THE SMELTS 
287 
Later, 13 other specimens were examined bj 7 Professor Doolittle. Seven of 
these were removed from the stomach of the brook trout previously mentioned, 
and six were picked up on the beach at Soonipi Park. The following tables give 
the results of the examination. 
Young smelts taken from the stomach of a brook trout, August 13, 1910 
Length, in inches 
Entomos- 
traea 
(Cyclops) 
Length in inches 
Entomos- 
traca 
(Cyclops)' 
1 
0 
3 y 
0 
1% 
4 
3 y s - - 
0 
iy s 
0 
4 y b 
0 
2K 
9 
Smelts washed up on the beach at Soonipi Park, October 15 and 26, 1910 
Length and stomach contents 
Oct. 15 
Oct. 26 
Remarks 
55 
55 
58 
50 
56 
56 
The Entomostraca were all species of 
the open lake. 
Cyclops 
0 
131 
4 
0 
0 
125 
Halopedium gibberum_ _ 
0 
3 
4 
0 
0 
0 
Daphnia hyalina 
0 
38 
8 
0 
0 
0 
Daphnia obtusirostris 
0 
117 
172 
0 
0 
0 
Bosmina obtusirostris 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
17 
Specimens from Square and Cross Lakes (5 from each) , from a little over 3 x /i inches 
to about 8^ inches in length, were examined. They were collected on July 2, 8, and 
12, 1903, washed up on the beach. Only two Entomostraca (Cyclops and Bosmina) 
and eight insects were found in the alimentary tracts. Those from Cross Lake were 
very fat but heavily parasitized. The following table shows the details: 
Locality 
Date 
Length, 
in inches 
Number 
ex- 
amined 
Number 
eating 
Entomos- 
traca 
Number 
of Ento- 
mostraca 
eaten 
Miscellaneous 
food 
July 2, 1903 
3H-6& 
5 
0 
0 
6 insects. 
Cross Lake 
July 8 and 12, 1903 
5 
1 
2 
2 insects. 
Creaser (1925) observes that smelt on the spawning ground eat very little, stating 
that Dr. Jan Metzelaar examined 110 individuals from Cold Creek, Beulah, Mich., 
and found most of them empty, but a few contained an insignificant quantity of smelt 
eggs and the debris to which the eggs were attached. 
Creaser’s observations concerning the stomach contents of smelt caught in the 
lake are similar to those made at Sebago Lake. Doctor Metzelaar examined the 
stomachs of 147 smelt taken at Crystal Lake about September 1. Of these, 20 
were totally empty. Three contained young rock bass ( Amblopletes rupestris), 78 
contained the remains of lake shiner ( Notropis atherinoides ) , 35 more contained 
remains probably of the same species, 25 had insect larvae or purpae, either midges 
(Chironomidae) or May flies (Hexagenia). In volume, 98.3 per cent was fish and 
1.7 insect food. 
