COMMON FISHES OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
159 
tinued until August. Forbes and Richardson, 1908.) The fish ran in pairs, each 
female with a smaller male, spawning in shallow water full of weeds or willows. The 
eggs adhered to grass and smartweed; they were found attached even above the sur- 
face of the water, and some of these hatched. 11 The eggs hatched in about eight days. 
The young were solitary in habit, being found always floating at or near the surface 
in the sun, sometimes with the back out. Young 3% inches long were taken on July 7. 
Garman (1890) had found, in the vicinity of Quincy, 111., in August, young short- 
nosed gar up to 12.5 inches in length, the average of 18 examples being 9.94. A rapid 
rate of growth in early life is indicated. 
The adult gars are said to move in large schools both before and after the spawn- 
ing season. The distribution of gar pikes indicates that breeding occurs in northern 
and southern regions, and there is no evidence that extensive migrations are necessary 
for reproduction. 
In the vicinity of Keokuk the short-nosed gar is one of the most abundant fishes, 
being rivaled by the German carp, the river quillback ( Carpiodes carpio), and two 
species of minnows. It is, of course, much in evidence from its surface-swimming 
habit. Adult fish were found everywhere below the dam and lock, in the river, 
sloughs and creeks. Many fingerlings were seen in 1916 near the lock, both above 
and below. 
The inclosed portion of the unfinished part of the power house formed, in effect, 
an imperfect trap about an acre in extent, in which great numbers of gars were 
observed in 1915 and larger numbers in 1916. Observations in 1915 indicated that 
the aggregation of gars in the space corresponded roughly with the stage of the river. 
When the level of the river was above the top of the w T alls of the inclosure, or much 
below it, the aggregations were not noted; presumably the gars escaped, in the one 
case over the top of the wall and in the other through the submerged openings, 
which were nearer the surface at low stages. No correlation with breeding season 
could be noted. The times when aggregations were noted in 1915 were as follows: 
May 17-26, June 18-Julv 9, July 17-24, August 10-27, and September 15. Breeding 
was over by the end of June, as indicated by the examination of fish in July and later. 
While generally reported as abundant in Lake Keokuk in 1926, the reports of 
fishermen were far less strong regarding gar in the lake than in the river; the gar is 
“more for current,” some said. Nevertheless, it is extremely abundant in Lake 
Pepin. Several hauls were witnessed, and gar far outnumbered all other fish combined, 
although gars are particularly successful in escaping the net. Reference has pre- 
viously been made to the remarkable increase in numbers of yellow sand shells, a 
mussel that is aided in propagation by the gars. This does not necessarily indicate 
an increased abundance of the fish, for there are other conditions that seem increas- 
ingly favorable to the survival and growth of yellow sand shells, to be discussed 
later. 
There are, of course, no commercial figures concerning the gar pikes, but their 
continued abundance in the upper river is unquestioned. The lake probably offers 
suitable breeding places for them, but in 1926 it appeared that gar were relatively 
less abundant in the lake than in the river above and below. Presumably the gar 
pike is so well able to take care of itself under most varied conditions that the river 
will continue to be as abundantly stocked as the condition of the food supply and 
competition permit. 
n H. L. Canfield found eggs of the gar adhering in quantities to flood trash on the banks of the White River near Clar- 
endon, Ark. 
