o2 PRACTICAL CARP CULTURE. 



wide and about 4 feet long, anchor this board about '2 inches beneath the 

 water; the king fisher diving for the fish will strike the board hard 

 enough to kill himself. With the steel- traps unite the shot-gun policy on 

 all other birds and larger enemies of the carp. 



OTHER FISH. 



All other kinds of fish in the pond are inimical to the best interests of 

 the carp, and their presence should be persistently fought. If there be 

 any that do not prey directly on the carp, they indirectly do so by con- 

 suming the food that the carp should have. Despite the best efforts of the 

 culturist these stranger fish are continually getting into the ponds. Some 

 undoubtedly are transfered in the egg, by being attached to the fur of 

 water animals and the feathers of aquatic birds that have come from 

 other bodies of water, whil others undoubtedly coine up from crawfish 

 holes, as most ponds are located where water has formely stood, and as 

 the spot is again overflowed they rise with the water. Among the worst 

 of these foreign pests and the hardest to get rid of is 



THE BLACK-HEADED MINNOW (PIMEPHALES PROMELAS, RAP.) 



Hugo Mulertt, ol Cincinnati, O., writing of this species in American 

 Carp Culture, of June 1887, says: The head is almost globular and black- 

 ish in males, body much elongated and strong, but little compressed on 

 sides, scales small and crowded, eyes and mouth very small, the dorsal 

 fin showing a dark blotch, color of body dusky. Females smaller, more 

 delicate in structure, compressed on sides and of lighter color, with an in- 

 distinct lateral band. 



This is one of the most common species of minnows found in this 

 country, and being only a minnow, this little fish has heretofore been 

 very little noticed, more particularly in regard to the method of its repro- 

 duction. 



As their breeding season approaches in the spring, the head of the 

 male turns jet black, and numerous prominent white and homey tubercles 

 appear on the forehead, the entire body becoming blackish, darkest on 

 the back, leaving two lighter vertical bars of a quarter of an inch in width 

 on each side, one of these right back of the gills, and the other immediate- 

 ly under the dorsal fin. The fins also undergo changes in their coloring, 

 the dorsal, pectoral and caudal fins become shaded with black, and the 

 dark spot in the dorsal fin becomes larger and deep black. In addition to 

 this shading on the fins, the two smaller spines in front of the largest one 

 in the dorsal appear inflamed and are spread in a position pointing toward 

 the head of the fish, which, at casual examination, makes this fin appear 

 injured. The female keeps its customary appearance, with perhaps the 

 only difference that the lateral band is more distinct than usual and its 

 belly larger. 



At this time the male selects a stand, under a floating broad leaf, for 

 instance that of the pond lily, and induces the females to come and de- 

 posit their eggs. The eggs are deposited on the lower side of this leaf, one 

 at a time, and, being adhesive, remain there. To accomplish this, the 

 fish twists its body and, darting against the leaf, deposits the egg .in the 



