218 NORTHERN FISHES 



are yellowish green, with about 15 dark crossbands alternating with 

 fainter and shorter bands. There is a black spot at the base of the 

 caudal fin. The fins arc barred. This species reaches a length of 6 to 8 

 inches. 



The northern logperch, the largest and one of the most common of the 

 darters, ranges from Minnesota to Vermont and intergrades south- 

 eastward with Percina caprodes caprodes (Rafinesque) and with Per- 

 cina caprodes carbonaria (Baird and Girard) ; Greene (1935) reported 

 such intergrading in southeastern Wisconsin. The logperch is widely 

 distributed in the lakes and larger streams of Minnesota and Wisconsin. 



The larger logperch may be taken by hook-and-line fishermen when 

 they are fishing for perch and sunfishes, and when fried is just as de- 

 sirable a food fish. It is sometimes used as a bait minnow; the 3- or 4-inch 

 logperch is a very desirable bait for pike. 



The food of small logperch, like that of the other darters, consists 

 principally of Entomostraca and the amphipod Crustacea Hyalella; this 

 diet is augmented as the fish increases in size by insect larvae, principally 

 Chironomids. In certain specimens from Big Sandy Lake, Kidd (1927) 

 found the food to consist largely of algae, and no doubt algae often 

 supplement the animal food of this species. 



GENUS Ammocrypta Jordan 



WESTERN SAND DARTER 



Ammocrypta clara (Jordan and Meek) 



The body of the sand darter is subterete and extremely long. The 

 lateral line is complete. The head is long and pointed and the eye large. 

 The scales number 6-75-10. The cheeks and opercles are scaly, the nape 

 is thinly scaled, and the belly is mostly naked. The dorsal fin has 10 

 spines and 10 soft rays, the anal fin 1 spine and 8 soft rays. The color 

 and markings are translucent and finely dotted above; there is a series 

 of small, square, olive blotches along the back and another along the 

 lateral line; the latter series is connected by a gilt band; the fins are 

 pale. This species reaches a length of 2 1/2 inches. It has the habit of 

 burying itself in the sand by a sudden plunge, leaving only the eyes 

 visible. 



The western sand darter ranges from Minnesota and Wisconsin 

 southward. In Minnesota it is apparently restricted to the clear, sandy- 

 bottomed streams of the southern part of the state and to the clean, 

 sandy lakes of the central counties as far north as Aitkin and Itasca 

 counties. Greene (1935) reported that the areas it selects for its habi- 

 tat seem to be barren of other fishes. Hubbs in a recent letter states 

 that the darter formerly called Ammocrypta pellucida consists of three 

 species, and that the true A. pellucida is found in the Great Lakes and 



