262 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Smn-ey 



bar, 59 are known to occur in the lake proper and its small inlets, 

 the remaining 5 species being found in Lost Lake and the outlet 

 immediately below. 



This is a considerably greater number of species of fishes than 

 is known from any other small lake in the world. For purposes of 

 comparison, the following figures are given : 



There are known from the entire basin of the Great Lakes 

 152 species ; from Lake Ontario, 73 ; from the St. Lawrence River 

 and its tributaries, 71 ; from Lake Champlain and tributary waters, 

 54 ; from Chautauqua Lake, 31 ; from Cayuga Lake, 59 ; from Tur- 

 key Lake, Indiana, 29; from Eagle Lake, Indiana, 41; from Clear 

 Lake, California, 13 ; Colorado River basin, 32 ; Klamath River 

 basin, 15. 



The great variety of fish-life in Lake Maxinkuckee is due to the 

 unusual assemblage of favorable factors, constituting an environ- 

 ment, both physical and biological, that conduces in a remarkable 

 degree to the development of a varied aquatic fauna. 



The 64 species of fishes known to inhabit this lake are distrib- 

 uted among 15 families and 41 genera. There are representatives 

 of nearly all the families of American freshwater food-fishes — only 

 the salmon, sturgeon, mooneye, grayling, dallia, blindfish, pirate- 

 perch, trout-perch, and sculpin families being unrepresented. And 

 nearly all those families containing species which are useful as food 

 for the food-fishes have numerous representatives here. The fami- 

 lies having large representation are the Cyprinidse (minnows) with 

 17 species, the Centrarchidse (basses and sunfishes) with 11 species ; 

 the Silurid^e (catfishes) with 4 species; the Catostomidse (suckers) 

 with 5 species; and the Percid?e (perches and darters) with 13 

 species. 



Of the 64 species inhabiting the lake at least 30 may be re- 

 garded as food-fishes of greater or less importance. The most im- 

 portant of these are the two species of black bass, the yellow perch, 

 the bluegill and the walleyed pike. And at least 16 species are re- 

 garded as game fishes of greater or less interest. Among these 

 are the small-mouth black bass, the large-mouth black bass, wall- 

 eyed pike, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, rock bass, and pike. 



Fishes in this lake are not only unusually numerous as to 

 species, but equally so as to individuals. Many of the species are 

 found in very great abundance, some of them swarming in myri- 

 ads. Even the game fishes are usually abundant. This is par- 

 ticularly true of the yellow perch, bluegill and the basses. When 

 one considers the vast amount of fishing that is done at this lake, 

 it is little less than marvelous that the supply keeps up so well 



