LAMPREYS AND FISHES OF INDIANA. 229 



COREGONUS CLUPEIFORMIS (Mitchill). 



Common White-fish. 



Jordan and Gilbert, 1882, S, 299; Jordan, 1884, /..^ 507, pi. 196. 



Body deep, compregsed, elevated at the shoulder. Depth in length, 

 two and one-half to four, the young being the more slender. Head 

 short, five to six times in the length. Snout rather blunt. The preor- 

 bital not half as wide as the diameter of the pupil. Maxillary extend- 

 ing back past the anterior border of the eye. Eye four to five times in 

 the head. Gill-rakers numerous, about two thirds as long as the eye. 

 Dorsal rays eleven ; anal eleven. Scales 8-75 to 85-9. Length becom- 

 ing in rare cases as great as thirty inches ; weight as great as twenty- 

 three pounds, but usually much less. 



Inhabits all the Great Lakes ; most abundant in Lake Michigan. 



This is probably the most important of all our fresh-water food-fishes. 

 This is due to its great abundance and to the excellent quality of its 

 flesh, which is tender, sweet, finely flavored, and free from bones. Al- 

 though far less abundant than formerly, great numbers are yet taken and 

 sent to the markets. The work of artificially propagating and planting 

 the young of this species in the Lakes has been undertaken by both the 

 U. S. Fish Commission and the Fish Commissions of the States along the 

 Lakes. J'he habits of the species have also been studied with some care. 

 The food of the white-fish is made up of invertebrate animals, crusta- 

 ceans, small mollusks, and insects. It seldom captures other fishes. The 

 adults appear to be bottom feeders. The fish seldom takes the hook, 

 but is taken in nets of various kinds-. Prof. Forbes has studied the food 

 of the young. He finds that it consists of the smallest entomostraca. 

 He has also made the interesting observation that the mouth of the young 

 fish is furnished with raptorial teeth. The fish breeds late in the year. 

 Th5 spawn is deposited from the middle of November until the end of 

 the first week of December, and for this purpose the fish seeks the shallow 

 waters along the shores of the lakes and at the mouths of rivers. They 

 do not enter the latter to the extent they once did. The character of the 

 spawning grounds vary greatly, being rocky, sandy, or covered with clay. 

 During the spawning season, the males greatly worry the females. The 

 pair may be seen swimming together, the male the smaller and the thin- 

 ner. At times the two leap together out of the water, and at the same 

 time the spawn and milt are expelled and falls into the water. There 

 may be as many as sixty-six thousand eggs in a single female, but the 

 average number is about ten thousand. The water-dog, Nedurus, ap- 

 pears to be a great enemy of the white-fish, devouring the eggs in great 

 quantities (Milner, 1872-3, 11, 44). 



