FOOD OF YOUNG SMALL-MOUTH BLACK BASS 

 IN LAKE ERIE 



By Edward L. Wickliff 



Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 



The small-mouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu Lacepede), 

 is one of the most important game fishes of Ohio waters and 

 is especially abundant about the Bass Islands and other islands 

 of the western end of Lake Erie. Because of the high esteem 

 in which sportsmen hold this fish, it seemed advisable to make 

 some study of the food and feeding habits of the younger stages 

 in their most characteristic breeding places under natural con- 

 ditions. My thanks are due to Dr. Raymond C. Osburn, and 

 the- Ohio Bureau of Fish and Game for the opportunity to 

 make this study. 



The work was begun in the summer of 1919 at the lake 

 laboratory of Ohio State University at Put-in Bay. The 

 youngest stages could not be obtained that season, but these 

 were added in 1920, when the breeding season was somewhat 

 later. Collecting was done with a 25-foot minnow seine, re- 

 inforced with cheese cloth over the middle third. 



The bass fry were obtained chiefly about North, South, 

 and Middle Bass Islands, but in all seventeen islands within 

 reach of Put-in Bay were visited and specimens were obtained 

 from fifty-one stations. The young bass were preserved at 

 once in a 5 per cent solution of formalin which killed them 

 instantly and preserved the stomach contents. If the fish were 

 above }i inch in length, the body wall was slit to allow for- 

 malin to penetrate more rapidly. 



The young fish were found in nearly all types of environ- 

 ment, such as sandy, gravelly, and stony bottoms, but none was 

 obtained on mud bottom. Very few were found directly in 

 vegetation, although they were abundant at the edge of aquatic 

 plants. The young bass has a wide range in its feeding habits, 

 and its distribution was found to be more universal than that 



