Wickliff.—Food of Small-Mouth Black Bass 367 



In 1919 Cladocera ranked fifth in importance in the fish ex- 

 amined, and only at one island (Old Hen) did they surpass 

 the copepods in number. In 1920 they were found in much 

 greater numbers than the copepods in the food of the young 

 bass, and ranked second. This makes the difference in the 

 83^-15 mm. stage. The percentage of bass eating copepods in 

 this stage (S^/^-lS mm.) is lower than the next (16-20 mm.) 

 because of the smaller number eating copepods in 1920, and 

 the percentage of bass eating Cladocera in the 8>^-15 mm. stage 

 is much higher than the rest for the same reason. The table 

 shows that cladocerans, like copepods, are important in the 

 younger stages, but are eaten up to the 50 mm. stage, or a 

 little later than the copepods. The number eaten by a single 

 fish varied from 1 to 202. Thirteen bass ate Cladocera exclu- 

 sively. The cladocerans eaten were, Daphnia retrocurva, Dia- 

 phanosoma leucht enter gianum, and Sida crystallina. 



Midge pupae ranked third and were found in 27.4 per cent 

 of the bass. They ranged in number from 1 to 41. Midge 

 pup« are unimportant up to the 21 mm. stage, but from here on 

 up to the 45 mm. stage they are very important. After the 

 45 mm. stage there is a dropping off in the number of bass 

 eating them. Some of the important midge pup^e eaten were, 

 Chironomus, Cricotopus, and Tanytarsus. 



Adult insects were found in 24.9 per cent of the bass. They 

 are unimportant up to the 21 mm. stage, but from here on 

 there is an increase, and the larger the bass the greater the num- 

 ber eating insects, up to 45 mm. Eight orders of insects are 

 included in the food of the young bass. Of the total number 

 of bass eating insects, mayflies were found in 52 per cent, two- 

 winged flies in 32.4 per cent, caddis flies in 10.8 per cent, moths 

 and bugs each in 8.1 per cent, beetles in 2.7 per cent, and Hy- 

 menoptera and Physopoda each in 1.3 per cent. 



Taking insects as a class and including the larvse, pupae, 

 and adults, 180 bass or 57.4 per cent of the total number fed 

 upon them. 



Midge larvae were found in 19.8 per cent of the bass, and 



