ON THE FOOD OF THE SMALL SHORE FISHES IN THE 
WATERS NEAR MADISON, WISCONSIN 
By A. S. Pearse 
We are vitally dependent upon the lower worlds for life . — Ryder. 
CONTENTS 
I. Introduction 7 
II. Variation of quality of food in different habitats 10 
III. List of species of fish, with summary of food 12 
IV. General remarks on fish food 20 
V. Bibliography 21 
I. INTRODUCTION 
Since the work of Forbes (’80, ’80a) there has been no careful 
study of the food of small fishes in the United States. The 
present paper deals with the results of examinations of the ali- 
mentary tracts of 383 fishes collected during August, September, 
and October, 1914, in the lakes, swamps, and streams near Madi- 
son, Wisconsin. This work was first undertaken at the request 
of Mr. Chancey Juday while the writer was in the employ of the 
Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, and later con- 
tinued in the Zoological Laboratories of the University of Wis- 
consin. My thanks are due to Mr. Juday for many courtesies, 
and to Mr. R. A. Muttkowski for identifying certain insects and 
larvae. 
In most cases the fish to be examined were collected with a 
minnow sein, but at some stations (fig. 1) this was not practi- 
cable and they were taken with a dip net (stations 2, 3, 9, 10, 11), 
or caught by hand ( Cottus at station 4). 
Collections were made from twelve representative stations as 
follows (fig. 1): 
1. Fork of Six-mile Creek. Bottom soft mud; August 7: 
Lepomis pallidus, Micropterus salmoides , Notropis blennius y Schil- 
beodes gyrinus, Labidesthes sicculus. 
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