160 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Bowfln. Amia calva Linnseus 
dogfish; mudfish; grindle; lake lawyer; etc. 
This odd fish is called by a dozen names, none of which probably is intended to 
be complimentary. In the classification of fishes it stands quite alone' as the sole 
living representative of an order (the Cycloganoidea) with some characters regarded 
as most primitive and others as fairly modern. The swim bladder has a cellular 
structure, opens into the esophagus, and functions as a lung, aiding the gills in respi- 
ration. Its double respiratory apparatus makes the fish adaptable to a variety of 
conditions. It can live in lakes and rivers, in ditches and rain barrels. Live bowfin 
are said to have been plowed up in lowland fields of Louisiana some weeks after the 
subsidence of floods and the drainage of the land sufficiently for cultivation. It 
prefers sluggish waters and is not common in the river below the dam, although it 
occurs there. It is apparently quite common in the back waters of the lake, for the 
author was told on September 24, 1917, of a catch of 1,500 pounds of bowfin in two 
hoop nets set in Green Bay. In that year there was a very good winter demand for 
bowfin in the markets of some of the larger cities, but the summer price was low 
because the fish had to be retained in cribs constructed for the purpose near the 
shores of the lake. It was an interesting fact that great quantities of live bowfin 
could be retained for months in small cribs at Dallas City. The owner said that the 
secret of keeping bowfin was to put in a few carp — the sluggish bowfin alone would 
settle thickly on the bottom and smother each other, but a few carp would keep the 
mass of fish stirred up so that all remained alive for a long time. 
At the beginning of this investigation the bowfin was generally held in the lowest 
esteem as a food fish; its soft, pasty flesh renders it unfit for use unless prepared in 
some special manner, as by stuffing, seasoning, and baking. Strange to say, when 
properly prepared by smoking it makes one of the best of all smoked fishes. Partly, 
no doubt, as a result of educational work conducted by the United States Bureau of 
Fisheries, after experimental work at the Fairport station, there has developed a good 
demand for the fish in the markets of several cities. The bowfin, therefore, is no 
longer to be disregarded as a food fish. 
It is unattractive in appearance and very predaceous, and these qualities loom 
largest in popular thought regarding the fish. It has strong sharp teeth and is said 
to bite a 2-pound fish in two at a single snap. Its food, as observed by Forbes and 
Richardson (1908), is about one-third fish (minnows, buffalo fish, etc.), about one- 
fourth small mollusks, and the remainder crawfish. Insects form a very small pro- 
portion of the food. Pearse (1918) examined 14 specimens from lakes near Madison, 
