384 American Fisheries Society 



the small and large-mouth bass, make decided changes in the 

 kind of food taken during the period of their growth to a 

 similar length. An examination of two gizzard shad 200 mil- 

 limeters in length did not materially alter the percentages as 

 given above, with the exception that there was a greater amount 

 of unrecognizable debris. 



The animal percentages are not so constant, the amount 

 being sometimes zero, but it seems certain that no discrimina- 

 tion is exercised in food selection. The gizzard shad is chiefly 

 a vegetarian, but the percentages of animal food present are 

 too large to be considered otherwise than as the animal part 

 of the plankton. On the other hand it forms no such large a 

 factor as the report of Forbes would indicate, which means 

 merely that in the present case the plant life was proportionately 

 more abundant. Towing records indicate the same proportions 

 of animal and plant life in the plankton. 



The filamentous algae were always present in small quanti- 

 ties, and there was but a single instance of the presence of 

 any parts of the higher plants. In one gizzard shad the re- 

 mains of some epidermal and palisade cells of a small leaf 

 were found, but it must be considered purely accidental. The 

 filamentous algae were largely young plants, broken up into 

 relatively small pieces. No plant was ever observed longer 

 than three-tenths of a millimeter, and the material was never 

 wadded up, either in the gizzard or in the intestine. 



Not more than a decade or two ago most ichthyologists 

 were agreed that the gizzard shad was a beautiful but never- 

 theless worthless fish. That it is beautiful no one will dispute. 

 With its silvery white sides and its graceful rapid dashes 

 through the water near the surface, it makes a very attractive 

 fish. But it is decidedly not worthless. While it is not a game 

 fish and at the present time furnishes very little food for man, 

 it holds a very important place in the life cycle of a number 

 of our best game fish, notably the small and large-mouth bass, 

 the crappie, and the white bass. The younger gizzard shad fur- 



