OUR HERITAGE OF THE FRESH WATERS 
89 
Photograph by A. W. Cutler 
FISH THAT EAT OUT OF.A FRIENDLY HAND 
In a pool on the estate of Kenneth McDougall, Port Lopn, Scotland, the fish, mostly Cod, will take food 
from the keeper’s hand. 
Carps, and Minnows. Some fishes get 
food by rooting in mud, while others are 
inclined to be scavengers. 
Among the chiefly fish-eating fishes may 
be mentioned Pike, Pickerel, Muskellunge, 
Pike-perch, Burbot, Gar, Black Bass, and 
Channel Catfishes. Those taking fish 
food in moderate amounts are represented 
by Bream, Blue-cheeked Sunfish, Mud¬ 
fish, White Bass, Rock Bass, and Crappie. 
Fishes which feed on other fishes to a 
trivial extent are White Perch, Suckers, 
Spoonbill, the various Darters, Top Min¬ 
nows and Silversides, Sticklebacks, Mud 
Minnows, Stone-cats, and common Min¬ 
nows. The whole Minnow tribe contrib¬ 
utes to the food of the smaller fish- 
eaters. 
In the Mississippi region the Gizzard- 
shad constitutes 40 per cent of the food 
of the Wall-eyed Pike, 30 per cent that of 
the Black Bass, half that of the Pike, and 
a third that of the Gars. This is a good 
illustration of the usefulness of an 
abundant species of little importance as 
food for man. 
Mollusks—^.the Snails and Mussels of 
various species—are also important as 
fish food. They form large proportions 
of the food of Catfishes, Suckers, Fresh¬ 
water Drum, and Mudfish. About 16 per 
cent of the food of Perches, Sunfishes, 
Top Minnows, and Shiners is molluscan 
in character. 
Fishes feed freely on insects, not only 
on the aquatic forms in their various 
larval and mature stages, but also on 
terrestrial insects cast into the water in 
many ways. 
Crustaceans appear to be of even more 
importance as fish food, especially the 
minute Entomostraca. The Crayfishes 
are also eaten. 
The food of adult fishes naturally dif¬ 
fers greatly from that of the young. In 
addition to natural foods, both alive and 
dead, fishes in captivity will devour many 
kinds of meats and prepared foods. The 
question, then, as to what constitutes the 
food of fishes may be answered: almost 
any living animal forms from the water 
not too large to be swallowed. Therefore 
if the fish will not take the bait or the fly 
first offered, it may be tempted with an¬ 
other, and the resourceful angler need not 
return with an empty creel. 
