102 



workcT'j lUiowrd Ihal, in general, Ihc food percentages 

 are as follows: insects, 37.2; algae and plants, 39.9; 

 plankton, 11. B; fish, 7.1; sand and silt, 1.1; and 

 miscellaneous foods, 2.9. 



SfKttfl 



in jHifirr 



Sp^^ttin shiner 



tiotropts spt loptetus (Cope) 



General description, — Body thin from side to side, 

 deep from top to bottom; dorsal fin with black pigment 

 on one or two membranes between posterior rays; breeding 

 males often steel-blue in color with orange fins and 

 small pointed tubercles on snout; females and young fish 

 silvery blue in color. 



The spotfin shiner prefers rapid-running streams, 

 but is sometimes found in clear, weedy lakes. It 

 occurs from the eastern part of the Dakotas to New 

 England, except in Lake Superior and its tributaries. 



The spotfin shiner spawns from May to August on 

 gravelly riffles or over sandy shoals. The adhesive 

 eggs are often laid on logs and dock pilings, in 

 crevices of submerged tree trunks, and even in old 

 pails. The spotfin is a good bait species, active, 

 hardy on the hook and in the live-box. 



The foodofthis shiner consists mostly of insects. 

 It has been known to eat both a<iuatic and terrestrial 

 insects, small fishes, vegetable matter, small crusta- 

 ceans, plankton, and carp eggs. Pood studies by several 

 workers show that,, in general, the food percentages are 

 as follows: midge larvae, 17,6; May fly nymphs, 6.2; 

 miscellaneous Insects, 64,7; and miscellaneous, 11,5, 



