats Body elongate, slender, and much depressed anteriorly; headlarge, very wide, and depressed; skin very thick, entirely con-cealing the skull; eye small; mouth very large, the lower jawalways projecting beyond the upper; teeth in broad villiformbands on the premaxilliaries and dentaries; adipose fin large, itslong base over posterior half of anal; anal fin small; caudal 31 The Mud Ca
American food and game fishes : a popular account of all the species found in America, north of the equator, with keys for ready identification, life histories and methods of capture . ^US LEPTOPS RAFINESQUEMud Cats Body elongate, slender, and much depressed anteriorly; headlarge, very wide, and depressed; skin very thick, entirely con-cealing the skull; eye small; mouth very large, the lower jawalways projecting beyond the upper; teeth in broad villiformbands on the premaxilliaries and dentaries; adipose fin large, itslong base over posterior half of anal; anal fin small; caudal 31 The Mud Cat oblong, subtruncate, with numerous accessory rays, recurrentabove and behind; pectoral with a broad, compressed spine,serrated on both margins, and with a prolonged fleshy integu-ment, obliquely striated. Only one species Mud Cat; Goujon Leptops olivaris (Rafinesque) Body slender, depressed anteriorly; the head very flat, thelower jaw projecting; barbels short; dorsal spine very weak,half the length of the lin; caudal slightly emarginate; anal short,of 12 to 15 rays; humeral process short. Colour, yellowish, moreor less mottled with brown and greenish; paler below. The goujon is a large, coarse fish, said to reach a length of 5feet, and a weight of 100 pounds. A ripe female examined by us atMorgan City, Louisiana, was 41 inches long and weighed 46 fish dressed 27 pounds. Another, 38 inches long, weighed 37pounds, and still another 37 inches long weighed 36^ pounds. This species is found in all suitable waters throughout theMississippi Valley and in the Gulf States from Alabama west andsouth to Chihuahua. It is a fish of the lowlands, and is mostabundant in the lower courses of the large streams and in the bayousand overflow ponds of the lower Mississippi Valley. It is perhapsmost plentiful
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectfishes, bookyear1902
