FISHES OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. 25 



more common than they are now; " that they used to get some 

 every time they lifted the pounds, while now half a dozen is the 

 highest number taken in a season. Some years none at all are 

 caught. , Five were taken during the month of April, 1892, that 

 weighed about 5 pounds apiece. In April, 1891, one was brought 

 in that weighed 78 pounds and was about 6 feet long. 



Family XVI. ANGUILLID^. The Eels. 



59. Anguilla rostrata (Le Sueur). Common Eel. 



[Joid. Man. 2i8. O. St. Surv. 11.] 

 Body linear, covered with small imbedded scales, placed ob- 

 liquely, at right angles to each other, giving a mottled appearance 

 to the body; dark above, light below. Length 40 inches. (See 

 plate 2.) 



Large eels are occasionally taken in the pounds. I have never 

 seen young ones, and do not think that they breed in the lake 

 region. 



Family XVIL . G-ASTEROSTEIDtE. The Sticklebacks. 



60. Eiicalia inconstans (Kirtland.) Brook Stickle- 

 back. 



[Jord. Man. 239. O. St. Suiv. 164.] 



A vary dark-colored little fish with a remarkably slender caudal 

 peduncle and a fan-shaped caudal fin, four distinct low spines be- 

 fore the dorsal fin. Length 2j^ inches. 



I have found stickle-backs in but two places; the bayou near 

 Turkey Ridge farm, in Pittsfield township, (see map, just across 

 the stream from " W" of the word West), and in another hot, 

 grassy little hole southeast of Oberlin. They are common enough 

 in these two places, which are quite unlike the haunts described by 

 Kirtland and Jordan. 



Family XVIIL ATHERINID^. The Silversides. . 



61. Labidestlies sicculiis Cope. Brook Silversides. 



[Jord. Man. 250. O. St. Surv. III.] 



A very slender rounded little fish; head long, pointed, flat 

 above, transluscent green dotted with black; sides with a broad 

 silvery band., two dorsal fins. Length 3)^ inches. 



Quite common in the lake, and in the large streams, below the 

 clams. 



