Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 285 



water 30 to 45 feet deep and may be taken on or about the bars 

 between those depths. Later in the season they will be found at 

 still more shallow depths. Whether they return to deeper water 

 during the winter has not been definitely determined. It is known 

 that they are in relatively shallow water during the spring where 

 they remain until in June, or early July; then they go to deeper 

 water. 



b. There is another seasonal movement from greater to lesser 

 depths and back again, that is probably not related in any way to 

 the oxygen content of the water, but which is caused chiefly by 

 temperature differences. This manifests itself in a number of 

 ways, of which a few illustrations may be given : The little stickle- 

 back, Eucalia inconstans, prefers relatively cold water. During 

 the summer and early fall they may not ordinarily be found in 

 water less than 15 to 20 feet in depth; indeed, they seem to go 

 down to the depths which mark the maximum for Chara and other 

 aquatic vegetation. In all of our summer seining operations about 

 the lake only one stickleback was obtained ; but in the late fall and 

 during the winter, specimens were frequently obtained when dredg- 

 ing in 4- to 12-foot water. During summer dredging they were 

 found only in considerably greater depths. Evidently these little 

 fish remain during the warm summer months at considerable 

 depths, and some, not all, come out into shallower water only when 

 the temperature there has become equally cool. 



Then again, young of many of the fishes of the lake, especially 

 basses, bluegills and perch, are found in greatest abundance dur- 

 ing the summer in shallow water near shore where they not only 

 find protection in the masses of vegetation which they inhabit but 

 where they also find an abundant supply of suitable food. But as 

 fall comes on, and the shallow water near shore becomes more and 

 more cold until finally near the freezing point, these young fishes 

 move out into deeper and slightly warmer water and secrete them- 

 selves in the masses of Chara, Nitella and other vegetation. There 

 they spend the winter, returning to shallower water in the spring. 



Still another movement occurs late in the fall, usually not until 

 after the first frosts have come, when several species of small 

 fishes gather up in unusual numbers in shallow water along the 

 shore. The species most concerned are the straw-colored minnow 

 (Notropis blennius) , the Cayuga minnow (Notropis cayuga), the 

 blunt-nosed minnow (Pimephales notatus) , the skipjack (Labides- 

 thes sicculus), the grayback minnow (Fundulus diaphanus me- 

 nona), and the log perch (Percina caprodes). Each of these 

 species is found at all times in greater or less numbers pretty welJ 



