FIG. 143.—Channel Catfish, _Ictalurus punctatus_ (Rafinesque). Illinois River. Family _Siluridæ_. ] =Horned Pout.=—The genus _Ameiurus_ includes the smaller brown catfish, horned pout, or bullhead. The body is more plump and the caudal fin is usually but not always rounded. The many species are widely diffused, abounding in brooks, lakes, and ponds. _Ameiurus nebulosus_ is the best-known species, ranging from New England to Texas, known in the East as horned pout. It has been successfully introduced into the Sacramento, where it abounds, as well as its congener, _Ameiurus catus_ (see Fig. 229, Vol. I), the white bullhead, brought with it from the Potomac. The latter species has a broader head and concave or notched tail. All the species are good food-fishes. All are extremely tenacious of life, and all are alike valued by the urchin, for they will bite vigorously at any sort of bait. All must be handled with care, for the sharp pectoral spines make an ugly cut, a species of wound from which few boys' hands in the catfish region are often free. [Illustration: FIG. 144.—Horned pout, _Ameiurus nebulosus_ (Le Sueur). (From life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt.) ] In the caves about Conestoga River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a partly blind catfish, evidently derived from local species outside the cave. It has been named _Gronias nigrilabris_. A few species are found in Mexico, one of them, _Ictalurus_ _meridionalis_, as far south as Rio Usamacinta on the boundary of Guatemala. Besides these, a large channel-cat of peculiar dentition, known as _Istlarius balsanus_, abounds in the basin of Rio Balsas. In Mexico all catfishes are known as Bagre, this species as Bagre de Rio. The genus _Leptops_ includes the great yellow catfish, or goujon, known at once by the projecting lower jaw. It is a mottled olive and yellow fish of repulsive exterior, and it reaches a very great size. It is, however, a good food-fish. =The Mad-toms.=—The genera _Noturus_ and _Schilbeodes_ are composed of diminutive catfishes, having the pectoral spine armed at base, with a poison sac which renders its sting extremely painful though not dangerous. The numerous species of this genus, known as "mad-toms" and "stone cats," live among weeds in brooks and sluggish streams. Most of them rarely exceed three inches in length, and their varied colors make them attractive in the aquarium. [Illustration: FIG. 145.—Mad-tom, _Schilbeodes furiosus_ Jordan & Meek. Showing the poisoned pectoral spine. Family _Siluridæ_. Neuse River. ]