42 American Fisheries Society 



the approach of the spawning season. The fish were first seen 

 "splashing" May 11 and later on May 17, 18 and 19. The first 

 young were seen May 26. The present indications are that the 

 pond is over stocked, judging by the size of the fingerlings (13^ in.), 

 as compared with the fingerlings (2 in.) in the two ponds mentioned 

 above. 



The success obtained last year in hatching and rearing young 

 channel catfish, 7". punctatus, in a pond at the station was described 

 in a paper published in the Transactions of this Society for 

 March, 1917.* 



This season two small earth ponds are being devoted to some 

 of the young reared last year, in order to obtain additional data 

 on the growth. In one pond were placed 108 of the yearling fish 

 with natural food only and in the other 464 fish to be fed in part 

 on artificial food. The growth has been quite substantial and 

 some of the fish have now reached a length of about 6 inches. 



An additional hatch of young catfish was obtained in the 

 same pond again this year. 



From a stock of red-eared sunfish, Eupomotis gibbosus, placed 

 in an earth pond last season, a brood of young was obtained. 

 It may develop that this species will be quite suitable for raising 

 with large-mouth black bass, as it is more of a bottom feeder 

 than perhaps any other sunfish and spawns quite late, the young 

 thus being available as food for the young bass. Young sunfish 

 of the species L. euryorus, the habits of which were but little known, 

 were also hatched in one of the ponds. The comparatively rapid 

 growth and uniform size of the young lead one to believe that this 

 may be a very suitable species for small ponds. 



(b). Artificial Hatching in Jars. — In connection with the 

 pond cultural work, experimental hatching of various river hsh 

 has been carried on to some considerable extent. As stated 

 above, the work was first undertaken in 1915 when a hatch of 

 1,723,625 buffalofish was obtained. The work in the two suc- 

 ceeding years resulted in a hatch of approximately ten millions 

 in 1916, and seven millions in 1917. The eggs were obtained 

 primarily at New Boston, 111., and as the fish from which they were 

 taken were caught by the commercial fishermen for the market, 



*Notes on the Rearing, Growth, and Food of the Channel Catfish, 

 Ictalurus punctatus. Tran. Am. Fish. Society, for March, 1917. Vol. 45, No. 2. 



