564 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Whatever may be the truth as to the above, it is certainly a fact 

 that these fish can withstand much in the way of adverse conditions, 

 and can live for a considerable period out of water so long as the gills 

 are kept moist. When it is desired to transport iish from where they 

 are caught it is usual for the fishermen merely to load them into the 

 bottom of a boat when the distance is not too great. For longer dis- 

 tances by water the}" are usualh" towed in a live-car. 



When the United States Fish Commission w^as distributing man}'^ 

 thousands of young carp every year it became a matter of great impor- 

 tance to have some practical method that would be economical as well 

 as efficient. The original plan was to send a few fish in a large milk 

 can full of water, but this practice was expensive and unsatisfactory. 

 Later it was found that the fish could be shipped long distances, requir- 

 ing several clays or a week for the journey, merely by putting tliem 

 in small pails with only a little water. The usual method was to use 

 4 or 6 quart tin pails, in which were placed 15 to 20 young fish 2 to 3 

 inches long, with little more than enough water to cover them (see 

 McDonald, 18S2, and later reports of the Commissioner). This small 

 amount of water is kept well aerated by the jostling of the pails in 

 transportation and the movements of the fish. In fact, it usually 

 becomes foamy, on account of the slime secreted by the fish. I have 

 mj^self used this method with success in shipping voung carp from 

 Port Clinton, Ohio, to Ann Arbor, Mich., the fish l)eing about two 

 daj's on the wa}'. 



Although carp will live so long out of water if the gills are moist, 

 or in a small amount of water well aerated, the}' succumb much more 

 quickly to foul water — that is, to water not well aerated, and conse- 

 quently charged with carbonic acid or unoxidized organic matter. 

 Under such conditions they may usually be seen sv\'imming about with 

 their mouths at the surface, a circumstance that is always to be looked 

 upon with suspicion by the owner of a carp pond, as it asually means 

 that the fish will die unless the conditions are quickly improved. Carp 

 are apt to do the same thing when the temperature of the water be- 

 comes too high. Of course this action must be distinguished from the 

 normal feeding of the fish at the surface. 



FEEDING HABITS AND FOOD. 



Carp are frequently stated to be "essentially vegetable feeders." 

 It seems to me better to say that they are omnivorous, for I know of 

 no food substance which a carp can get into its mouth that it will not 

 eat. Since it can not be considered in the ordinary sense a predacious 

 fish, however, the animal matter which it can ordinarily obtain is lim- 

 ited largely to insect larvae, small Crustacea and mollusca, and other 

 similar small organisms, so that the bulk of its food is undoubtedly in 

 most cases vegetable. Carp are often compared to pigs in their feed- 



