ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 95 
LONG-EARED SUNFISH. 
should be removed with a seine if it is possible to do so, and 
marketed. It is important that the mature fish crop of a pond 
be utilized and the young of the year be given a chance to develop. 
The accumulation of large fishes serves no useful purpose, but re- 
sults in overstocking, exhaustion of the food supply, cannibalism, 
and stunted growth. 
If a natural lake or pond is already stocked with carp, which 
are not desired and can not be entirely removed, their further 
increase may be checked by the introduction of black bass which 
feed freely on young carp. Black bass will also keep other species 
in check by devouring their young, and thrive amazingly in the 
process. 
If the waters contain black bass, or other fishes, which have 
become stunted from overcrowding and the exhaustion of the 
natural food supply, it is important to reduce their number by 
any methods of fish catching that will prove effective and to 
restore the food supply by introducing other species. 
If numerous adult yellow perch are added their young will 
contribute to the food of the bass, and other large species. Ex- 
periments have shown that fishes stunted from overcrowding are 
not necessarily permanent dwarfs, but will attain a larger size if 
well fed or removed to more favorable waters. No fishes could 
be more stunted and worthless than those now swarming in the 
lakes of Central Park, yet we have succeeded in doubling the size 
of such fishes in two years: Stunted European rudd, transferred 
from Central Park to Prospect Park, began developing, and later, 
when we seined them out for exhibition at the Aquarium, it was 
