amia — dogfish; bowfins 39 



abundant northward. Eight of our 37 collections came from large 

 rivers, 14 from lakes, ponds, and sloughs, and hut 4 from creeks. 



The usual local name of this species is "dogfish" in the Great 

 Lake region and the upper Mississippi Valley. It is known eastward 

 and southward oftener as "bowfin," or "grindle," the latter becom- 

 ing "grinnel" in southern Illinois. It has been found by our 

 collectors offered for sale by hucksters as "prairie-bass" in southern 

 Illinois. The name "mudfish" is sometimes used eastward, and 

 that of mud-jack, locally in Illinois. It is of general distribution in 

 rivers, lakes, and swamps, but is most abundant in weedy waters. 

 It seems to prefer rather shallow water, where, according to Dr. 

 Reighard, it feeds principally at night, retreating to somewhat 

 deeper water during the day. Dr. Ayres* found it in winter in 

 Oconomowoc Lake, Wisconsin, in closely huddled schools in gravelly 

 pockets among water weeds, so close together that two at a time 

 could be impaled on a fish spear. In the early spring of 1894,when 

 a rise in the Illinois River loosened and lifted the icy covering of 

 the stream, a belt of open water between the ice and the shore was 

 thickly packed, in places, with dogfish, so sluggish with the cold 

 that they could be caught with the bare hands. In spring and 

 summer these fishes are frequently seen to come to the surface to 

 breathe, the exhalation being indicated by the escape of bubbles of 

 air. 



The teeth of the dogfish are sharp and strong and it is exceedingly 

 voracious and savage, feeding upon any animals that come within 

 its reach— chiefly fish, crawfish, and mollusks. 



The food of 21 specimens, taken from all parts of the state in 

 various months from April to September, was entirely animal — about 

 a third of it fishes, among which were recognized minnows and 

 buffalo-fish. About a fourth consisted of small mollusks, and 

 nearly 40 per cent, of it of crawfishes. Insects, although commonly 

 present, occurred in only insignificant ratio. Dr. Dean found scraps 

 of meat and a lump of raw potato in the stomach of one of these 

 fishes, but the latter was undigested. Charles Hallock (quoted by 

 Dr. Goode)t says that an Amia has been known to bite a two- 

 pound fish in two at a single snap. 



The breeding period J of the dogfish is from April 1 to June 1 or 

 July 1, varying with the season and the latitude. It spawned at 



* Quoted by Whitman & Eycleshymer. 

 t Nat. Hist. Aq. An., p. 569. 



t April 19 to June 1 , estimate of average for four years (Reighard) ; April-May 

 (Whitman & Eycleshymer). 



