446 Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 



Habitat. The adult Wall-eyed Pikes inhabit generally the deeper water of 

 Oneida Lake. In summer they may be found in water from about six to twenty 

 feet in depth, according to testimony of some anglers. They are said to prefer 

 rocky bottoms near vegetation. Fully a half of the lake, mostly in the western part, 

 has water of suitable depth for this fish, and the extensive areas of rocky bottom 

 make conditions favorable for this species. Henshall ('03, p. 160) says this fish 

 prefers rock to gravel bottom. Dymond ('26, p. 79), in writing of Lake Nipigon, 

 says they frequent 10-20 feet of water in early summer, but in late August and 

 in September they migrate to 60-90 feet of water. In Oneida Lake, then, we 

 would expect the fish to move toward the eastern part of the lake where the water 

 is deepest, in late summer and early fall. According to the testimony of Mr. C. E. 

 Hunter, State Game Protector of Syracuse, such a movement does actually occur. 

 He says they are most often caught in June in four to eight feet of water, till about 

 the 20th, when the May-fly flights begin. After that they are taken in deep 

 water only. Smith ('92, p. 208) says for Lake Ontario that Pike Perch (probably 

 referring to both species) are found close to the shnrt- in spring, but by summer 

 they have left the shore region and frequent the shoals df the lake; in fall they 

 seek the deeper water and remain there throughout winter. In small lakes, like 

 Walnut Lake. Michigan, the \\'all-eyed Pike evidently lives in the deeper water, 

 I)Ut makes excursions at night to the shoals, \isiting weedy bays and other situations 

 where it can secure food in the nature of small fish (Hankinson, '08, pp. 183, 193, 

 214). The pond weed zone (p. 214) appears from collections made to be the 

 favorite habitat of the species in small lakes. 



Young Pike Perch from about one to two inches in length were frequently 

 taken in Oneida Lake, but they were not found in numbers at any one place. All 

 taken were from shallow water over clean bottom, either rocky or sandy, and they 

 seem to belong to a rather definite fish association which contains Tessellated 

 Darters, Zebra Darters, cyprinids. and usually Barred Killifish, young Perch and 

 young Common Suckers. Dymond ('26, p. 79) gives similar findings for the 

 young Pike Perch in Lake Nipigon, Ontario. He says the young have been taken 

 on a number of occasions by seine, usually over a sandy bottom, commonly asso- 

 ciated with Tessellated Darters, Perch, and the young Common Suckers. 



Food. Food studies of the Pike Perch in Oneida Lake were made by Baker 

 ('18, p. 217) from fish collected in deep water by means of trap nets. Three out 

 of 15 specimens examined contained fish. One had a common sunfish four inches 

 long; another, four unidentified small fishes 1J/2 inches long; and a third had a 

 fish about 4 inches long' also beyond determination. Hankinson and Deuce 

 studied the food of the small fi.sh of this species collected from the shallows of 

 Oneida Lake. There were eight specimens from one to two inches in length, col- 

 lected from six different parts of the lake. Six of them contained food, all of 

 which was fi.sh, but the .species represented could not be identified on account of the 

 state of digestion. One Pike Perch (No. 526) had nine small fry in its stomach. 



Food studies of Pike Perch have been made from a number of waters other 

 than Oneida Lake. E.specially inii>i)rl:inl are those of Pearse for Wisconsin 

 Lakes. His results are here given : 



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