Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 301 



The algse and water plants furnish ideal breeding places for 

 these entomostraca and insect larvae on which the minnows and 

 darters feed, and so long as they remain there need be no fear of 

 any diminution in this important food item. 



Amongst their other food the minnows which frequent the 

 surface eat more or less of the larvse of the parasitic copepods 

 which infest the larger food fish. They thus not only serve as food 

 for the larger fish, but also are of great value in helping to keep 

 these obnoxious parasites within due bounds. 



This double service greatly increases their economic value and 

 makes their preservation a matter of considerable importance. 



There is every probability that the darters which frequent the 

 eel grass at the bottom of the lake feed to some extent upon the 

 small leeches which breed there. These leeches are the worst 

 enemies of the food fish, and anything that contributes to their de- 

 struction is worthy of careful fostering and protection. 



Such being the relation between the minnows and darters 

 and the food fish the following facts become worthy of careful 

 consideration : 



1. None of the darters and only three or four of the minnows 

 are of any value as bait. They die quickly in the minnow buckets 

 and still more quickly when placed upon the hook. 



Every one that dies in a minnow bucket acts as a killing agent to 

 the minnow's left alive, and every one put upon a hook decreases 

 by so much the angler's chance for success. 



2. The very kinds that are of least value as bait are of most 

 service in keeping down the parasites which infest the food fish. 

 Under natural conditions also they are as often eaten by the large 

 fish as any of the bait species. 



3. In seining for minnow bait all kinds of minnows and dar- 

 ters get into the net, and nearly always the young fry of larger fish, 

 particularly those of the large and small-mouthed bass, bluegills, 

 red-eyes, sunfish, and catfish. 



4. Very few of the fishermen and none of the boys who seine 

 for minnows can distinguish these different kinds one from 

 another. Those who can do so have never been taught the eco- 

 nomic value of these small fish, and, if they stop to think at all, con- 

 sider them good for nothing if they do not make suitable bait. 



Consequently the good ones, or usually all that are large enough, 

 are put in the minnow bucket, and the rest are left to die on the 

 shore where the seine was pulled out and examined. 



5. Such indiscriminate destruction is a serious menace to the 



