566 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
water accidentally. In feeding at the surface the fish swim about 
with the anterior part of the head showing, the mouth partly above 
water, partly below. The mouth is continuously opening and closing, 
and a sharp sucking or smacking sound is often produced, much as is 
made by a pig with his head down in the trough. 
Much of the carp’s food is obtained by foraging along the stems of 
water plants, and it also often eats quantities of the plants themselves. 
Many of these stems are covered with a considerable growth of alge, 
bryozoa, ete., among which live a variety of minute, and even micro- 
scopic, plant and animal forms. Such stems as float on the surface or 
lie in a horizontal position in the water can be gone over very easily, 
and sometimes this appears to be done in a more or less systematic 
manner, the fish beginning at one end and working gradually along to 
the other. .In order to get at the vertical stems the fish often turn on 
their sides, when the mouth can be closely applied to the rounded 
surface. They were also often seen to take the end of a floating stem 
or leaf, such as a cat-tail leaf, into the mouth and then pull and tug at 
it vigorously. Even if they did not get off pieces of the stem in this 
way, they undoubtedly pulled off the alge and other substances 
growing on its surface. In one case I noticed a fish swimming about 
with a piece of partially decayed stem sticking from its mouth, but 
whether it was finally swallowed I can not say, as the fish swam away 
out of sight with the stem still protruding. 
Few records of the food of the carp in this country made from 
examination of the contents of the stomach and intestine seem to have 
been previously reported. H. Garman (1888) reported on one speci- 
men from Broad Lake, U1., soon after the species began to be found 
in the waters of that state. According to him the food ‘‘ consisted of 
vegetation and mollusks, the former constituting two-thirds of the 
material in the alimentary canal, and consisting of dead leaves and 
seeds. The seeds were, as far as could be determined in a hasty exami- 
nation, chiefly those of trees and weeds. Elm seeds, ragweed seeds, 
and the seeds of Polygonum were noted. The mollusca were partially 
thin-shelled clams with an occasional Spheriuwm, and partly snails, 
suchas Physa and Lioplax. All the matter was apparently gathered 
from the bottom. No trace of crustacean or insect food could be 
detected.” 
In August, 1900, Mr. M. C. Marsh collected carp stomachs near 
Believue, on the Mississippi River, near Omaha, and from Maumee 
Bay and River near Toledo, Ohio. Apparently no detailed study of 
these collections has been made, but Smith (1902), in his report on 
food fishes, gives a few general data. He states (p. 120) that the food 
was found to be largely microscopic, and contained in what was appar- 
ently a mass of mud passed on into the intestine, where he thinks the 
cigestion probably takes place. Portions that were recognizable 
