THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 603 
ination of these stomachs had been made, and it was stated that no 
white-fish spawn had been found. When a more careful examination 
was made later, one white-fish egg was found among the contents of 
each of two stomachs. (See Nos. 23 and 24, p. 572.) The rest of the 
material was mostly remains of insect larvee, entomostraca, shell frag- 
ments, and alge. 
November 27 was spent at North Bass Island and several dozen carp 
were examined. These fish, all small ones, 30 to 40 cm. (12 to 16 
inches) long, were brought in directly from the gill nets, set in from 
10 to 25 feet of water, and for the most part on the reefs. Most of 
the fish had some food in the alimentary canal, and in some cases the 
stomach was well filled, showing that they had been feeding very 
recently. Reference to stomachs No. 29 to No. 32 will show that the 
food was of the same general character as had been found at Port 
Clinton. Here, again, one stomach contained a single white-fish egg 
(No. 31). 
The facts obtained lead me to quite a different conclusion from the 
assumptions made by the fishermen. That carp do occur on the 
spawning grounds of the white-fish is true, and, furthermore, they 
seem to be moving about and feeding in spite of the lateness of the 
season and the low temperature of the water. These are mostly small 
fish, however, and the number of them on the reefs appears to be 
-comparatively small as well. The eggs of the white-fish, not being 
adhesive to any great degree, probably become widely scattered, and 
unless the carp were present in large numbers the relative number 
of eggs destroyed would be small; and that such is the case seems to 
be proved by the examinations of stomach contents made. That carp 
capture the young white-fish is even more to be doubted, and certainly 
no instance has been reported where such is known to have been the 
case. My conclusion is, then, that while the carp may eat some white- 
fish spawn, the amount so consumed is so small as to be practically 
insignificant, especially in comparison with the host of other forms 
which probably prey upon the eggs now as they have always done in 
the past. I suspect that by no means the least enemy to these eggs is 
the common mud puppy (Vecturus maculosus—called ‘* lizard” by the 
fishermen) which is often taken in numbers in the pound nets. And, 
furthermore, the danger to the white-fish spawn has been largely over- 
come in recent years by the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries, in 
hatching the eggs in jars and turning loose the young fish in the spring. 
It has generally been conceded to be due to this, and certainly in spite 
of the increase of carp, that the white-fish have been on the increase 
in Lake Erie in the last few years. The catch in 1901 was an espe- 
cially good one, and was said by the fishermen to exceed any for many 
years previous. 
