88 
THE BOOK OF FISHES 
of frog-culture. It is 
to be hoped that some 
method of conserva¬ 
tion will be found be¬ 
fore the natural suppl y 
approaches the point 
of exhaustion. 
The annual market 
supply of fresh-water 
Turtles and Frogs has 
been known to exceed 
half a million pounds 
of each, the great bulk 
of the catch being de¬ 
rived from the Missis¬ 
sippi and its tribu¬ 
taries. 
The humble Cray¬ 
fish, although of small 
size, figures promi¬ 
nently in the aquatic 
food supply. Lake 
Michigan leading with 
over 200,000 pounds 
annually. 
FOODS OF FISHES 
Photograph by H. Armstrong Roberts 
THREE-POUND SPECKLED BEAUTY, NIPIGON RIVER, CANADA 
our fresh-water streams and lakes, es¬ 
pecially in the Middle and Southern 
States, that contribute to the food supply. 
They have long been used in filling the 
ever-widening vacancy in the markets 
formerly occupied by that favorite of the 
epicure, the Diamond-backed Terrapin of 
the salt-water marshes. 
They have so high an edible value that 
it is whispered we often pay Terrapin 
prices for Turtles that never saw brackish 
water. Fishery officials are aware of their 
importance and have studied their distri¬ 
bution, methods of capture, and conser¬ 
vation. 
Frogs of several kinds are valued 
aquatic food delicacies, and their habits 
have received considerable attention with 
the view to developing a practical system 
A subject of per¬ 
petual interest to all 
who fish with the rod 
is the food of fishes. 
There are moments in 
the lives of all of us 
when the most im¬ 
portant thing in the 
world seems to be how 
to get the fish to bite. 
The problem is taken 
as seriously by the 
captain of some great industry, off on a 
fishing trip, supplied with the most expen¬ 
sive tackle, as by the barefooted urchin 
with a homemade pole, and doubtless the 
man of business is the more serious of 
the two. 
Thanks to the patient laboratory in¬ 
vestigations of Professor S. A. Forbes, 
this dark question has been made lumi¬ 
nous. He tells us that while the food of 
fishes consists chiefly of other fishes, it 
includes practically the whole aquatic 
fauna—a comforting fact when we would 
seek for baits. 
Fishes not only feed on other fishes and 
on insects, but on crustaceans, mollusks, 
and worms. Plants do not constitute 
much of their food, although a few kinds 
feed on them, such as Buffalo-fishes, 
