REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 247 



difficult and costly expedient of restocking the waters; for by the latter measure, in 

 certain localities at least, a greater supply of food stuff is given to the predatory and 

 useless fishes (of which the dogfish is an excellent type), and thus these forms, 

 instead of the useful ones, increase and multiply. 



Accordingly, in the present paper my purpose will be to call attention to the 

 especial features in the natural history of Amia which suggest a means of reducing its 

 numbers, where this shall be found expedient. We may refer to (1) the usual habits 

 of the fish, (2) the peculiarities in its spawning, and (3) the means which can be 

 devised for its destruction. The writer might state, by way of parenthesis, that the 

 dogfish, in spite of its bad reputation among fishermen, is a creature of high esteem 

 among zoologists, and that its extermination and extinction would be regarded by 

 them in the light of a public calamity. For it is the sole and but little modified 

 survivor of a great race of fishes which in the mesozoic times gave rise to most, if not 

 all, of our living types (teleosts). To the zoologist, therefore, the extinction of such 

 forms as the bison, Rocky Mountain goat or bighorn would be a matter of far less 

 significance than the loss of this much-despised fish. The former means but the 

 extinction of a species, the latter of an entire zoological order. The zoologist may, 

 however, console himself with the reflection that it will prove a practical impossibility 

 to exterminate the dogfish, whose hardiness is attested by the fact that of all its 

 kindred it alone has been able to survive the calamities of innumerable years, and that 

 under the natural conditions in North American waters (where it alone survives), it 

 has even competed favorably with the more modern types of fishes. 



I. Habits* 



Many notes have been published regarding the habits of the dogfish. They are, 

 however, usually brief, and are scattered through the literature mainly in connection 

 with anatomical and embryological studies, or in remarks added to faunal lists. The 

 following will serve as examples of these descriptions : 



Dr. Kirtland states "that the dogfish is found in Lake Erie, where it is frequently 

 called the Lake Lawyer. It is distinguished by a ferocious look and voracious habits 

 (unde nomenf) The flesh is rank, tough, and not eatable. To the anglers it is a 

 troublesome nuisance by taking their bait, and often breaking their hooks and lines, 

 which they can readily do by means of their large teeth and long jaws." 



Charles Hallock, as quoted by G. Brown Goode, refers to the food and habits of 

 the dogfish thus: "They take frogs, minnows and sometimes the spoon. Their 

 habitat is deep water, where they drive everything before them. They are very 

 voracious and savage. Their teeth are so sharp and their jaws so strong that they 



