498 Rooscirlt Wild Life Annals 



of any angler." Moore {'22. p. 41 | found in his studies "abundant confirmation" 

 of a statement made by Seal and .Smith that "this is undoubtedly the most useful 

 species of sunfish as a destroyer of mosquito larvae." 



References. Abbott. "84; Baker, '16; Bensley, '15: Bean. '02, '03; DeRyke, 

 '22: Embody. '15: Evermann and Clark. "20: Forbes, "80: Forbes and Richardson. 

 '09; Fowler, "13; Greeley, '2y. Kendal 

 Marshall and Gilbert, '05 ; Moore, J. P. 

 02; Ryerson. "15: Sibley, '22; Stafford 

 Wright and Allen, '13. 



Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque). Rock Bass. The abundance of vege- 

 tati(jn and the extensive areas of rocky bottom in Oneida Lake make conditions 

 especially favorable for Rock Bass, and large numbers of them thrive there and in 

 the larger streams tributary to the lake. The species is among the easiest of our 

 centrarchids to identify, on account of its deep, compressed body, its large mouth, 

 more or less mottled or speckled coloration, and the presence of six or more spines 

 in its anal fin. The Rock Bass often takes the hook and is well known to anglers 

 as one of the smaller game fish. 



Breeding Habits and Life History. This fish spawns from .\pril to June. 

 according to Wright and Allen ( "13. p. 5), and is typical of centrarchids in that it 

 makes a nest in the form of a slight circular depression in the bottom soil. It 

 appears to prefer gravelly shoals for this purpose (Bean, '03. p. 470: Jordan and 

 Evermann, '03, p. 339; Tracy, '10, p. 118; Hay, '94, p. 254: Smith, '07, p. 234). 

 Bensley ('15, p. 39) says the nest is placed in a swampy bay near shore, often in 

 only a few inches of water. Hankinson ('08, p. 210) found them at Walnut Lake, 

 Michigan, on a marl shoal with a scant growth of bulrushes and in about a foot of 

 water. A few small stoneworts growing on the bottom gave support to the eggs. 

 Bensley ('15, p. 39) describes the nest and nesting as follows: "It is prepared by 

 the male fish, which usually works most energetically, fanning out the sediment 

 with his fins, thus making a basin-like depression, clean of all debris, and of eight 

 or ten inches in diameter. The female is driven into the nest and is carefully 

 guarded until the deposition of the eggs is accomplished. During the process of 

 spawning and fertilization the two fish lie side by side in the nest. Only a few 

 eggs are extruded at a tinu-. .-md at each period milt is extruded l>y the male. The 

 operation continues for an hour or more, and at the end of the period the female 

 leaves the nest and does not return. The eggs are carefully looked ;iftrr bv the 

 male, which takes up a position over the nest, and every now and ihm sets up a 

 fanning motion with the fins. In a few days after the eggs are hatched, the fry 

 gradually rise out of the nest, and are soon left by the male to shift for themselves."' 



The largest Rock Bass seen by us from Oneida T-ake were a1)out eight inches 

 long. In other waters they are known to grow to a length of fourteen incites ;ind 

 to a weight of two pounds, and examples as large as three .nid three- fourths imunds 

 have been taken (Bean, '03, p. 469). 



We often seined small Rock Bass fnnii sji.-illdw w.iter. In Sepienilicr. km.t 

 ;nid lyi'i. we took eighteen in seven dill'iTi'iit C(illi\'ti(ins ( Xns. SS. <)(i. 100. 102. 

 121. 124. 144). They measured from I'l t(] 1 's inches in leni;th in June .-md 

 July. \')\(>. Twenty-six sni,-ill tish were cuight in live cullectidns ( .\,,s. 427. z,j,), 



