226 



BUI.LETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Evidence from Stomach Contents. — Prof. S. A. Forbes has made very valuable 

 and extensive studies of the food of fresh-water fishes, of which he published a summary 

 and discussion in 1888. In this paper he gave a detailed list of the stomach contents 

 of many of our food and game fishes, from which we may select those which had eaten 

 nymphs and put them in tabular form. Such a table will be useful as an indication 

 of the kind of fishes for which dragonfly nymphs would furnish acceptable food in pond- 

 fish culture. 



Food of Fishes Examined by S. A. Forbes. 



Ictiobus bubalus: Small-mouthed buffalo 



Ictiobus urus: Mongrel buffalo 



Moxostoma macrolepidotum: Sucker 



Polyodon spathula: Spoonbill cat 



Erimyzon sucetta: Common chub 



Amiacalva: Dogfish 



Lucius vermiculatus: Grass pickerel 



Lucius lucius: Common pike 



Aplodinotus grunniens: Sheepshead, croaker 



Aphredoderus savanus: Pirate perch 



Ictalurus punctatus: Channel cat 



Ameiurus nebulosus: Bullhead 



Labidesthes siculus: Brook silversides 



Fundulus notatus: Top minnow 



Hadropterus aspro: Black-sided darter 



Lepomis gibbosus: Conimon sunfish 



Lepomis incisor: Bluegill 



Apomotis cyanellus: Green stmfish 



Pomoxis annularis: White crappie 



Pomoxis sparoides: Black crappie 



Perca flavescens: Common perch 



Ambloplites rupestris: Rock bass, redeye 



Chaenobryttus gulosus: Warmouth bass 



Micropterus dolomieu: Smallmouth black bass. . 

 Micropterus sahnoides: Largemouth black bass. . 



Archoplites interruptus: Sacramento perch 



Fundulus diaphanus menona: Menona minnow . 



Number cf fish 

 eating — 



Dragon 

 nymphs. 



Damsel 

 nymphs. 



The numbers in this table seem very small when thus isolated; but if we compare 

 them with the remainder of Forbes's list we find they are comparatively large and are 

 surpassed by those of very few insects. 



In his notes he stated that the various nymphs seemed to be most abundant (25 

 per cent) in the food of the grass pickerel, Esox vermiculatus, w^hile they formed from 10 

 to 13 per cent of the food of the crappies, Pomoxis annularis and P. sparoides, the pirate 

 perch, Aphredoderus sayanus, and the common perch, Perca flavescens (18886, p. 485). 

 Hankinson (1908, p. 234) stated that "nymphs were often found in the stomachs of rock 

 bass and blue-spotted sunfish, less frequently in those of the common sunfish;" and in 

 another place: "The nymphs of Macromia illinoiensis are much eaten by fishes" (p. 263). 

 In his remarks upon the various species of fish he mentioned nymphs as the food of the 

 bullhead, the rock bass, the blue-spotted sunfish, the common sunfish, the large-eared 

 sunfish, the bluegill, and the large mouth black bass. 



Baker (191 6) gave the results of his examination of the stomachs of numerous 

 specimens of different kinds of fish. He reported that nymphs of the odonata constituted 

 25 per cent of the food of one bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus (p. 176); 62 per cent (with 

 caddisflies) of the food of five bluegills, Lepomis hicisor (p. 182); 15 per cent of the food 

 of one redeye, Ambloplites rupestris (p. 182); 30 per cent of the food of one sunfish, L. 



