1 032 FRESH-WATER BIOLOGY 



The fresh- water fishes of North America, exclusive of Mexico, 

 are distributed among the following families, of which those of 

 undoubted recent marine origin are printed in italics. 



Lamprey 1 8 Salmon 28 Sunfish ; 37 



Paddlefish i Trout perch i Perch 72 



Sturgeon 7 Blindfish 8 Bass 4 



Garpike 3 Killifish 52 Drum i 



Bowfin I Mud minnow 2 Surf fish i 



Characini i Pike 5 Cichlid 2 2 



Carp 230 Alaska Blackfish i Goby 6 



Sucker 51 Eel i Sculpin 21 



Catfish 25 Stickleback 7 Cod i 



Mooneye 3 Silver side 2 Sole i 



Herring 5 Pirate perch 2 



Gizzard shad i Elassoma 2 . 



Few localities, even among the most favored, contain more than 

 50 species of the 600 found in North America. The entire Missis- 

 sippi basin harbors about 200 species, the Great Lakes with their 

 tributaries, 152,^ the state of Indiana, 163. Eel River in Indiana 

 (85 miles long), with all of its tributary lakes and streams, harbors 

 76 species. White River of Arkansas, 84; the Maumee basin, 87. 

 Bean Blossom Creek, about 25 miles long, harbors 44 species in 

 less than two miles near its middle. Lake Ontario with all of its 

 tributaries is inhabited by 73 species; Lake Champlain and its 

 tributaries by 54; Lake Chautauqua with its tributaries by 31; 

 the Winnipeg System, Canada, by 44; the St. Lawrence River, by 

 63 and 8 marine. Winona Lake of Kosciusko County, Indiana, 

 exclusive of its tributaries, harbors 23 species, Turkey Lake with- 

 out its tributaries, 29 species. The outlet of Turkey Lake, for a 

 mile of its length, harbors an equal number. 



There is a vast difference in the number of species found in 

 equal areas of streams and lakes. Other things equal a given 

 area of surface water or a given cubic quantity of water of a small 

 stream harbors more individuals and greater diversity of species 

 than the same area and bulk of either a large river or lake. The 

 places in America from which the greatest diversity of fish life has 

 been reported are : 



1 These are fully described and many of them figured in Jordan and Evermann's 

 Fishes of North and Middle America, Bull. U. S. Fish Com., and also in Jordan's 

 " Guide to the Study of Fishes," Henry Holt and Co. 



2 Immigrants from South America. 



3 Of these 27 are peculiar to the Great Lakes basin. 



