226 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
EVIDENCE FROM STOMACH CONTENTS.—Prof. S. A. Forbes has made very valuable 
and extensive studies of the food of fresh-water fishes, of which he published a summary 
and discussion in 1888. In this paper he gave a detailed list of the stomach contents 
of many of our food and game fishes, from which we may select those which had eaten 
nymphs and put them in tabular form. Such a table will be useful as an indication 
of the kind of fishes for which dragonfly nymphs would furnish acceptable food in pond- 
fish culture. 
Foop oF FisHES EXAMINED By S. A. ForBEs. 
Period of life of Number of fish 
fish. eating— 
Kind of fish. 
Dragon | Damsel 
Adult. | Young. hyinphs! | tyniphs: 
Ictiobus urus: Monerel buffalo Bebra tafeietata are 
Moxostoma macrolepidotum: Sucke: 
Polyodon spathula: Spoonbill cat. 
Erimyzon sucetta: Common chub. . 
Amiia calva: Dogfish................. “50 S00 =H 
Ioficitisivermicilatus:/Grasspickereli recuse heel. gael eho de as wcldes bbemigeebMveles op oe 
Lucius lucius: Common pike................ 
Aplodinotus grunniens: Sheepshead, croaker 
Aphredoderus savanus: Pirate perch..... 
Ictalurus punctatus: Channel cat ec 
Ameiurus nebulosus: Bullhead......... noo ee 
Labidesthes siculus: Brook silversides. .............20-20--0ceceeeeeeeeee eee eeeeeesees 
Fundulus notatus: Top minnow....... aes oa 
Hadropterus aspro: Black-sided darter 
Lepomis gibbosus: Common sunfish. . 
Lepomis incisor: Bluegill............. 
Apomotis cyanellus: Green sunfish........ oe By. 
Pomoxis 'qunularis:) White crappie:? mr lya.ce assis. Fei ee ene elie dateeee elle 
Pomoxis sparoides: Black crappie......... 
Perca flavescens: Common perch....... 
Ambloplites rupestris: Rock bass, redey 
Cheenobryttus gulosus: Warmouth bass. 
Micropterus dolomieu: Smallmouth black bass........ hae 
Micropterus salmoides: Largemouth black bass.............22.-2200+0eeeee seen ee ee ees 
Archoplites interruptus: Sacramento perch. ............-----0-eseeeeeceseeeeeeene ees 
Fundulus diaphantis mencna: Menona minnow 
xX*X 
HHH DWOHRUOS 
The numbers in this table seem very small when thus isolated; but if we compare 
them with the remainder of Forbes’s list we find they are comparatively large and are 
surpassed by those of very few insects. 
In his notes he stated that the various nymphs seemed to be most abundant (25 
per cent) in the food of the grass pickerel, Esox vermiculatus, while they formed from 10 
to 13 per cent of the food of the crappies, Pomoxis annularis and P. sparovdes, the pirate 
perch, Aphredoderus sayanus, and the common perch, Perca flavescens (1888), p. 485). 
Hankinson (1908, p. 234) stated that ‘‘nymphs were often found in the stomachs of rock 
bass and blue-spotted sunfish, less frequently in those of the common sunfish;” and in 
another place: “The nymphs of Macromuza illinoiensis are much eaten by fishes’”’ (p. 263). 
In his remarks upon the various species of fish he mentioned nymphs as the food of the 
bullhead, the rock bass, the blue-spotted sunfish, the common sunfish, the large-eared 
sunfish, the bluegill, and the large mouth black bass. 
Baker (1916) gave the results of his examination of the stomachs of numerous 
specimens of different kinds of fish. He reported that nymphs of the odonata constituted 
25 per cent of the food of one bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus (p. 176); 62 per cent (with 
caddisflies) of the food of five bluegills, Lepomis incisor (p. 182); 15 per cent of the food 
of one redeye, Ambloplites rupestris (p. 182); 30 per cent of the food of one sunfish, L. 
