312 REPORT OF THE 



Creek Chub, River Chub, and Common Silverside may be obtained with hook and 

 line, provided the hook used be very small. 



The care of live minnozus : More bait minnows die from careless handling and 

 disease than are used in actual fishing, but it should be otherwise. With proper 

 attention there should be but little loss with any of the desirable minnows ; most of 

 them are hardy and will do well in confinement. 



In the first place, a large minnow bucket is better than a small one, and too many 

 fish should not be put in it at one time ; crowding should always be avoided. 



The fish must be handled as little as possible and witn extreme care ; handling 

 or other treatment which results in rubbing off any scales is sure to prove fatal very 

 soon. 



The water should be kept cool and well aerated, either by the addition of fresh 

 water, by pouring, or by pumping air into the water with a bicycle pump. Before 

 putting minnows in the bucket 'it should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, so 

 that no germs'may be left frorh'fish which may have died in it. 



If you have a live-box in which you keep on hand a larger supply of minnows, it 

 should receive thfe same attention. It must be set in suitable water, water that is 

 cool and which has a current, if possible, and must be thoroughly cleaned and disin- 

 fected' as often as possiljle.'; Probably the vast majority of fish which die in live- 

 boxes and aquariums do'^S-fi'S^m the attacks of different species of a fungus belong- 

 ing to the genus Saprolegniay These- are plants closely related in structure to the 

 algaS-, and may be regarded as degraded forms which, because of tlieir saprophytic or 

 p'aVa^itic habits, have lost their chlorophyl or green coloring matter. 



This fungus may develop on any part of the fish, though perhaps most abun- 

 dantly or more frequently on the tail, fins or head, or where scales have been rubbed 

 off. It may be limited to small definite patches, or may spread all over the fish. In 

 general it forms tufts of white, fluffy threads that radiate out from the body. The 

 mycelium of this fungus develops beneath the scales or skin, and by the time it 

 appears on the surface the fish is past recovery. The only way to do then is to 

 destroy all those evidently affected. The others which may be saved should be 

 removed to another tank or vessel and treated to a saltwater bath. The salt solu- 

 tion should not be too strong; ordinarily about one part of salt to a thousand of 

 water will prove suf^ciently strong. Before the fish are returned to the live-box it 

 should' be carefully cleaned and set in a different place. 



It is of course much more difficult to keep minnov/s in the summer than at any 

 other time ; and as it is also easier to get them then there is no necessity for crowd- 

 ing the live-box. 



