3i8 Roosevelt Wild Life .hnials 



found upon Catostomns inacrokpidotiis, which was in all probability this species 

 of sucker, living in the Mississippi River at St. Louis. 



Economic Relations. This fish is of little value as food and is comtnonly 

 considered a coarse or cull fish. The flesh is very bony. When "running" in 

 rivers in the spring, however, they are often taken on hooks, and if no better fish 

 are to be had they are utilized. Jordan and Evermann ('03, p. 63) remark that it 

 is held in considerable esteem in the Upper Mississippi Valley by farmers, who 

 are in the habit of snaring, seining, or catching them in traps in great numbers 

 in the spring, and salting them for winter use. According to Evermann ('01, 

 p. 342), it is a food-fish of considerable importance in Lakes Ontario and Erie, 

 where it is taken chiefly in pound-nets or with haul seines. He further says (I.e.) : 

 "The young of 2-4 inches are regarded as pretty fair bait for large bass. Pickerel, 

 Wall-eyed Pike and Muskallunge. They are hardy and live well on the hook, and 

 their white or silvery coloration makes them a fairly good trolling bait. According 

 to Nash (08, p. 32), they take bait readily, frequently weigh four or five pounds, 

 and afford good sport in the swift waters they frequent. 



References. Adamstone, '24; Baker, '16; Clemens and others, '24; DeKay, 

 '42; Evermann, '01; Forbes, '88a; Forbes and Richardson, '09; Greeley, '27; 

 Jordan, '82; Jordan and Evermann, '03; McCormick, '92; Nash, '08; Reighard, 

 '20; Shelford, '13; Smith, '74; Wright and Allen, '09, '13. 



Moxostoma lesueurii (Richardson). Short-headed Red-horse. This 

 sucker is given a place in the list of Oneida Lake fish on the basis of a specimen 

 purchased November 17, 1915. The species resembles closely the Common Red- 

 horse, but its head is smaller and more pointed. 



Habitat. Forbes and Richardson ('09, p. 92) found it especially abundant in 

 small rivers, but also in large rivers, creeks and lakes ; it avoids clear water and 

 swiftly flowing streams more than the Common Red-horse. We have found noth- 

 ing recorded on the breeding habits of this species. Greeley ('27, p. 58), in 

 writing of the fish of the Genesee system in New York State, says this species is 

 moderately common and found in large warm streams, often occurring with 

 M. aureohnn. 



Food. Baker ("16, p. 168) examined the specimen mentioned above, but at 

 that time it was wrongly identified as Alo.vostonia (iiirenliiin. so that Baker's data 

 are given under that species. He found its intestine to contain a small quantity 

 of material in an advanced state of digestion, but could identify 14 chironomid 

 larvae, i He.ragcnia nymph, and a small amount of filamentous algae. Forbes 

 ('88a, p. 444) records the food of specimens named Mo.vostoma aurcohtm but 

 which evidently represent lesueurii. (See Forbes and Richardson, '09, p. 91.) 

 Forbes says it takes food almost identical with that of the Common Red-horse, 

 called by him Mo.vostoma macrolepidotum I^eSueur, as one may judge from the 

 six Illinois specimens examined. The food was practically all animal matter, about 

 one-half mollusks ; the insects were mostly Chironomus larvae and pupae. 



Distribution Records, .^n Oneida Lake specimen (No. 327) bought in a 

 Syracuse market. 



Economic Relations. Tt appears to have no greater food value than the 

 Common Red-horse witli which it is frequently seen on the anglers string in 



