3/0 Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 



kegs placed at the margin of the ponds. Eggs and fry were found during the 

 first week in July, and by September the fry were about four inches long. The 

 stomach contents of 72 young examined showed that midge larvae, Chironomus, 

 and mayfly nymphs, Ephciucrida. were very large items in their diet. The large 

 proportion (18%) of ooze and debris is worthy of special attention, because this 

 sort of food for young fish may be of more importance than has been generally 

 recognized. (Cf. Baker, '16, on dust-fine detritus.) 



Habitat. The habitat of this species is quite difl^erent from that of the Bull- 

 head. Hay ('94, p. 181) states that it "delights in clear, flowing rivers and brooks, 

 and the vicinity of water falls." Jordan ('85, p. 34) describes the habitat as fol- 

 lows : "It seems to prefer running waters, and both young and old are most abun- 

 dant in gravelly shoals and ripples. The other catfishes prefer rather sluggish 

 waters and mud bottoms. I have occasionally taken channel cats in ponds and 

 bayous, but such localities are apparently not their preference. They rarely enter 

 small brooks, unless these are clear and gravelly." 



Henshall ('19, p. 243) says that unlike most of the catfishes, this one is 

 found (inly in ck-ar or swift streams, never in still, muddy situations, and notes 

 {[). 24(1} that it is fond of deep pools below mill-dams and in the channels of 

 streams ofi^ gravelly or rocky shoals, and near shelving banks and rocks. 



Food. This, according to Jordan ('85, p. 34), consists of insects, crawfish, 

 worms, and small fishes. Forbes ('88, pp. 456, 459) studied the stomach contents 

 of forty-three specimens (cf. Adams, '92; Forbes and Richardson, '09, p. 182; 

 and Baker, '16, pp. 173-174). About 25% of the food consisted of plant materials; 

 insects formed more than 40%, and mollusks, 15%. This is one of the few species 

 of fish which eat freshwater mussels in large numbers. Mention has already been 

 made of the food of the young (Shira, '17, p. 79). 



Moore ('20, p. 18), on examination of fourteen fingerling Channel Cats, 

 found entomostracans and insects as the chief food material. McAfee and Weed 

 ('15, p. 9) found portions of an Eel in the stomach of a Spotted Catfish, while in 

 another 90% of the contents were mayflies {He.vagcnia hilincata). One stomach 

 was filled with seeds of elm (Ulmus americanus). Snails, ants, hellgrammites 

 (Corydalis), stoneflies, beetles and vegetable debris made up small percentages of 

 the food. Wilson ('20, p. 226) finds adults eating dragon-fly and damsel-fly 

 nymphs. Henshall ('19, p. 245) describes it as a clean, wholesome fish that feeds 

 mostly on minnows and crawfish. 



Distribution Records. Our only s]x'cinien (No. 601) was secured from Co- 

 ville's market at Brewerton in July. 11)15. Previously Coville (Adams and Han- 

 kinson, '16, p. 159) had informed us of the presence of a fork-tailed catfish in 

 the Lake. W. H. Weston describes a spotted, forked-tail catfish which ho got 

 from Chittenango Creek near the protector's camp. It was taken in June, 



On July 9, 1917, we saw a dressed market specimen weighing 23-4 pounds at 

 Coville's market at Brewerton. INlr. W. A. Dencc assures us of the jirescnce of 

 this fish in considerable numbers in the Oneida River near Brewerton. 



I'.iieiiiies and Disease. No records have been found of parasitic worms from 

 the Channel Cat. (Wilson. "K), ])p. 331), 353, 361. 364) records glochidia of the 

 nnissel Quadnilo. from the gills and fins; and the cnpppnd parasites Rrgasihis 



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