AMIA — DOGFISH; BOWFINS 39 



our 37 collections came from large rivers, 14 from lakes, ponds, 

 and sloughs, and but 4 from creeks. 



The usual local name of this species is '^ dogfish" in the 

 Great Lake region and the upper Mississippi Valley. It is 

 known eastward and southward oftener as ^^bowfin," or 

 '^gr indie," the latter becoming ''grinnel" in southern IHinois. 

 It has been found by our collectors offered for sale by hucksters 

 as '^ prairie-bass" in southern Illinois. The name "mudfish" 

 is sometimes used eastward, and that of mud-jack, locally in 

 Illinois. It is of general distribution in rivers, lakes, and 

 swamps, but is most abundant in weedy waters. It seems to 

 prefer rather shallow water, where, according to Dr. Reighard, 

 it feeds principally at night, retreating to somewhat deeper 

 water during the day. Dr. Ayres* found it in winter in Ocono- 

 mowoc Lake, Wisconsin, in closely huddled schools in gravelly 

 pockets among water weeds, so close together that two at a 

 time could be impaled on a fish spear. In the early spring of 

 1894, when a rise in the Illinois River loosened and lifted the 

 icy covering of the stream, a belt of open water between the ice 

 and the shore was thickly packed, in places, with dogfish, so 

 sluggish with the cold that they could be caught with the bare 

 hands. In spring and summer these fishes are frequently seen 

 to come to the surface to breathe, the exhalation being indicated 

 by the escape of bubbles of air. 



The teeth of the dogfish are sharp and strong and it is 

 exceedingly voracious and savage, feeding upon any animals 

 that come within its reach — chiefly fish, crawfish, and moUusks. 



The food of 21 specimens, taken from all parts of the state 

 in various months from April to September, was entirely ani- 

 mal — about a third of it fishes, among which were recognized 

 minnows and buffalo-fish. About a fourth consisted of small 

 mollusks, and nearly 40 per cent, of it of crawfishes. Insects, 

 although commonly present, occurred in onty insignificant ratio. 

 Dr. Dean found scraps of meat and a lump of raw potato in the 

 stomach of one of these fishes, but the latter was undigested. 

 Charles Hallock (quoted by Dr. Goode)t says that an Amia has 

 been known to bite a two-pound fish in two at a single snap. 



The breeding period^ of the dogfish is from April 1 to June 

 1 or July 1, varying with the season and the latitude. It 



* Quoted by Whitman & Eycles'hymer. 

 t Nat. Hist. Aq. An., p. 569. 



t April 19 to June 1, estimate of average for four years (Reighard); April-May (Whitman 

 & Ej'cleshymer). 



