SHIRAS EXPEDITIONS TO WHITEFISH POINT. 157 



habitats antl but few are at all generally distributed. The species of 

 widest habitat range are common perch, brook stickleback, common 

 sculi)in and Cayuga minnow. Some very limited in distribution are 

 sunfish (Lei)omis), Menona top minnow, golden shiner, long-nosed 

 dace, black-sided darter, and Johnny darter. 



Of the fifteen species of fish taken from the Lake Superior shoal, 

 seven were not found in the inland bodies of water. These were lake 

 herring, tuUibee, Labrador wliitefish, Menominee whitefish, rainbow 

 trout, nine-spined stickleback, and burbot. One burbot, however, was 

 foinid in Vermilion Creek riglit at its mouth, where Lake Superior 

 shoal conditions were present. 



Of the twenty-three species taken in the inland bodies of water, 

 fifteen were not found in Lake Superior. These were, red-bellied dace, 

 silvery minnow, black-head minnow, Cayuga minnow, horned dace, 

 golden shiner, black-nosed dace, Leuciscus neogocus, mud minnow, 

 Menona top minnow, common pike, Iowa darter, black-sided tlarter, 

 Johnny darter, and the sunfish. 



The species common to Lake Superior and the inland habitats are: 

 brook trout, spot-tailed minnow, long-nosed dace, long-nosed sucker, 

 common sucker, brook stickleback, common perch, and common 

 sculpin. 



Twenty species of fish were found in the marsh lakes and their 

 outlet streams, of these five were abundant in the west group of lakes 

 but scarce or absent in the east group. These were, red-bellied dace, 

 silvery minnow, black-head minnow, common sucker, and brook 

 stickleback. 



Shelldrake River and Shelldrake Lake have a fauna very different 

 from that of the marsh lakes and Lake Superior, for of the eleven 

 species caught there, three (blacksided darter, Johnny darter, and the 

 sunfish) appeared peculiar to the habitat and two (long-nosed dace 

 and spot-tailed minnow) were scarce elsewhere but common in the 

 Shelldrake region. 



It was not possible in the time available to examine in detail the 

 relations existing between the fish and their environment and thus to 

 determine the ecological factors governing the distribution, but the 

 general environmental features influencing the fish life of the region 

 are climate, bottom soil, plants, and aquatic animals. 



Climate. The long winters and cold nights even in summer subject 

 the fish, especially those of the shallow lakes and ponds, to much low 

 temperature. This undoubtedly affects their numbers, size, and 

 activity. Fish are said to leave the shallow water near the shore of 

 Lake Superior on the approach of storms. None could be found there 

 during bad weather, and they only became numerous during rather 



