Biological Survey — Erie-Niagara Watershed 157 



mouths of creeks and in the great weed beds oL' tlie upper Niagara 

 river, they were much more common, in some places being, literally, 

 in myriads. To be sure, several of the lake species have pelagic 



A cliff along the shore of Lake Erie — an unproductive stretch of water 



for young fish 



young, swimming in the open w^aters of the lake, and not requiring 

 shelter. Several members of this category are very important 

 species, notably the whitefish and herring. However, most forms 

 require shelter when young and spawai only in sheltered places. 

 This is true of a majority of the fishes of commercial importance. 

 A summary of the information as to spaw^ning places of Lake 

 Erie fish in the area surveyed may prove useful for subsequent in- 

 vestigations and as an aid in fixing restrictions aiming at a con- 

 servation of the numbers of reproducing fish. In regard to where 

 they spawn, these may be classed into : 



(1) Species w^iich ascend streams well into the riffles: Common 

 sucker, red-fin suckers (probably true of all 4 species), trout- 

 perch, log-perch, Copeland's darter, lampreys (the 2 lake species), 

 spot-tailed minnow. 



(2) Species which go down to the ocean to spawn (catadro- 

 mous) : The eel. 



(3) Species which spawn under sheltered conditions along the 

 shore zone, in creek mouths, sheltered bays or in the Niagara river : 

 gar, buffalo mullet, carp, goldfish, Notropis heterodon, N. deli- 

 ciosus, golden shiner, blunt-nosed minnow, catfish (2 species), bull- 

 heads (2 species), northern pike, muskalonge, killifish, white bass, 

 yellow perch, sauger, yellow^ pike, johnny darter, low^a darter, 

 black bass (2 species), common sunfish, rock bass, crappie, sheeps- 

 head, stonecat. 



(4) Species which spaw^n in open w^aters of the lake: Sturgeon 

 (reported to spawn on bars), herring, whitefish, lake trout, sculpin 

 (probably 3 species), ling. 



