Wagner—Fish Fauna of Lake Pepin . 27 
isthmus, its body being entirely invisible until the pouch was 
examined. 
2. Ichthyomyzon castaneus. Lamper Eel. Unfortunately, 
I did not preserve the necessary specimens to prove the pres¬ 
ence of this form. From specimens examined on the spot, I 
feel confident that forms which would be referred to this 
species occur. From some observations made, I incline, how¬ 
ever, toward the belief that I. castaneus is not specifically dis¬ 
tinct from I. concolor. I hope soon to be able to collect the 
necessary material for deciding this point. 
3. Polyodon spathula. Spoonbill. One of the most abun¬ 
dant forms in Lake Pepin throughout the summer, and prob¬ 
ably throughout the year. It is caught in large numbers in 
the seines. The writer has seen as much as fifteen hundred 
pounds brought in at a single haul of the big seine. Seem¬ 
ingly the spoonbill is of a rather roving disposition, cruising 
up and down the lake in large schools. Lienee its appearance 
in the seines is rather irregular. There may be an abundance 
one day and practically none the next. In the two years I 
observed it, it disappeared, or at least its numbers greatly de¬ 
creased, for a period of about a week in August. This disap¬ 
pearance can have nothing to do with its breeding habits, for 
the females are not at this time heavy with eggs. It may be 
simply a seeking of deeper and cooler waters at the foot of the 
lake. 
After much hard work, I have been unable to get any light 
whatever on the breeding habits of this peculiar form. Dr. 
Evermann (Bulletin U. 8. F. C., vol. 27, p. 284) reports 
nearly ripe females as occurring in the Ohio Fiver at Louis¬ 
ville in the middle of May. From this one would expect 
spawning to occur in our region not before the end of June, 
and more probably in July or August. In the summer of 
1904, I examined anatomically every specimen of spoonbill 
brought ashore at Lake City, about fifteen hundred in all. A 
fair proportion, whose number unfortunately was not accu¬ 
rately recorded, were recognizably females. But between 
June 11 and September 1 I did not discover a single female 
with ripe or nearly ripe spawn, or one that showed signs of 
