Vol. XXIX, pp. 39-46 February 24, 1916 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A LIST OF THE FISHES OF THE SENECA CREEK, 

 MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND, REGION.* 



BY LEWIS RADCLIFFE AND W. W. WELSH. 



The present paper is based upon collections of fishes from the 

 Chesapeake and Ohio canal near Rushville, Maryland, and from 

 Little Seneca and Tenmile creeks near Boyds, Maryland, De- 

 cember 12 to 14, 1911. The authors accompanied one of the 

 parties of the United States Bureau of Fisheries engaged in 

 reclaiming the food fishes from the canal. This party seined a 

 section of the canal about six miles in length from a point near 

 Sycamore Island in the Potomac River up to Tenfoot Island. 

 Large quantities of fish were hauled ashore with the seine and 

 thousands of food fish which would have perished if left in the 

 canal were carried over the bank and released in the Potomac 

 River. As many of these were breeders, the fish supply of this 

 section of the river was considerably augmented. Under these 

 conditions, exceptional opportunities were afforded for gather- 

 ing data as to the species occurring in this region and their 

 relative abundance. Many of the fishes congregated in the 

 deeper holes, especially in the basin or widewater in the canal 

 above Rushville. About half a mile below Rushville, there is a 

 lock locally known as Violett's Lock. A feeder from the river 

 enters the canal below the lock, affording a means of ingress 

 for the fishes of this section of the river. As the section above 

 the lock is fed from a point much higher up and as the lock 

 acts as a partial barrier, differences in the fauna of the two 

 sections existed. Now that the fish from both sections are 

 being released into this part of the river, these differences may 



• Published with the permission of the United States Commissioner of Fisheries. 

 10— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIX. 1916. (39) 



