Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 343 



Carp are usually caught by net, as they are not, as a rule, ready 

 biters at the hook. Small ones are, however, frequently caught on 

 the hook along the upper Mississippi. The favorite bait is the 

 dough ball, or a bit of potato. They will, however, also take the 

 angleworm and are sometimes caught on set-lines baited with 

 angleworms. As a game-fish the Carp is not to be despised; in- 

 deed, in some regions it is held in high esteem and eagerly sought 

 by local anglers. It is really quite gamy, and a 4 to 10 pound 

 Carp is able to make a fight that will delight even the most expert 

 angler. 



The Carp is very productive, the number of eggs reported for 

 4- to 25-pound fish ranging from 100,OQO to more than 2,000,000. 

 Dr. Cole found that the eggs of a 17-pound Carp weighed 27 per 

 cent of the entire weight of the fish. 



The Carp makes no nest but simply leaves the eggs scattered 

 about on the vegetation in shallow water and gives no further at- 

 tention to them. 



As a food-fish in American waters the Carp has undoubtedly 

 come to stay. The annual catch now amounts to many million 

 pounds, valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. 



Body robust, compressed, resembling that of the buffalo-fish. 

 Mouth moderate, anterior, with 4 long barbels. Snout blunt, 

 rounded; D. Ill, 20, the first spine strongly serrated; A. iii, 5; 

 teeth, I, I, 3-3, I, I; scales normally 5-38-5, but sometimes few 

 and large, scattered (mirror carp) or absent (leather carp) ; many 

 variations present, due to domestication. Habitat, fresh waters 

 of Asia; introduced into Europe and America as a food-fish. 



18. BLUNT-NOSED MINNOW 



PIMEPHALES NOTATUS (Rafinesque) 



This little fish is found from Quebec to Delaware, Arkansas and 

 the Dakotas. It is generally abundant in small streams. 



In Lake Maxinkuckee it is a very common and well-known fish. 

 In our seining operations many specimens were obtained, the num- 

 ber taken at each haul varying from 1 to 30. The species was rep- 

 resented in 79 out of 612 hauls and by 268 specimens. They are 

 most frequently met with where the water is shallow and the bot- 

 tom of mixed sand and gravel covered sparsely with vegetation. 

 During the spring and summer they are usually found singly or 

 only a few together, but later they bunch up and in the fall and 

 winter they are found in considerable schools. These schools are 

 usually found near shore, particularly under or about the piers. 



