ON THE FOOD OF YOUNG FISHES. 



BY S. A. FORBES. 



I cannot learn that anytliini>; lias been recorded respect- 

 ing the food of young fishes in this country,* nor have I 

 been able to find anything uj^on this subject in such part 

 of the ichthyological literature of Europe as is accessible to 

 me. From the lack of all mention of the use of Enfomos- 

 traca as the food of young fishes in the general review of 

 the relations of these Crustacea to organic nature given 

 by Gerstaecker in Bronn's Thier-Reichf I infer that what- 

 ever systematic investigation the subject may have re- 

 ceived, the results have not attracted any general atten- 

 tion. 



This seems a surprising fact when one considers the vast 

 amount of labor which has been expended upon this class 

 of animals, and reflects for a moment upon the interest to 

 science and to practical fish-culture of a knowledge of the 

 food resources of fishes and of the competitions of the 

 various species in the search for subsistence. 



Although I cannot yet treat this subject as fully as it 

 deserves, the results of such study as I have been able to 

 make, during the past season, of the contents of the stom- 

 achs and intestines of small specimens, seem to justify 

 this preliminary notice. 



It was early apparent, in the course of the investigation, 

 that the food of many fishes differs greatly according to 

 age ; and it was soon found that the life of most of our 

 fishes divides into at least two periods, and of many into 

 three, with respect to the kinds of food chiefly taken. 

 Further, in the first of these periods, a remarkable similar- 



*Perhaps exception should be made of a note relating to the occurrence 

 of diatoms in the stomachs of two young whitefishes, published in the 

 appendix to the Report of the U.S. Fish Commissioner for 1872-3, p. 57. 



■fClassen und Ordnungen des Thier-Reichs, Band V., Abtheilung 1, ss. 

 750 u. 1057. 



