49] STUDY OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN FISHES— C A UN 49 



shallow water, the former being the large adults, the latter young individ- 

 uals ordinarily not sexually mature. The fish are gregarious, inhabiting 

 the heavy off-bar weed beds in association with Micropterus salmoides 

 the silverbass (Pomoxis sparoides) and pickerel (Esox lucius). They vary 

 greatly in coloration, depending upon the character of the water they 

 inhabit, those coming from muddy water being very dark. Bluegills 

 weighing a pound are frequently caught, and the species is highly prized 

 as a pan fish. They are very game fighters, utilizing their width to the 

 utmost to resist the efforts of the fisherman. The food is largely animal 

 matter. The young fish live mostly on entomostraca and bits of leaves of 

 Potamogeton and other aquatic plants, while the adults eat fish, crayfish, 

 small mollusca, insect larvae and often insects which fall upon the surface 

 of the water. 



70. Lepomis gibbosus (Linn.). Pumpkinseed. 



This is distinctly a fish of the rivers and streams, and only to a slight 

 extent of the lakes. In the latter they are most frequently found near 

 the mouths of the rivers, from which they probably came. They are also 

 found in the smaller ponds, Skidmore and Okauchee ponds. The fish 

 show a decided preference for weed beds in soft bottom, usually muck, and 

 are consequently very tolerant of dirty water. They are only to a slight 

 extent gregarious, and have a more general distribution through the 

 streams than do the preceding species. They prefer deeper water, and seek 

 refuge in holes in the stream bed. Vegetation is also a requisite of their 

 environment and much of their time is spent in the shade of aquatic plants 

 or overhanging banks. They breed in June, nesting in the shallows along 

 the shore where a nest is excavated in the bottom, always amid vegetation, 

 and here the male valiantly guards the eggs. The young leave the nest 

 almost at once, and no further parental care is displayed. The food is 

 essentially like that of the preceding. Their size is a bit too small to make 

 them a choice food fish, as they seldom exceed 5 or 6 inches in length. 



71. Micropterus dolomieu (Lacepede). Small-mouth Black Bass; Red-eye. 

 This is the gamest of all the local fishes, the best fighter known. It is 



abundantly distributed throughout the county, but is decidedly a fish of 

 clear lakes though it is also found in muddy streams. The factor which 

 determines the persistence (if not the existence) of the red-eye in a lake is 

 gravel bars. While food may be abundant and water conditions ideal in a 

 lake, if gravel bars are not present neither is the red-eye. These bars are 

 essential to their breeding habits, and the breeding habits of a fish, far 

 more than the food habits, determine whether a species can survive in a 

 given body of water. The red-eye occurs in most of the larger lakes, and is 

 conspicuously absent from the following: Golden, Ashippun, Genesee, 

 Pewaukee, Henrietta, Dutchmans, Otis and other small ponds. The 



