Oneida Lakr I'islus 439 



its eggs. Possibly the luinihers of Tullihees are reduced bv the Perch in this way 

 also, but no infomiation on this question was obtained. The great variety and 

 amount of Perch foo<l in the lake (Baker, '18) would make it api)ear that the 

 Perch does not seriously compete with any other species in its present inimbers. 

 Few of our native fishes are more attractive than Perch an«l it is often dis- 

 pl.-iyed in public aquaria, as at the New York State Fair. Bean ('97. p. 241 ) says 

 the I'erch is a fairly good aquarium fish, though sometimes susceptible to fungus 

 attacks. He has fed the fish hard clams and live Killifish. Hankinson has found 

 the I'erch very <lifiicult to trans|)ort from Michigan lakes to indoor aquaria. In 

 laboratory aquaria they must be kept in cold, well aerated water. 



The Perch is prop.igated artificially, according to Leach ('JJ. p. _m i. by the 

 following method : .\dult fish are procured from market fishermen and allowed 

 to spawn in tanks of running water or in bo.xes or pens. Sometimes the eggs are 

 collected from bodies of water an<l are hatched in jars of the kind used for white- 

 fish, or they arc placed in wire hatching baskets suspende<l in streams near the 

 hatchery and fastened to a float. The fish are distributed as fry or fingerlings. 

 In 1926 the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries distributed 12J.301.000 Perch fry and 

 2.704,400 fingerlings (Leach. '20. ]>. 331). Perch were distributed by hatcheries 

 of the Bureau of Fisheries of jt; states. From the Oneida I^ike hatchery at 

 Const.iiitia. Perch have been distributed as follows, in recent years: 



IV-4: 3'". 750 fingerlings, Macdonald, '25, p. 80. 



*')-•>■ .^54.500 fingerlings, Macdonald. '2«>, p. 70. 



\t)2(>: 3^)0,750 fingerlings, Macdonald. 'j-, \>. 106. 



In raising Perch to fingerlings. they are fed liver and sometimes milk curd 

 ( r.nller, '05, p. 224). 



Perch have been planted extensively in < )ueida Lake. Bean ("12, p. 201) 

 records t)^.»K>.itoo fry planted then- in KM 1 : and 50.000.000 in 11)13 1 Bean, 

 ''4. I'- .W>>- Ml were obtained from the ( )neida l-ike Hatchery. 



.liKjIiii,/. The many kinds of foocl of the Perch make it ai)])ear that a variety 

 of bail can Ir* used, but there are times when it shows strong |)refereiices. This 

 appears to U- correlated with the kind of foiwl it is eating at the ])articular tinie. 

 Hankinson has been :ible to catch Perch tbrotigh the ice in winter in some waters 

 in Micbij;an. only by using small miiuiows as bait; nothing else seenwl to entice 

 them. He has also caught them abtniilantly in certain Michigan Uikes bv using 

 earlhwr>rms for Itait. but on other occasions at the same places although tin- fish 

 cmild Ik- seen in abundance in shallow water it was im|H)ssible to induce them to 

 touch a worm kiited hook. In [Minils in the Whitefisb Point region of Michigan 

 he found the Perch abundant, but it would not bite on anything except leinh liait. 

 With this Itait results were excellent. In the stomachs of the Perch thus caught 

 leeches were found in such numU-rs as to indicate clearly that at that time letx-hes 

 were their favorite foo<l. l-".yes of Perch are the Itest Iwit for ice fishing in Oneida 

 I.ake. Hankinson found that the Perch caught through the ice were fetnling on 

 burrowing Mayfly nymphs, and there was a strong re.semblance l>etwecn the 

 dark, fnod-<lis|endeil alwlomens of these insects and the eyes of Perch. .\t one 

 time in I.ake Michigan Hankinson and a party caught over a bushel of Perch hy 

 baiting with pieces «>f Perch flesh. He has trie<I this as Iwit in other places where 



