312 American Fisheries Society 



resulted from the work of the Missouri Fish Commission. Added to 

 that I must mention the intelligent work of the President, Mr. Geserich, 

 who has given it a splendid business administration, something Missouri 

 has not had for a good many years. The output has been simply fabu- 

 lous. Mr. Kopplin, the superintendent, will be glad to answer any 

 questions as to the management, food, etc. 



Mr. Meehan: 1 want to say that about a year ago the superintendent 

 of one of the stations in Pennsylvania told me that he had found a 

 very cheap and effective method of getting rid of algae in his ponds, 

 something we were being bothered with a great deal. He did it by 

 placing white and yellow catfish in the pond, especially the young — 

 the advanced fry ami tmgerlings — and it was remarkable the speed with 

 which they cleaned up the algae in those ponds. They caught them by 

 the hundred and were very effective in doing it. 



Prof. L. L. Dyche, Pratt, Kan.: 1 would like to get some idea 

 about the number of fish produced per acre. In our hatchery in 

 Kansas for two years we have at considerable trouble counted the fish, 

 and I would like to know what is considered a good crop of fish 

 per acre. 



Mr. Worth: 1 would like to ask one ([notion: I would like to 

 know what the algae is that has been spoken of, whether it is that 

 floating, long, veil-like, green substance on the surface of the water, 

 or whether it is the growing plant with roots down underneath the 

 surface of the water. 



Mr. Meehan: We should be very glad to have Mr. Kopplin's experi- 

 ence in these matters. 



Mr. Phil Kopplin, St. Louis. Mo.: It is a green floating algae, with 

 the long stems. 1 believe the goldfish rooting along the bottom cause 

 it to die. It is a short-lived plant anyway. 



Mr. Meehan: It is said here that you have placed in that pond 

 415 bass. 



Mr. Kopplin : Yes. 



Mr. Meehan: Ami they were exactly in pairs? 



Mr. Kopplin : Yes. 



Mr. Meehan: Put there last fall? 



Mr. Kopplin: This spring, just before the spawning time. 



Mr. Meehan: I was going to ask how you distinguish the sexes? 



Mr. Kopplin : 1 usually wait till just before spawning time, and it 

 i^ easy then for the fishman to determine the sex. 



Mr. Meehan: The matter was spoken of here some time ago. One 

 of the members spoke about it and understood that these fish were 

 put in last fall and we were all interested to know how the sexes 

 could be differentiated. 



Professor Dyche: In how many acres of water were the 450? 



Mr. Kopplin: Four and one half acres. 



Mr. Meehan: Have you tested them as to whether that is the ca- 

 pacity of the pond for those fish or not: 



