Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 427 



par excellence. It is one of the most abundant and best known 

 of freshwater fishes. Its usual length is 10 to 14 inches and its 

 weight | to 2 pounds. Examples of 3 and 4 pounds, however, have 

 been recorded. The largest examples of which we have a definite 

 record are one of 4} pounds recorded by Dr. Goode, caught in 

 Delaware Bay, by Dr. C. C. Abbott, and another reported to us 

 by Dr. F. A. Lucas, taken at Morey's Hole, Massachusetts, and 

 weighing 3 pounds and 2 oz. The Yellow Perch of Europe seems 

 to grow much larger, examples of as great as 8 and 9 pounds hav- 

 ing been recorded. The European perch is not so brightly colored 

 as ours. 



As a pan-fish we do not know of any better among American 

 freshwater fishes. The senior author has experimented with the 

 Yellow Perch and several other species, including both species of 

 black bass, the bluegill, wall-eyed pike and rock bass, eating each 

 for several days in succession, and has found the Yellow Perch 

 the sweetest and most delicious of them all. One does not tire of 

 it so soon as of the other kinds. Several other persons who tried 

 the same experiment reached the same conclusion. In most parts 

 of its range it is highly esteemed, and in many places it is of very 

 considerable commercial importance. In the Great Lakes, the 

 Potomac River and the small lakes in the upper Mississippi Val- 

 ley, large quantities are taken, which always find a ready sale. 



The diet of the Perch is exceedingly varied. In late autumn 

 when they come near shore they subsist almost entirely on craw- 

 fishes, and these form the greater portion of their food the year 

 round. They also were found to contain minnows, the larvaB of 

 May-flies, dragon-flies and caddis-flies, and quite frequently small 

 mollusks of various sorts, such as Physa and Sphaerium. They also 

 occasionally contain small worms, young of other fishes such as sun- 

 fishes, and one contained a stickleback. One was found dead 

 choked on a Johnny darter. 



The Perch of Lake Maxinkuckee seem to be quite free from 

 diseases and parasites. One found dying on shore contained what 

 appeared to be cysts in the liver; this was the only diseased one 

 seen. A large number caught in the fall at the edge of Lake 

 Michigan in 1903 were examined, and nearly every one had one or 

 more white cyst-like objects imbedded near the eye, probably due 

 to Myxosporidia, but no such phenomenon was noted at Lake Max- 

 inkuckee. In some other lakes, particularly in New England, New 

 York and Wisconsin, the Yellow Perch are frequently infested 

 with tapeworms or other parasites which are found in the flesh. 

 This condition is most apt to occur in ponds in which the water 



