552 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland (1880-1884, p. 160). To use his 

 words: 



The fisherman finds this fish an adept at escaping from nets, by burrowing below 

 it, or springing over the corks, ... So difficult is it to net that . . . one can well 

 understand the Norfolk pen-men regarding it with mysterious awe, how its entrances 

 and its exits into pieces of water puzzle them, and how, as Lubbock remarks, they 

 consider it as something more than a fish, and look upon it as what the Scutch term 

 "no cannie." 



Although 1 have spoken above of the carp's habit of ordinarily swim- 

 ming about lazily and quietly, this is by no means always the case, for 

 these fish often produce a considerable disturbance by their splashing. 

 This is when they are feeding in shallow water, and will be discussed 

 more fully when we come to consider the feeding habits. They also 

 splash about considerably at the breeding time. 



Carp exhibit a marked tendency to go about in schools. In regions 

 where they are abundant, it is usual to find either a large number in a 

 given locality, or else none at all. That these schools are frequently 

 of great size is apparent from the fact that several tons of carp are 

 often taken at a single seine-haul along the shore of the open lake, 

 which is rather more conclusive evidence than is afforded when they 

 are taken in a bay or other partially inclosed place. 



Moderately warm, shallow waters with abundance of aquatic vegeta- 

 tion, and deeper places to which the fish can retreat, are the most favor- 

 able conditions for carp, and it is in such places that they multiply 

 fastest and obtain their most rapid growth. In the hill} 7 eastern part 

 of the United States localities of this kind are relatively scarce, but the 

 rivers and lakes of the Southern and Middle States, with their exten- 

 sive bayous and marshes, come very close to the ideal conditions. 

 This suitability is abundantly evidenced by the rapidity with which 

 carp have taken possession of them, and have become in them, it might 

 almost be said, the dominant piscine type. Nevertheless they are by 

 no means confined to these waters which meet their requirements to 

 the best advantage, but seem to be able to adapt themselves to a variety 

 of conditions, though with less success. Thus we find them invading 

 to a certain extent the colder and deeper waters of the Great Lakes, 

 though a few fathoms is a great depth for them, and I have no evidence 

 to show that they go to any extent into the deeper waters. They will 

 live in small ponds fed by springs, where the temperature of the 

 water always remains very low, but in such places their growth is slow 

 and the} 7 are by no means so prolific as in warmer waters. On the 

 other hand, they may sometimes be found living in mudholes, where 

 it would not seem that the} 7 could obtain enough food for existence and 

 where the temperature must at times in summer become comparatively 

 high. They will live, and apparently do well, in waters that are 

 strongly mineral. I saw, for example, a carp pond in northern Ohio 



