400 Lake Maxinkiickee, Physical and Biological Siirvey 



epitome of the lake. One is not likely to find as great an assort- 

 ment of food articles in its stomach as in a shark's ; but there is 

 to be fomid in its stomach at various times bits of almost every- 

 thing found in the lake. Morover, it is not generally in the habit 

 of mixing its food, but generally feeds chiefly on one thing now 

 and another at another time. It is choicy, indeed, after a fashion 

 as to the quality of its food, insisting that what it eats be fresh 

 and wholesome, but cheerfully eating whatever is set before it and 

 asking no questions for conscience sake. This suggests that it 

 would be as easy fish to rear, not easy in the sense that it would 

 thrive in any place planted, but so far as food is concerned it 

 would thrive in small, well-kept ponds, not demanding wide range 

 or special crops of food. 



A large number of stomachs were examined ; more, probably 

 than of all the other species of the lake put together, and the re- 

 cital of the contents of dift'erent individuals one by one, while valu- 

 able as a matter of record, would be tedious reading. It will 

 suffice to say here that the food of younger individuals appears to 

 be mainly of an animal nature, consisting of various entomostraca, 

 such as Cypris, waterfleas, Cyclops, Bosmina and various insect 

 larvse. The adult fishes eat also various mollusks, such as Physa 

 and operculate mollusks, Sphaerium and Pisidium. Among other 

 occasional elements of their food are water mites, beetles and 

 caddis cases with the larvae. During the spring of 1901, they, 

 along with the other sunfishes, seemed to feed almost exclusively on 

 the common isopod of the lake, Asellus. On August 12, 1906, the 

 stomachs of 21 specimens examined were all gorged with the tender 

 tips of weeds, either one of the narrow-leaved Potamogetons or 

 Heteranthera ; they seemed to be wholly vegetarians at the time. 

 Strangely enough, and much to the Bluegill's credit, we do not find 

 among our records oi the numerous stomachs examined, mention 

 of a single fish. 



So far as our examinations go, the Bluegill is quite free from 

 animal parasites; its freedom' from intestinal parasites is prob- 

 ably due in part to its abstinence from eating other fishes ; carni- 

 vorous fishes in general appear to be more subject to such aff'ec- 

 tions than others. 



In spite of these advantages, however, the Bluegill is one of the 

 most delicate fishes of the lake and succumbs quickly to various 

 maladies. During the winter of 1900-1901, these fishes massed 

 in immense numbers in Culver Inlet and most of the winter through 

 could be seen packing that stream almost as close as they could 

 be crowded. The reason of their crowding into this particular 



