186 Thirty-ninth Annual Meeting 



Question 4 (by Mr. Titcomb). — In the propagation of 

 either large or small-mouth bass, have any of you found that 

 tadpoles take possession of the nests to such an extent that 

 the parent fish leave in disgust, and the eggs are spoiled and 

 eaten by the tadpoles? 



Mr. Safford : Not that I have noted. 



Mr. Titcomb : Let me give you the experiences of two or three of 

 the Bureau's superintendents. The superintendent at Erwin, Tennessee, 

 thinks tadpoles consume quantities of eggs and that the frogs eat fry. 

 Mr. Seagle, of the Wytheville, Virginia, station, does not believe that 

 the tadpoles destroy good eggs, and he looks upon them as desirable 

 scavengers. Mr. Robinson, superintendent of the hatchery at White 

 Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, first brought the matter to my atten- 

 tion in the propagation of small-mouth bass. Mr. Robinson says he 

 regards the tadpoles as very destructive, for they swarm in large 

 numbers around some of the nests, and as far as he has been able to 

 ol)serve, the nests so surrounded have not produced a single fish. I 

 tried to ascertain whether the tadpoles took possession of nests of 

 blighted or poor eggs but was unable to do so. Mr. Johnson, of the 

 Manchester, Iowa, station, states that apparently they do no harm 

 except perhaps a few days before the bass spawn, and that they are too 

 small to do serious damage to the eggs. He states that they frequent 

 sliallowcr portions of the pond and do not go into deeper water until 

 quite large. He thinks they may consume minute animal life which would 

 serve as food for the bass. Mr. Carter, of the St. Johnsbury, Vermont, 

 station, never regarded them as enemies, but fears they consume vast 

 numbers of insects that would otherwise be valuable as food for the 

 fisli. He tliinks it well to raise frog tadpoles in separate ponds and 

 says that the bass will not touch the tadpoles of the toad. But the 

 information from Mr. Robinson is quite convincing that tadpoles 

 sometimes liecome so numerous that they actually take possession of 

 l)ass nests. I should like all who are interested in pond culture and 

 have an opportunity to do so to make observations along this line, 

 especially because it seems to me a great reflection on the bass if he 

 allows tadpoles to take possession of the nest while he is on guard. 



Mr. H. D. Dean : I have seen a strawberry bass rid his nest of tad- 

 poles by sucking them into his mouth, swimming away from the nest 

 and then ejecting them. I do not believe any of the basses will take 

 toad tadpoles. Last Monday wc drew down a pond of strawberry bass 

 and found almost as many frog tadpoles as bass. I do not believe they 

 do any harm unless through eating minute animal life, nor do I think 

 tlicy drive lilack bass off the nests. 



Mr. W. E. Meehan : The toads are so abundant at one of our sta- 

 tions that they are a nuisance. The bass do not seem to touch them 

 but they clean up the frog tadpoles quite lively in other ponds ; there 

 is any quantity of toad tadpoles in the bass ponds untouched. 



