84 Conservation Department 



IV. FISHES OF THE OSWEGO WATERSHED 



By J. R. Greeley, 

 Instructor in Zoology, Cornell University. 



The entire Oswego drainage has never before been investigated 

 with the purpose of listing the fishes found within its waters, al- 

 though the fish fauna of subdivisions of the watershed, the Cayuga 

 and Oneida lake basins, have received much careful study. 1 ' 2> 3 - 



During the summer of 1927 the Conservation Department car- 

 ried on as a part of its program, an investigation of the fishes of 

 the entire Oswego watershed. 



Extensive collecting in the creeks, rivers and ponds of the 

 region was done by one collecting party made up of the writer 

 and Mr. Carl Van Dieman and by another similar unit comprised 

 of Messrs. Myron Gordon and W. M. Reynolds. A survey party 

 under Dr. E. H. Eaton collected in the Finger lakes in connection 

 with work toward the development of a stocking policy for those 

 bodies of water and under Dr. William Smallwood in connection 

 with carp control studies. The work of labeling and cataloguing 

 the collections was done by Mrs. J. R. Greeley, who served as 

 curator. 



These collections include over 1,500 lots of specimens. Repre- 

 sentative series of all species will be placed on record in the New 

 York State Museum at Albany. As far as possible complete data 

 regarding type of bottom, current and water temperature has been 

 kept for all specimens. 



Methods of collecting. — The greater part of the stream collect- 

 ing was done by means of seines. These ranged in size from a 

 length of 6 feet and a mesh of 1/6 inch to a length of 200 feet 

 and a mesh of 1 inch. Set lines and fyke nets were used in several 

 of the rivers. 



In the lakes the collecting methods included the use of gill nets, 

 seines, fyke and trap nets, set lines and dredges. 



General Nature of the Region. — The Oswego river drains an 

 area lying within the region of glaciation. Toward the southern 

 headwaters of this watershed, especially in the country drained by 

 tributaries of the Finger lakes, there are numerous high hills. 

 From these run many precipitous streams and here, as in Wat- 

 kins and Enfield glens, waterfalls are frequently encountered. 



i Meek, S. E. Notes on the Fishes of Cayuga Lake Basin. Annals of N. Y. 

 Acad, of Science, IV, March, 1889. 



2 Reed, H. D. and Wright, A. H. The Vertebrates of the Cayuga Lake Basin 

 New York. Proceedings Am. Philos, Soc. Vol. XLVII no. 193, 1909. 



s Adams, C. C. and Hankinson, T. L. Notes on Oneida Lake Fish and 

 Fisheries. Trans. American Fisheries Society, Vol. XLV no. 3, June, 1916. 



Acknowledgements are due Prof. T. L. Hankinson who contributed infor- 

 mation on the Oneida lake fishes; Prof. A. H. Wright for valuable sugges- 

 tions ; Prof. C. L. Hubbs who made several determinations of fishes ; and many 

 sportsmen and game protectors of the region. 



