FISHES OF THE MISSOURI RIVER BASIN. 347 



8 feet deep. The bottom is covered with a thick deposit of black mud, 

 and ;it the edge of the water there was considerable vegetation. The 

 temperature October 22 was 46° when the air was 02°. Owing to a 

 milldam in the stream at the town, the fish from the river have free 

 access to only about a mile of Mud Creek. The water was consider- 

 ably colder than that in Loup River, and this, with the great amount 

 of (bod matter and the quietness and depth of the water, accounted for 

 the abundance of fishes found in it. No doubt many of them had been 

 driven in here on account of low water in Loup River. 



We examined Mud Creek from the railroad bridge down to its mouth, 

 a distance of nearly a mile, and then seined the river at several places 

 near the mouth of Mud Creek. The abundance of fishes here, both as 

 to species and individuals, was unusually great. We obtained not 

 fewer than 15 species, among which were the following: 



Moxostoiua aureolum. Carpiodes velifer. Platygobio gracilis. 



Notropis jejunus. Notropis lutrensis. Stizostedion vitreum. 



Hiodoii alosoidcs. Fundulus seiadieus. Hybo»nathiis nuchale evausi. 



Apomotis cyanellus. Hybopsis aestivalis. Micropterus salmoides (planted). 



Ictalurus punctatus. Hybopsis storerianus. Piniephales promelas. 



The black bass had been planted and seemed to be doing well. We 

 saw two which a fisherman had taken, that were each 12 inches long. 

 There is certainly much need of a fishwav in Mud Creek, so that fish 

 may pass to the water above the dam. The banks of both streams are 

 well covered with trees. In Mud Creek 2 species of turtles were seen, 

 Ghelydra serpentina and Aspidoneetes spinifer. 



Lakes Carp and George. — Seventeen miles south and a little west of 

 Long Pine, Nebr., lie two isolated lakes of considerable size, and a few 

 small ones. There is no record of any outlet for these lakes, but the 

 slope is toward the south, and since there is but one neighboring 

 river, the Calamus, in this direction, it is likely that these lakes were 

 once drained by that stream. 



Carp Lake contains about 100 acres and ranges in depth from 3 to 7 

 feet. There is open water in the center, but the edges of the lake are 

 grown up with various species of aquatic plants. We seined the lake 

 on the south side and secured a large number of Ameiurus melas and 

 Apomotis cyanellus. At one haul we took 05 specimens of Ameiurus, 

 4 of them ranging from 11 to 13 inches in length. No other species of 

 fish were seen, and Mr. Blodgett, who lives near the lake, said that no 

 native fish had ever been taken there. The cattish and sunlish he 

 planted in the lake himself. In 1887 he planted 2,000 young carp, but 

 never saw any afterwards. In 1888 he planted 512 sunlish and 6 bull- 

 heads, and it was from these that the fish we caught had grown. We 

 also tried catching suufish with a hook and were very successful. Those 

 we caught were not very large, but Mr. Blodgett said he had caught 

 some that measured 8 inches in length. 



Lake George lies about 3 miles southeast of Carp Lake, covers 200 

 acres, and is from 3 to 7 feet deep. It has more open water than Carp 



