Wickliff. — Food of Small-Mouth Black Bass 365 



of any other fish seined in shallow water in that region. This 

 bass, however, is an inhabitant of the open waters of the lake 

 in shoal regions and near shore, and is not found commonly 

 in the weedy bays and harbors. In such situations it is re- 

 placed by the large-mouth bass. 



The stomach and intestinal contents of 313 young bass, 

 ranging from 8>^ to 65 mm. have been examined to date. The 

 results obtained from the study of those above the 45 mm. 

 stage are not considered complete, as only 14 specimens from 

 45 to 65 mm. have been examined, but they are not as impor- 

 tant as those on the food of the younger bass. The food of 

 the bass beyond 45 mm. in length differs but little in character 

 from that of the adult. 



The growth of the young bass is directly related to the 

 food supply, and it was estimated from the daily collections 

 that the rate is about .8 or .9 of a mm. per day, although there 

 were wide differences in length from the various islands. 



To show the feeding capacity of the young bass, the fol- 

 lowing table was made for 210 specimens: 



Feeding Capacity of Young Bass 



Condition of stomach. 



Stuffed 



Filled 



Moderately full . , 

 Very little food 



No food 



Total 



This shows that over 60 per cent of the bass had the stom- 

 ach either stuffed or filled, and 87 per cent at least moderately 

 filled, which would indicate the bass did not suffer from lack 

 of food. From observations made on eight of the bass from 

 16 to 28 mm. in length, it was estimated that 12 hours are re- 

 quired to empty the stomach and 24 hours to empty the intes- 

 tine. The young bass feed throughout the entire day and prob- 

 ably at night, or at least early morning, as bass caught at 7 

 a. m. had their stomachs well filled. 



