cat-fish

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


The name is applied in the OldWorld to various fishes of the family Siluridae, andalso to the Wolf-fish of Europe and North America. It arisesfrom the resemblance of the teeth in some cases or theprojecting «whiskers» in others, to those of a cat. InVictoria and New South Wales it is a fresh-water fish, Copidoglanis tandanus, Mitchell, brought abundantly toMelbourne by railway. It inhabits the rivers of the Murraysystem, but not of the centre of the continent. Called also Eel-fish and Tandan (q.v.). In Sydney the samename is applied also to Cnidoglanis megastoma, Rich.,and in New Zealand Kathetostoma monopterygium. Cnidoglanis and Cnidoglanis are Siluroids, and Kathetostoma is a «stargazer,» i.e. a fish having eyeson the upper surface of the head, belonging to the family Trachinidsae.

1851. J. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii.p. 207:

«The Cat-fish, which I have frequently caught in the McLeay,is a large and very ugly animal. Its head is provided withseveral large tentacatae, and it has altogether a disagreeableappearance. I have eat its flesh, but did not like it.»

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 213[Footnote]:

«Mr. Frank Buckland . . . writing of a species of rock-fish,says – – `I found that it had a beautiful contrivance in theconformation of its mouth. It has the power of prolongatingboth its jaws to nearly the extent of half-an-inch from theirnatural position. This is done by a most beautiful bit ofmechanism, somewhat on the principle of what are called `lazytongs.' The cat-fish possesses a like feature, but on a muchlarger scale, the front part of the mouth being capable ofbeing protruded between two and three inches when seizingprey.'»

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