Cobh. — Pike-Perch Proimgation. 103 



I may say that in some waters tributary to Lake Champlain there are 

 very large runs of these fish, but occasionally they are turned back by 

 the temperature conditions and spawn largely around the lake shore. 

 On Oneida Lake, in New York State, the principal run of fish is to the 

 shores rather than to the streams, but they are apt to run to the streams. 

 It depends on the conditions. If you get a rising temperature, causing 

 the pike to start up the river, and then a sudden drop in temperature 

 occurs, they back down and spawn around the shore; they do not go 

 back. 



Mr. Cobb : No, they will not go back that season. 



Mr. Hare : Mr. Cobb has presented a very important paper, because 

 he has proved conclusively that modern fish cultural processes are abso- 

 lutely correct, and that there is a tremendous loss in natural reproduction. 



Mr. Cobb: One thing I did not mention in the paper — Mr. Titcomb's 



remark m.akes me think of it— is that the specific gravity of pike eggs 



has caused much of the trouble. The eggs in some cases are so light 



that we can hardly hold them in the jars, and our loss is tremendous 



from that cause. At the slightest motion of the water they run out of 



the jars and pass right down through our battery tanks and into the 



fry tanks. 



President Leach: What type of jar do you use? ^ 



Mr. Cobb: The Meehan jar. 



Mr. Titcomb: You prefer that to the others? 



Mr. Cobb : I could not say as to that, except that I believe in using 

 the same type of equipment so that it is all interchangeable. I do not 

 believe there is any difference in the various types of jars so far as 

 capability of hatching goes. 



Mr. Adams: In the case of the quick water you have described, 

 from the point where these eggs are extruded by the female about how 

 far down stream are they carried before they are anchored somewhere? 

 I recall your statement about the specific gravity of the eggs, some 

 apparently being lighter than others, but I am getting at the average 



now. 



Mr. Cobb: The egg sinks fairly rapidly in still water. In that 

 case they pass directly down. But in a stream, where there is quite a 

 swift current and the fish are thick they keep everything agitated. In 

 this particular case the egg mass on the bottom began about at the lower 

 edge of the swift water and extended down in a mass for about 175 feet. 

 ^ Mr. Adams: Where would they first lodge from the point where 

 you think they were released by the female? 



Mr. Cobb : Almost directly underneath, and from there for 175 feet 

 the great mass of eggs was on the bottom. 



Mr. Adams: The wall-eyed pike has established itself in the upper 

 regions of the Connecticut River, at Turner's Falls, Mass., particularly 

 where the sides and bottom of the river are very rocky. It is the place 

 these fish have selected as spawning ground, irrespective of the fact that 

 some distance above there is an obstruction across the river that would 

 prevent them from ascending. On the coast of Massachusetts we have a 



