298 Roosczcit Wild Liu- .Inmds 



Lake at present, and it is the only one we found there. Dr. Tarleton Bean gives 

 evidence of the occurrence of Whitefish (Com7o«i<.fsp.), and Herring {Leucichthys 

 sp.) other than TulHbees. He states (Bean, '10, p. 276) that on July 19, 

 1909, there were a great many dead fish in Onei'da Lake, chiefly ciscoes, but 

 also some Whitefish; and in 1914 (Bean, '15, p. 348), both TulHbee and White- 

 fish eggs were planted in Oneida Lake. The Tullibee is probably the "cisco" 

 referred to here, but elsewhere he apparently distinguished two kinds of ciscoes 

 in Oneida Lake ('10, p. 289). Mr. J. D. Black, Protector at Oneida Lake, did 

 not know of any true Whitefish having been taken from the lake. 



Tullibees of the lake have great potential food value, but are available at 

 present chiefly by illegal method of capture. Since they are very rarely caught 

 by hook, the only direct evidence that most anglers and other visitors get of their 

 occurrence in the lake is from the many floating dead individuals seen in summer. 



Breeding Habits and Life History. James Annin, Jr., noted their spawning 

 in Onondaga Lake (Bean, '03, p. 240). He says: "They generally commence 

 running up onto the shoals about November 15, and the season extends into 

 December. They come up to the banks or -ra\flly shoals and spawn in from 3 

 to 6 and 7 feet of water." F. C. Gilchrist ( hOvr-t and Stream, April 7, '92, 

 quoted by Bean, '03, p. 239), states that they spawn from about the 25th of 

 October to November 10, and that they prctir shallnw water close to shore, with 

 clean sand bottom; that: "during the day. the\- may l)e seen in pairs and small 

 schools, poking along the shores, but at night they come in thousands and keep 

 up a constant loud splashing and fluttering." Before spawning, according to 

 Gilchrist (I.e., p. 240), they take little if any food, and afterwards are very thir,, 

 lank, and dull in color. A specimen taken in the fall contained many large ova 

 (No. 327). Bean ('13, p. 262) states that the greatest difficulty experienced in 

 collecting Tullibee eggs for cultural ]nn-poses arises from the scarcity of males 

 and the small amount of milt they furnish ; but Mr. J. D. Black found the males 

 very abundant at spawning time, probably ten times as numerous as the females, 

 and he easilv distinguished them from the females by their smaller size, more trim 

 appearance and undistended abdomens. Mr. Black, who while working at the 

 Constantia Hatchery has had experience with this species, told us that Tulli- 

 bees come to the shoals in early November. If the weather is fair they remain to 

 spawn, but if the water is rough they go to deep water to spawn instead of into 

 the shallows. He says that spawning is especially active during the first snow- 

 storm, and accompanying the breeding activity is the moving of thousands of 

 Tullibees near the surface, which they agitate in such a way that it liccomes 

 foamy, and on quiet nights can be seen over extensive areas of the lake. The 

 hatchery nets that are set on the bottom, on the spawning beds, in water from 

 c;--i6 feet deep, do not contain Tullibees at such times, making it appear that the 

 fi.sh are then generally at the surface. 



Mr. Black says the fish spawns in water less than sixteen feet in (le])th. nn 

 rocky shoals. Favorite places are on Shackleton Shoals, about T.cete Island. 

 Dutchman's Island, and i>n the shoals o(T ronstantia. but the fish probably spawn 

 wherever bnttoni cnnditiims and depth are right. 



