Lesson XXXVII

The Bullhead, or Horned Pout

Leading thought—The bullhead lives in mud bottoms of streams and ponds and is particularly adapted for life in such locations.

Method—A small bullhead may be placed in a small aquarium jar. At first let the water be clear and add a little pond weed so as to observe the natural tendency of the fish to hide. Later add mud and gravel to the aquarium and note the behavior of the fish.

Observations—1. What at the first glance distinguishes the bullhead from other fish? Describe these strange “whiskers” growing about the mouth; how many are there and where are they situated? Which are the longest pair? Can the fish move them in any direction at will?

2. Where do we find bullheads? On what do they feed? Would their eyes help them to find their food in the mud? How do they find it?

3. Explain, if you can, why the bullhead has barbels, or feelers, while the trout and bass have none.

4. What is the shape of the bullhead’s mouth?

5. What is the general shape of the body? What is its color? Has it any scales?

6. Why should the bullhead be so flat horizontally while the sunfish is so flat in the opposite direction?

7. Describe the bullhead’s eyes. Are they large? What is their color? Where are they placed?

8. Describe the dorsal fin, giving its comparative size and position. Do you see another dorsal fin? Where is this peculiar fin and how does it differ from the others?

9. Describe the tail fin. Does it seem long and strong? Is the bullhead a good swimmer?

10. Is the anal fin large or small as compared with that of the goldfish?

11. How do the pectoral fins move as compared with those of the sunfish? Why is the position of the pectoral and dorsal fins of benefit to this fish?

12. How does the bullhead inflict wounds when it is handled? Tell how these spines protect it from its natural enemies.

13. When is the best season for fishing for bullheads? Does the place where they are found affect the flavor of their flesh? Why?

14. What is the spawning season? Do you know about the nests the bullheads build and the care they give their young?

15. Write an essay on the nest-making habits of the bullheads and the care given the young by the parents.

“And what fish will the natural boy naturally take? In America, there is but one fish which enters fully into the spirit of the occasion. It is a fish of many species according to the part of the country, and of as many sizes as there are sizes of boys. This fish is the horned pout, and all the rest of the species of Ameiurus. Horned pout is its Boston name. Bullhead is good enough for New York; and for the rest of the country, big and little, all the fishes of this tribe are called catfish. A catfish is a jolly blundering sort of a fish, a regular Falstaff of the ponds. It has a fat jowl, and a fat belly, which it is always trying to fill. Smooth and sleek, its skin is almost human in its delicacy. It wears a long mustache, with scattering whiskers of other sort. Meanwhile it always goes armed with a sword, three swords, and these it has always on hand, always ready for a struggle on land as well as in the water. The small boy often gets badly stuck on these poisoned daggers, but, as the fish knows how to set them by a muscular twist, the small boy learns how, by a like untwist, he may unset and leave them harmless.”

“The catfish lives in sluggish waters. It loves the millpond best of all, and it has no foolish dread of hooks when it goes forth to bite. Its mouth is wide. It swallows the hook, and very soon it is in the air, its white throat gasping in the untried element. Soon it joins its fellows on the forked stick, and even then, uncomfortable as it may find its new relations, it never loses sight of the humor of the occasion. Its large head and expansive forehead betoken a large mind. It is the only fish whose brain contains a Sylvian fissure, a piling up of tissue consequent on the abundance of gray matter. So it understands and makes no complaint. After it has dried in the sun for an hour, pour a little water over its gills, and it will wag its tail, and squeak with gratitude. And the best of all is, there are horned pouts enough to go around.”

“The female horned pout lays thousands of eggs, and when these hatch, she goes about near the shore with her school of little fishes, like a hen with myriad chicks. She should be respected and let alone, for on her success in rearing this breed of “bullying little rangers” depends the sport of the small boy of the future.” —David Starr Jordan, in Fish Stories.