12 MARINE AND FISHERIES 



5 GEORGE v., A. 1915 



occasionally to the surface for air. It feeds for the most part on minnows, top- 

 minnows and young suckers, which it captures by a sharp, quick snapping motion 

 of the jaws. Like the fresh water dogfish, it represents an archaic type, of consid- 

 erable biological interest. It is of no value otherwise, and its extermination is 

 frequently urged on account of its destructiveness to other fishes or on accoimt of 

 the damage it inflicts on the nets of the fishermen. 



The nests of this species have been found only on two occasions at Go Home 

 Bay. In both cases the nests were constructed with little care in about two feet 

 of water, and on a bottom covered with the short stems of aquatic plants. The 

 spawning time is towards the middle of June. Young fish of from two to six inches 

 in length are commonly taken in swamps or on sand beaches. They make practically 

 no efforts to avoid capture. Their coloration is much more striking than that of 

 the adult. There is a broad lateral stripe of black, and immediately above it a 

 white band with brownish spots in its lower portion. There is a median dorsal band 

 of dark color, and the ventral surface is occupied by a dark band containing a 

 median white stripe. The tail is also notably different in form, the fin portion 

 being separated for a considerable distance from a lance-shaped filamentous lobe 

 representing the continuation of the tail proper. This delicate lobe is in the 

 natural condition kept in almost constant motion. 



Family amiidae. 



(Dogfish) 



Amia calva, Linnaeus. 



(Dogfish. Bowfin) 



Present in nearly all swampy situations, but more abundant in the south-east- 

 ern arm of the bay, in the vicinity of Waubaushene, where the more extensive 

 swamp areas doubtless provide a more congenial habitat. 



Length 2 feet. Body robust forwards, compressed and gradually tapering 

 backwards to the tail. Depth 4 • 3 to 5 • 2. Head very stout, its length 3 • 5 to 3 • 8 in 

 the length of the body. Eye small, 8-1 to 11*5 in head. Anterior nares opening 

 on shoit tubes. Coloration above and on sides dark olive green, with more or less 

 definite darker mottlings. A black spot on the upper margin of the tail, surrounded 

 in the male by an irregular band or ring of yellow or orange. Lower parts white 

 or yellowish. Opercle with two fairly distinct bands of black extendmg backwards 

 from the eye. Lower jaw and jugular plate with dark mottlings. Males m the breed- 

 ing season have the dorsal and caudal fins greenish black, but the lower fins are bright 

 emerald green, and have a band of green connecting them on each side of the body. 

 In the female all the fins are dark. Dorsal fin very long with 48 (to 50) rays. Anal 

 with 10 or 11 rays. Scales large, with more or less angular edges, 8 or 9, 67 to 

 69, 11 to 14. 



