OUR HERITAGE OF THE FRESH WATERS 
95 
spots, such as can be found under rocks, sub¬ 
merged ^ logs, and stumps, and do considerable 
excavating in enlarging them. They are spring¬ 
time spawners. The eggs hatch in a few days and 
the young stay with the parent fish until about an 
inch long. 
Catfishes in general are omnivorous, feeding on 
animal life, and are not averse to downright scaveng- 
They are very hardy and few fishes can live 
longer out of water. As they have dangerous 
spines on dorsal and pectoral fins, fishermen soon 
learn to handle them circumspectly. 
As kept in tanks, Catfishes become nearly dor¬ 
mant when the water turns cold. A 6o-pound Mis¬ 
sissippi Catfish {Leptops olivaris)^ which lived in 
captivity several years, took no food during the 
winter months and remained practically motionless. 
The name Channel Catfish is a term rather 
loosely applied by fishermen to several of the 
larger fishes of large streams. 
Fully a dozen of our numerous kinds of Cat¬ 
fishes are important as food. 
THE BLACK BASSES (Micropterus dolo- 
mieu and Micropterus salmoides) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page 112) 
The two closely related Black Basses are easily 
distinguished by the size of the mouth and by the 
color pattern. In the Small-mouth species the 
upper jaw does not extend beyond the eye, as in 
the case of the Large-mouth Bass; in the former 
there is much dark blotching, which tends to form 
short vertical cross-bands, while the latter has 
usually a dark band along the side. 
The expert angler thinks he can distinguish the 
species he has hooked before seeing it, as the Small- 
mouth Black Bass is by far the gamier and more 
active. Its reputation as a game fish is not sur¬ 
passed by any other of its size. 
Although the Black Basses are cultivated and 
distributed, both officially and by private effort, 
they are not fishes whose mature eggs can be 
stripped by hand and developed in hatchery build¬ 
ings by wholesale methods. Their propagation is 
effected by the more natural but slower method 
of pond culture, in which the fishes are provided 
with the conditions most favorable to their mating 
and the rearing of their young. 
The same limitations in culture apply to all 
fishes of the Bass-Sunfish family, which have the 
habit of making nests and protecting their young. 
The Small-mouth Bass is the fish that pond- 
owners find most satisfactory and they are justified 
in the selection. Much of its present wide dis¬ 
tribution is due to this fact. 
This truly American fish has been much written 
about and naturally has many names in its exten¬ 
sive range, but Small-mouth Black Bass is the 
most widely used as well as the most distinctive. 
It is found from Lake Champlain, through the 
Great Lakes to Manitoba, along the Atlantic slope 
to South Carolina, throughout the upper Mis¬ 
sissippi Valley, and in the lakes of southern Canada. 
The size of the Small-mouth Bass depends 
largely on the waters it inhabits. Fishes of four 
or five pounds are decidedly large. There are 
records of specimens still larger, but the angler of 
to-day in our overfished streams and lakes is well 
content with a two-pounder. 
I'he Black Basses defend their eggs on the 
spawning nests with great vigor and it is the male 
that assumes this task, the female deserting as 
soon as the eggs have been deposited. His care is 
continued for a few days after the young appear, 
when they begin to scatter. 
The Large-mouth Black Bass has a wider dis¬ 
tribution than the Small-mouth species, especially 
southward, extending into Florida and other States 
along the Gulf coast. It is in general more abun¬ 
dant and inhabits more sluggish waters. 
In the North the two species are commonly 
found together. The Large-mouth species is 
decidely larger and in Southern waters some¬ 
times exceeds 12 pounds in weight, but average 
weights are two or three pounds. 
This fish has even more names than its relative, 
but Large-mouth Bass serves to identify it wherever 
the two are found together. As a popular game fish, 
we are safe in placing it next to the Small-mouth 
Bass. 
The Black Basses are carnivorous fishes, the 
young feeding largely on insect life, the adults on 
fishes. Crayfish, and Frogs. In bait fishing these 
foods, together with the larger insects and their larvae, 
are all used. Expert anglers take both species 
successfully with trolling spoon and artificial fly. 
ROCK BASS (Ambloplites rupestris) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page Jij) 
Among the native fresh-water fishes living in 
the Aquarium there are few that adapt themselves 
more readily to the conditions of captivity than the 
Rock Bass. In a tank now containing fifteen 
specimens, mostly of large size, there have been no 
losses for several years. 
The natural range of this fish includes the Mis¬ 
sissippi Valley, the Great Lakes, and Lake Cham¬ 
plain drainages, but it has been introduced through 
fish-cultural operations into many States east of 
the Alleghenies. Its adaptability to pond cultiva¬ 
tion will ultimately extend its distribution. 
The methods of the expert angler are not at all 
necessary for the capture of the Rock Bass. Great 
numbers are taken by amateur fishers wherever it 
abounds and during the greater part of the year. 
In its feeding habits the Rock Bass is about as 
omnivorous as any member of the Bass-Sunfish 
family, to which it belongs. Crayfishes and other 
fresh-water crustaceans, aquatic insects and their 
larvae. Snails, and such fishes as its rather large 
mouth will admit, all contribute to its natural 
food supply. If we include the grasshoppers, 
crickets, grubs, earthworms, and other terrestrial 
baits used in catching it, the food list might be 
considerably extended. Fish-culturists have found 
that this species not infrequently cannibalizes to 
some extent on its own young. 
In addition to the baits already mentioned, the 
trolling spoon and other artificial lures are used 
successfully; but the Rock Bass has few of the 
fighting qualities of the Black Basses, for it soon 
yields to the pull of the line. 
The Rock Bass is a thick-bodied, meaty fish, and 
a couple of fair-sized ones will fill the pan. There 
are specimens in the Aquarium a foot long that 
have nearly trebled in size since their arrival, six 
years ago. It is known, however, to grow somewhat 
larger. 
At spawning time, late in May, the Rock Bass 
makes its nest in shallow water along shore, like 
Basses and Sunfishes generally. The fishes are 
sociable at this time and their nests are often found 
