40 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



spawned at Havana in 1898 between May 1 and 15, and in 1899 

 until July 31. Dr. Kofoid took freshly spent females June 14, 

 1899. Its nests were found by Dr. Reighard* in quiet bays or 

 inlets, usually well grown with vegetation, places with stumps, 

 roots, and logs seeming to be selected as a rule. The male 

 builds the nest, usually at night, and probably unassisted by 

 the female. For this purpose the vegetation is rubbed or bitten 

 off and the loose rubbish brushed away with the tail and fins, 

 leaving a bed of soft rootlets or of sand or gravel for the eggs. 

 Spawning takes place more frequently at night than by day, the 

 male guarding the nest after the eggs are laid. The eggs hatch 

 in 8 to 10 days, according to temperature, and the young re- 

 main in the nest about 9 days, attaching themselves to rootlets 

 by the adhesive organ on the snout, or lying on their sides in the 

 bottom of the nest. After they leave the nest the male ac- 

 companies and defends the young, which move in a compact 

 school until they reach a length of about 4 inches. The young, 

 like those of the gar, have at first a lance-shaped temporary 

 caudal fin, beneath which the permanent caudal develops, at 

 first as an inferior lobe. 



This fish is very little esteemed as food, the flesh being soft 

 and pasty. It is said to vary in quality, however, according to 

 the waters from which it is taken. The negroes of the South 

 eat it with great relish (Goode), and it is often eaten also in 

 Southern Indiana and southern Illinois by the whites. It is 

 thrown away as a rule at Alton (Ashlock), but is saved by 

 practically all of the Ilhnois River fishermen, by whom it is 

 shipped to the cities, both east and west. Some large ship- 

 ments from Havana have been made to New York City markets. 

 The Illinois River furnishes very nearly the total product 

 marketed in the United States. In 1903 a catch of 1,097,050 

 lb, valued at $10,972, was taken from this river and its tribu- 

 taries, the Mississippi and minor tributaries furnishing the same 

 year only 8,200 lb. 



This species is as gamy as voracious, and is extremely 

 tenacious of life, being '^one of the hardest fighters that ever 

 took the hook." Charles Hallock, as quoted by Goode, says 

 that it will take frogs, minnows, and sometimes even the spoon, 

 while Dr. Dean is authority for the statement that trolling for 

 bowfish is becoming a favorite sport of some eastern anglers. 

 The young, of about 6 inches length, are said by Hallock to 



* The following account of breeding habits is mainly taken from Reighard ('00 and '01). 



