SUNFISH NESTS OF BEIMILLER'S COVE.* 



F. H. Krecker. 



During the night of July 4-5, 1915, a strong southwest 

 wind drove the water of Sandusky Bay out into Lake Erie in 

 such quantities that it receded thirty feet from the shore Hne 

 in what is known as Beimiller's Cove. This decided drop in 

 the water level brought to my attention some nests of the 

 sunfish, Eupomotis gibbosus, which circumstance suggested a 

 study of the conditions under which the fish of this region 

 breed. As is well known many of the fishes of the Great Lakes 

 choose the shallow bays and coves for breeding places. An 

 investigation of these localities is of some importance, since 

 with the present rapid occupation of these shores by man and 

 their consequent alteration, the neighboring waters lose much 

 of their value for breeding purposes. The finding of suitable 

 nesting places must be presenting a greater problem to the 

 fish each year. 



The observations recorded in this article have to do with 

 conditions in Beimiller's Cove alone and are therefore not 

 sufficiently extensive to draw conclusions regarding the general 

 situation. And even what has been recorded from this cove 

 is to be looked upon chiefly as a preliminary study. There are 

 some points of interest, however, worth noting. It is hoped 

 that further and more far reaching observations to be under- 

 taken in the future may throw considerable light upon these 

 questions. 



Beimiller's Cove is an indentation in the sandy peninsula 

 known as Cedar Point, which stretches across the eastern end 

 of Sandusky Bay from the southeast and separates it from Lake 

 Erie. The cove lies on a line running southeast and northwest 

 and is about half a mile long and one-third of a mile wide. 

 At its inner end there empties a sewage canal. The depth 

 of water varies from less than a foot at the inner end and along 

 the sides to six or eight feet in the center and at the mouth of 

 the cove. The bottom is covered with a luxuriant growth of 

 aquatic plants, such as Myriophyllum. Along the shores are 

 reeds, particularly Scirpus americanus. The bottom and shores 



*Contribution from the Dept. of Zoology and Entomology, Ohio State Uni- 

 versity, No. 45. 



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