550 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



along the Portage River above Port Clinton, at Monroe, Mich., and 

 at places along the north shore. These last 1 have never had oppor- 

 tunity to visit. Marshes of less extent occur at Erie, Pa., and at other 

 places along, the south shore. 



It must not be supposed from what has been said that the carp are 

 by any means limited to the places mentioned in Lake Erie and Lake 

 St. Clair and in the waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. 

 As a matter of fact they are usually present in numbers in any of the 

 inland lakes and streams of the region which are suitable for them, 

 and especially near the mouths of many of the rivers emptying into 

 the Great Lakes, which usually have more or less extensive marshes 

 for some distance back. This is true of nearly all the streams which 

 open into the lower end of Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake 

 Erie, and into the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, connecting them. It is 

 due to a slight tilting of the earth's crust to the southeast, which has 

 caused the waters to flood the lower courses of the streams and pro- 

 duce what are known as "drowned channels." The marshes along the 

 western side of Michigan are probably due for the most part to a sim- 

 pler cause. There the sand, which is thrown up by the waves and has 

 been blown up into immense dunes, tends to choke up the mouths of 

 the streams entering Lake Michigan, causing them to flood the country 

 many miles back. Such marshes are found along the Kalamazoo, 

 Black, and Grand rivers, and at Muskegon and other places along the 

 lake, in all of which carp are plentiful. 



That the extensive carp fisheries are at present confined to so few 

 localities results from a number of causes, among which is not so 

 much the relative abundance of the fish as the ease with which it 

 may be taken. The shallow shores of Lake Erie and the equally 

 shallow bays of the St. Clair flats afford excellent places for hauling 

 a seine — an operation which is of ten attended with great difficulty or is 

 well nigh impossible in the marshes, where the bottom is soft and the 

 water grown with weeds. Local laws also, in some places, interfere 

 with the seining of carp. 



HABITS AND SPECIAL SENSES OF THE CARP. 



Observing wild carp under natural conditions requires much care 

 and a great deal of patience. Under favorable circumstances, when 

 not disturbed or alarmed, they may often be seen swimming lazily 

 about among the weeds in shallow water, frequently with the dorsal 

 fin projecting above the surface. Their mouths are constantly in 

 motion as they breathe, taking in water and expelling it through the 

 gills, and at the same time working about in the mud or over the sur- 

 faces of the water plants for food. The resemblance of their mouths 

 to that of the sucker is at such times especially apparent. In spite of 

 the appearance of taking life so easily, they have nevertheless the 



