SHIRAS EXPEDITIONS TO WHITEFISH POINT. 



in 



♦Stomach contents examined and identified by Chaney Juday. 



The young whitefish, as shown above, were eating entomostracans 

 freely, and this appears to be the chief food of those found near Ver- 

 milion. Chironomids were also taken by them in important n\imbers. 

 In general the food of the young whitefish appears to be like that of 

 the adult (S. I. Smith, 1873a, Forbes 1883a, Hankinson 1908, and 

 Patton 1912). No evidence was obtained that whitefish spawn in the 

 Vermilion region; a sandy bottom like the one there is unfavorable for 

 this activity according to most writers. Leathers (1911), however, 

 tells of their spawning on the broad sand flats in Huron County, ]VIichi- 

 gan. Mr. Robert Carlson informs the writer that whitefish spawn near 

 Whitefish Point. 



2. Coregonus quadrilateralis (Richardson). Menominee Whitefish. — 

 This species was found common on the deeper part of the shoal near 

 Vermilion (Station 2). Those taken were of edible size, a little over a 

 foot long. Two typical specimens opened had been eating principally 

 amphipods; one had these only in its stomach, and the other had mis- 

 cellaneous insect remains in addition to them. 



3. Leucichthys harengus (Richardson). Saginaw Bay Herring. — 

 The many herrings found in the deeper part of the Lake Superior shoal 

 are probably of this species for they agree with the description given 

 of L. harengus by Jordan and Evermann (1911), who state that "The 

 ordinary herring of Lake Superior are placed provisionally under 

 Leucichthys harengus, of which they constitute a tangible variety or 

 subspecies, distinguished by the larger size, the more cylindrical form, 

 and, in general, by the still smaller adipose fin. But these characters 

 are average only, and are subject to much variation, hence we refrain 

 from regarding the Lake Superior herring a distinct species." 



Large schools of little herring, two to three inches long, were fre- 

 quently seen close to the shore, at Stations 1 and 5, but preferring the 

 latter where there is a broad sandy area. Here they formed compact 

 schools, which had remarkable coordination and rapidity of movements, 

 making it difficult to get them with a seine. Associated with them 



