The Productivity of Fish Food in Oneida Lake 59 



2. Short Point Bay. The second rounded point west of 

 Long Point marks the entrance to Short Point Bay as Short 

 Point marks the entrance on the south side. The bay (fig. 8) 

 is about a third of a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide 

 and covers an area of about 53 acres. The north shore, bor- 

 dering the peninsula known as Long Point, is bouldery on the 

 points and sandy or muddy in the bays, the third bay near the 

 extreme west end of Short Point Bay having a typical mud 

 bottom. The head of the bay has a hard sand bottom and is 

 without vegetation. The south side has a soft black mud 

 bottom at the southwest side which changes to clay and then 

 to sand as Conway Point is approached. The water shallows 

 gradually from shore to the 6- foot contour. \'egetation is 

 represented by few species on the north side of the bay, a 

 much larger number occurring in the mud bottom area at the 

 southwest corner of the bay. The bottom of the whole area 

 is more or less covered with debris consisting of plant frag- 

 ments, pieces of wood, dead, bleached molluscan shells, empty 

 caddis-fly and chironomid larval tubes, etc. In many places 

 there is a heavy growth of filamentous algae. Table No. 3 

 shows the habitats of Short Point Bay. Habitat No. xxxvi is 

 characteristic of a typical protected habitat. The shore is 

 swampy and the water extends well into the wooded area, 

 which consists of Black Willow {Salix nigra falcata) and 

 Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). The water border- 

 ing the shore is from six to 20 inches deep and the shore is 

 lined with Swamp Loosestrife {Decodon verticillatus), Bur- 

 reed* (Sparganiu)u enrycarpum), Pickerel- weed (Pontederia 

 cordata), Arrow-heads (Sagittaria arifoUa and A. latifolia) 

 and the Yellow Water Lily {Nymphcca advena). The bottom 

 near the shore is of black mud covered with fragments of 

 plants and pieces of wood, and also a thick, flufify substance 

 evidently decaying plant material (detritus). A heavy blanket 

 of filamentous algee covers everything, the bottom and the 

 vegetation to the surface of the water. 



