430 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



May 3. Quite a number were seen May 17, resting on the top of 

 rocks in about 6 feet of water, and they were occasionally seen on 

 rocks in the bottom through clear ice during the winter of 1904. A 

 few were obtained while seining for minnows along Long Point 

 and the Gravelpit in 1906. They are quite active during the win- 

 ter, and not torpid as many fishes are. 



This fish subsists chiefly on small animals. Five examples 

 from 2.5 to 3.75 inches long, captured August 3, contained the 

 remains of insects or insect larvae; of two 2.25 and 2,75 inches long, 

 one contained several Bosminia, 1 Daphnia, Chironomus larvae, and 

 a beach flea, the smalle]' one contained 12 beach fleas. 



The Log Perch is infested to some degree by trematodes which 

 form small black spots in the skin, but it is not so susceptible to 

 the attacks of these parasites as some of the other darters. 



The Log Perch, although one of the largest of the darters, 

 probably never exceeds 9 or 10 inches in length. It is scarcely 

 large enough to be of any value as a food-fish. It will occasionally 

 take the hook, but its small size precludes the exhibition of any 

 considerable game qualities. 



"The Log Perch is the giant of the family*, the most of a fish, 

 and therefore the least of a darter. It may be readily known by 

 its zebra-like colors. Its hue is pale olive, silvery below, darker 

 above. On this ground color are about 15 black vertical bars or 

 incomplete rings, alternating with as many shorter bars which 

 reach only halfway down the side. The hindmost bar forms a 

 mere spot on the base of the tail, and there are many dots and 

 speckles on the fins. The body is long and slender, spindle-shaped, 

 and firm and wiry to the touch. The head is flat on top and 

 tapers into a flat-pointed snout which is squared off at the end like 

 the snout of a pig, and this resemblance is heightened by the form 

 of the small mouth underneath it. From this pig-like snout has 

 come the scientific name caprodes. This is a translation of the 

 older name of 'hogfish', which Rafinesque heard applied to it in 

 his time and which is still used in the same regions, Percina 

 reaches a length of 6 or 8 inches and it may readily be caught on a 

 small hook baited with a worm. We often meet an urchin with 

 two or three of them strung through the gills on a forked stick 

 along with the 'red-eyes', 'stonetoters', 'hornyheads', and other 

 'boys' fish'. We find Percina usually in rapid and rather deep 

 water. We rarely find them small enough for ordinary aquarium 

 purposes; and the living specimen before us, though wonderfully 

 quick and graceful in its movements, has shown little that is note- 



* Except the laie Percina rr.r, describerl after the above was written. 



