3/2 Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 



Moon-lit nights, however, are more favorable than dark ones. On the St. Johns 

 River it was noticed that the fish would begin to rise shortly after sunset, in large 

 numbers, and the sound of their 'breaks' could be heard in all directions, although 

 a lot of garbage thrown overboard would not fail to raise more or less of them 

 during the day. The catfish here were wary of a baited hook, and, although freely 

 eating of pieces of bread or meat floating at the surface, if a hook and line were 

 attached, it would never be touched. Yet a hook baited with meat or fish and sunk 

 would usually be satisfactorily effective, especially if 'bream' {Lcpoinis) began to 

 bite first. The presence of other more readily biting fish seemed to attract the 

 catfish and render them bolder. Large catfish would take a small baited 'bream' 

 hook much more quickly than they would a large hook. The mud cat here bit 

 no more readily than the channel cat. It might be well to state in this connection 

 that the channel cats {Icfalurits pitnetutits and Ictaliinis fnreatus) are sufiiciently 

 game fighters to give an angler not too fastidious a very satisfactory i)attle. These 

 two species might justly be classed as game fishes." 



Hankinsdn has found these catfishes to be important as game fish in Central 

 Illinois, where thev are abundant in rivers, and are fished for in swift clear water 

 chielU- in late spring and early summer. Minnows are the best bait, but sometimes 

 the\- arc cau;.;lit with worms, grasshoppers, and crawfish. Henshall ('19, p. 246) 

 gives a detailed account of methods of angling for the Channel Catfish. 



Refercnecs. Adams, '92; Baker, '16: Dyche, '14; Ellis, '14: Forbes, "88; 

 Forbes and Richardson, '09; Hay, '94: Henshall, '19; Howard, '13: Jones, '84; 

 Jordan. '85; Kendall. '04, '10: Mc.\tee and Weed. '15: Moore, '20: Shira. "17: 

 .Surber. '13, '20: Ward, '94; Wetniore. '24: Wilson. '16. 



Ameiurus nebulosus (Le.Sueur). Common Bullhead. One of the most 

 abundant and \aluable fishes though not rated among the fish aristocracy, nor highly 

 valued by the sixirtsnian. except when hungry; and yet one of the most important 

 food fishes in the lake, particularly for the poor man. From other members of 

 the catfish family found in (.)neida Lake it can be distinguished 1)y the following 

 set of characters : tail not forked ; adi])ose fin free from the caudal : anal fin rather 

 short, usually with fewer than 24 rays and its ventral margin rounded; color tend- 

 ing to black and never yellow ; lower barbels dark in color. (See plate 3.) 



Breeding Habits and Life History. The life histor\- and breeding habits of 

 the Common Bullhead are among the most interesting to be found among the 

 fishes of the lake. The Eel, sunfishes, bass, and sticklebacks are others .sharing this 

 unusual interest. The spawning is described as follows by Forbes and Richardson 

 ('09, p. 189): "The brown bullhead spawns in .spring, the time having been May 

 in 1898 at Havana, lllincn^ (Craig). Tlieir nests were found by Professor P.irge 

 in shallow bays with ^,■uldy bottom, (> inches to 2 feet deep. The eggs are laid in 

 masses .similar to those of the frog, and are of a beautiful cream-color." We 

 found no nests in Oneida Lake, hut from testimony it apiiears that they might he 

 found in early June or late in May. Wright and Allen ('13, p. 4) describe the 

 breeding at Ithaca, N. Y., as in "sluggish, weedy, muddy streams and lakes. May 

 20 to July I." Smith ('03) records aquarium observations on the breeding habits 

 as follows: "They made a nest on July 3, 1902, by removing in their mouths 

 uinvards of a gallon of gravel from one end of the tank, leaving the sl;ite lu.ttom 



