LAMPREYS AND FISHES OF INDIANA. 165 



vigorous fishes, and are greatly disliked by them on account of 

 the injuries which the fishes do to the nets. They appear, however, 

 capable of laying aside cares of life and enjoying themselves. Dr. 

 Kirtland says: "It may be seen, apparently sleeping, on the surface, 

 and gently carried around on an eddy for an hour at a time." The for- 

 midable array of extremely sharp teeth in the long jaws would impress 

 one with the idea that the gar is capable of capturing the most active 

 and most slippery of fishes. Dr. Jordan, however, states (2, 111) that 

 he has never known it to attempt to take food, although he has fre- 

 quently seen them basking in a school of minnows, and had kept them 

 in aquaria. He has never found any fish in their stomachs, and out of 

 eight examined by Prof. Forbes, the stomachs of all but one were empty; 

 that one containing a single cray-fish. These observations really tend to 

 prove that the gars very rarely eat anything. In a later pul^lication 

 Prof Forbes {14, II, 478) places the gars among the principal fish- 

 eaters among our species, those which make fish at least 75 per cent, of 

 their diet. I have been told that one was found to have eaten a snake. 



Gars are not regarded as having any value as food, although I have 

 heard of their being' eaten. Their flesh is said to be rank and tough. 

 Considerable difliculty might be experienced in removing their armour of 

 hard, imbricated scales, although scalding might have some eflfect on it. 



The gar deposits its eggs in the early spring. From the studies of 

 Profs. Alex. Agassiz, E. L. Mark, and S. Garman it has been learned 

 that in the St. Lawrence River the eggs are laid at night about May 20, 

 In our region this may occur still earlier. The eggs are large, looking 

 much like those of toads, and having a large outer membrane and a 

 small yolk. They are very viscous, and stick to whatever they come 

 into contact. The young were found to begin hatching in six days. 

 They are not greatly different from the young of other fishes. Their 

 food consists of the larvte of mosquitos, great numbers of which are 

 devoured. They have, at the tip of the snout a suctorial disk, by means 

 of Avhich they can fasten themselves to objects. The vertebral column 

 of the fish, until a considerable size is reached, is prolonged into a fila- 

 ment along the upper edge of the tail. 



Lepisosteus platostomus Raf. 



Short-Nosed Gar. 



Jordan and Gilbert, 1882, 8, 91 ; Jordan, 1882, 2, 773; Jordan, 1884, 

 12, 664, p). 241. 



Resembles the preceding, but has a shorter head, and a shorter, broader 

 snout. The latter is from one to one and three-fourth times as long as 

 the rest of the head ; its median width is contained in its length about 

 three andfone-fourth times, i'^ Length of whole head in length of fish to base 



