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CATFISH FAMILY
<br />ICTALURIDAE
<br />The North American freshwater catfishes are read-
<br />ily recognized by their scaleless bodies, whisker-like
<br />barbels about the mouth, and sharp spines at the
<br />front of the dorsal and each pectoral fin. Anyone who
<br />has carelessly handled one of these fishes is aware
<br />of the painful wound that the spines can inflict. All
<br />of the larger species are excellent eating. The family
<br />is not native to western United States, having been
<br />introduced there before the turn of the nineteenth
<br />century.
<br />CHANNEL CATFISH, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque)
<br />The channel cat is now common in the Green River
<br />and is frequently sought by fishermen for both sport
<br />and food. It occasionally reaches 20 to 25 pounds
<br />and nearly 3 feet in length but the average is from
<br />3 to 4 pounds and a foot or so long in most waters.
<br />This fish is a scavenger, eating fishes and frogs
<br />(alive or dead), plants, seeds, and such bottom-dwell-
<br />ing things as insects, crayfish, and snails. Like other
<br />members of their family, the channel cat is most
<br />active after dark, when individuals move from deeper
<br />waters and the protection of overhanging ledges into
<br />the shallows to feed.
<br />BLACK BULLHEAD, Ictalurus melas (Rafinesque)
<br />The black bullhead is often abundant and usually
<br />is easily caught, but since it does not reach a large
<br />size-seldom over 1 foot-it is much less popular
<br />with fishermen than the channel catfish. It lacks the
<br />deeply forked tail of that species and never has spots
<br />on the body as the channel cat often does. Since this
<br />species prefers sluggish streams with muddy bot-
<br />toms, ponds, or lakes, it is not well represented in
<br />the Monument.
<br />SCULPIN FAMILY
<br />COTTIDAE
<br />This is a large and diverse family of fishes, most
<br />of which live in the sea. However, the sculpins of the
<br />genus Cottus have invaded fresh water and about
<br />25 kinds are now known to occur in the United
<br />States; nearly half of these live in the Snake and
<br />Columbia rivers. They are easily recognized by their
<br />broad, flattened heads, which often have 1 to 3
<br />small spines on each side, scaleless bodies, the loca-
<br />tion of the eyes high up on the head, and the very
<br />broad, fan-like pectoral fins. They are of small size,
<br />usually 2 to 5 inches long, and often live amongst
<br />the stones on stream riffles.
<br />COLORADO MOTTLED SCULPIN
<br />COLORADO MOTTLED SCULPIN, Cottus bairdi punctulatus
<br />(Gill)
<br />The mottled sculpin occurs abundantly in eastern
<br />North America but is absent from most of the Great
<br />Plains region. It reappears in the upper part of the
<br />Missouri River and in the Snake-Columbia and Colo-
<br />rado River basins. The Colorado mottled sculpin is
<br />restricted to the upper part of the Colorado basin in
<br />Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Like other sculpins, it
<br />prefers clear, cool to cold mountain streams that
<br />have a rapid to moderate current. Summer water
<br />temperatures where it lives commonly vary from 55°
<br />to 65° F., occasionally over 700 F. Its food consists
<br />very largely of aquatic insects, but freshwater shrimp,
<br />snails, and fish have also been found in stomachs.
<br />This sculpin spawns from February to May, the salm-
<br />on-colored eggs typically laid in clusters on the under
<br />surfaces of rocks or other objects. The male parent
<br />guards the nesting site and fans the eggs with his
<br />large pectoral fins.
<br />Illustration by Wm. M. Brudon.
<br />ADDITIONAL SPECIES
<br />Six additional introduced species have been taken
<br />within the Monument but evidently are either scarce
<br />or absent in the area now. These are: (1) cutthroat
<br />trout (Salmo clarki), planted in Jones Creek and last
<br />reported from there in 1956; (2) creek chub (Semoti-
<br />lus atromaculatus), a common minnow east of the
<br />Rockies, secured in Echo Park on July 19, 1963;
<br />(3) white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), a large-
<br />scaled species seen in the Yampa River in 1963 by
<br />a party from the Colorado Department of Game, Fish,
<br />and Parks; (4) walleye (Stizostedion v. vitreum), a
<br />relative of the yellow perch represented within the
<br />Monument by a specimen taken in July, 1963; (5)
<br />small-mouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), acciden-
<br />tally planted at the head of Lodore Canyon in July,
<br />1963; and (6) green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus),
<br />taken in the Green River at Island Park in Septem-
<br />ber, 1962.
<br />Support for field work in the Green River basin given the author by the
<br />U. S. National Science Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. R. R. Miller
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