=The Old World Catfishes.=—In the catfishes of the Old World and their relatives, the adipose fin is rudimentary or wanting. The chief species found in Europe is the huge sheatfish, or wels, _Silurus glanis_. This, next to the sturgeon, is the largest river fish in Europe, weighing 300 to 400 pounds. It is not found in England, France, or Italy, but abounds in the Danube. It is a lazy fish, hiding in the mud and thus escaping from nets. It is very voracious, and many stories are told of the contents of its stomach. A small child swallowed whole is recorded from Thorn, and there are still more remarkable stories, but not properly vouched for. The sheatfish is brown in color, naked, sleek, and much like an American _Ameiurus_ save that its tail is much longer and more eel-like. Another large catfish, known to the ancients, but only recently rediscovered by Agassiz and Garman, is _Parasilurus aristotelis_ of the rivers of Greece. In China and Japan is the very similar Namazu, or Japanese catfish, _Parasilurus asotus_, often found in ponds and used as food. Numerous smaller related catfishes, _Porcus_ (_Bagrus_), _Pseudobagrus_, and related genera swarm in the brooks and ponds of the Orient. [Illustration: FIG. 146.—Electric Catfish, _Torpedo electricus_ (Gmelin). Congo River. (After Boulenger.) ] In the genus _Torpedo_ (_Malapterurus_) the dorsal fin is wanting. _Torpedo electricus_, the electric catfish of the Nile, is a species of much interest to anatomists. The shock is like that of a Leyden jar. The structures concerned are noticed on p. 186, Vol. I. The generic name _Torpedo_ was applied to the electric catfish before its use for the electric ray. In South America a multitude of genera and species cluster around the genus _Pimelodus_. Some of them have the snout very long and spatulate. Most of them possess a very long adipose fin. The species are generally small in size and with smooth skin like the North American catfishes. Still other species in great numbers are grouped around the genus _Doras_. In this group the snout projects, bearing the small mouth at its end, and the lateral line is armed behind with spinous shields. All but one of the genera belong to the Amazon district, _Synodontis_ being found in Africa.