BLACK CRAPPIE 



Ponio.xis nii^roiuciciilatiis (LeSueur) 



The introduction of tiie black crappie into Maine is an unfortunate 

 example of the fishery management problems that occur when unin- 

 formed individuals violate state regulations regarding the introductions 

 of fish species not native to an area. The black crappie has become 

 established in the Sebago Lake drainage of Maine in competition with 

 more prized native game fish. 



Black crappie were taken for the first time by Fishery Division bi- 

 ologists from Sebago Lake, type habitat for the landlocked salmon, in 

 1952. Since that time additional specimens have been taken by anglers, 

 and identified from Kewaydin Lake and Proctor Pond. 



Investigations of possible sources for this unwise introduction un- 

 covered the interesting information that these fish were reportedly 

 stocked in Virginia Lake in Stoneham in 1921. Removal of the fish 

 screen from Virginia Lake in 1945 may have been the beginning of a 

 long migration that has ended in Sebago Lake and other lakes in the 

 drainage. Fish screens, however, do not usually contain the young fish 

 so that the migration may have begun even before removal of the screen. 



The crappie is a member of the sunfish family like the smallmouth 

 and largemouth, and general spawning habits are similar. Circular nests 

 are prepared by males although they will usually be located in deeper 

 water than those of the basses. Young crappies migrate from their nests 

 to shallow water after hatching. 



Crappies are taken weighing as much as three pounds but the usual 

 size is much smaller. 



First food of the young is largely minute organisms and immature 

 aquatic insects, but they quickly move to deeper water and graduate to a 

 fish diet. 



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