76 Conservation Department 



to be empty. They do not feed every day for they will not venture 

 into shallow water when the lake is rough and even when it is calm 

 the feeding grounds are often deserted. Even while feeding carp 

 are ever on the alert for danger. The creaking of an oar lock or 

 a sudden movement may cause them to rush for deep water not 

 to return again until the following day. If however there is a 

 good cover of vegetation the fish is more likely to lie perfectly 

 still relying on its power of concealment for protection rather 

 than flight. 



The Food of the Adult Carp. — There is probably more mis- 

 conception about the food of the adult carp than about any other 

 phase of its life. This is largely due to the lack of information in 

 regard to their daily activities. Cole comments on the difficulty of 

 studying carp in their natural environment and the even greater 

 difficulty of taking carp at a selected time of day. While Ave have 

 taken adult carp at all times of the day, in practically every in- 

 stance the stomach has been empty and the intestinal contents 

 partly digested. Before any very definite conclusions can be 

 formulated in regard to the significance of their diet in Oneida 

 lake additional studies will have to be made. However some facts 

 of importance were gathered as the following, selected from our 

 data, illustrate. These have been taken to show the scope of the 

 feeding habits of the adults: 



June 18. Length, 22 inches; weight, 5 lbs. Station 53, Lake- 

 port. Food : small fragments of muscle of fish, fragments of in- 

 sects and crayfish, copepods, 1700 ; algae, abundant ; bits of leaves 

 and roots of higher plants. 



June 10. Length, 15 inches; weight, 2 lbs. Station 60, Sylvan 

 beach. Food : stomach empty and contents of intestines mostly 

 digested; Spirogyra, Vallisneria and insect fragments. 



July 12. Length, 20 inches; weight, 8 lbs; age, 5 years. Sta- 

 tion 8, Three Mile bay. Food : two small snails ; small clam • parts 

 of two young minnows, probably golden shiners ; ostracods, cope- 

 pods, phyllopods and insect fragments ; remains of algae and 

 Potamogeton. 



July 14. Five carp were taken in Station 17, Poddygut bay, 

 at 4:30 p. m. and the intestinal tract removed and preserved at 

 6 :00 p. m. Carp are found in this habitat during the entire day. 

 Theoretically the food conditions are ideal, but the intestinal tract 

 was practically empty in each one except for sand and a few 

 plant fragments. 



August 19. Twenty carp vvere secured in Station 46, in Fisher's 

 bay and preserved at once. These were taken in the seine which 

 had been placed around an area where corn had been scattered. 

 Three had the stomach full of corn, nine had the stomach empty 

 and three the intestine as well as the stomach empty. In this habi- 

 tat where the carp were being fed it is interesting to examine the 

 detailed intestinal contents of the following three : First speci- 

 men. Length, 27 inches; weight, 12 lbs; age, 12 years; male; 

 stomach contained mostly partially digested corn, a few Crustacea 



