Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-12-05
Lake Erie Fish-lIOw They Live and
Where They Come From.

The Columbus correspondent of the
Cincinnati Commercial has been interview
ing Mr.. JOHN IL. KLprART, one Of tine
Commissioners Of the Safe Board of
Fisheries, and gives the result thereof, in
very interesting letter from which the
f,llowing is taken:
"Tne Commissioners were engaged dun :
ing The month of October in series Of
bsarvations as to the habits and food of
the white ish of the lakes. 1t was ascer-
tanned that fish of this variety are migra
tory In their habits, leaving the deep wa
ters of Lake HJro1 and perh'tps the lakes
beyond, and moving out through the ID j.
troit River into Lake Erie, and along the
north shore of the lake for a considerable
distance eastward, and thence across to
the south side at some point eastward OF
the Ohio and Pennsylvania line, thence
westward along the waters Of the south
shores to the Islands, peninsulas, bogs
and cipes west Of Cleveland seeking the
shallow waters all the way back TO the
neighborhood Of Toledo, as a suitable
plac5 for depositing their eggs, his being
their spawning season. A regular "order
Of proc s;ion" is observed In this migra-
ton. First il the line come the young
malls of perhaps pound weight apiece,
followed by the females of similar size
the are followed by a school of larger
males, followed by the females, and these
by still larger ones until the largest OF
the season close up the procession.
When shallow wa'er is found, with a
sandy bottom suitable for receiving the
deposit of eggs, the female prepares a
place in the sand, aud passing over it de-
posts the spawn, being all the while
al .lrrt oil l,rrf ha al fab frA a
position in near proximity. As the fe-
male moves away from the place, the male
follows. and passing closely over the eggs
! imparts to them the fertiliz ng principle,
after which he covers them with shallow
covering Of sand, and leaves them TO their
tate.
"Are the mae fish poIygamous ?' in.
I quired, "or do you mean that each fish,
inLhe act of depositing the eggs, Is seps-
ratttk watched b. one of the other sex p
"rheTe is no pairing off, One male
will be on the lookout for any number Oi
| famales.'
"And what become of the eggs ?"
"Great numbers are swept away by the
motion of the waters, and the spaWD.sll
be fOun1 by myriads lining the beach N
some places. There can be raid TO be
positively no instinct of maternal attach
ment for their young by the fish, and as
soon as they have disposed of their eggs
aSay they go again up the lake"
''And what btc Imes of The young fish p
"They subsist for few weeks on food
fouRd in these waters, and then away
they go up into the lakes beyond, follow
ing the course the older fish had taken"
"What practical good results from bav-
Ing made these observations
"rhis: We are constantly receiving
Il Nf..in
VINO would like to have steps taken for
the propagation of white fish in the ponds
and reservoirs within the Safe. To as
certain that that kind OF fish is migratory
/, to demonstrate In advance the futi ity
Cf efforts TO pro lace them in waters that
Gre confined in narrow limits"
what else dill you accOmplish?'
"We engaged in dredging and other eX-
amnatioDs % ascertain wnat constitutes
the food Of the white fish. 1t has b ,en
'ound that when these fish have been taken
In the pounds no trace of the nature OF
their food en- be found in their stOmachs.
From observations made by dredging in
Lake Michigan, it was ascertained that
they sn5siSted on crusracea-lobsters
an similar creatures"
"And the young fish? p
"Tn~re Is kind of water grass grow
ing along the shallow water OF Lake
Erie, known by various botanical, names
and the.'talk is GOV red with asubs ance Of
which the name Will be familiar to the
readers of Darwin and writers of his
school. They call it aneba, and regard
it as one Of the first forms of life. 1t IL
very abundant there, and young fish feed
upon it,"
sis the am9Na exuled by the plant?'
"lhat Is what don't propose to tell.
| shouldn't like to commit myself on
that point, for the sufficient reason that |
dont't know"
sit is undecided, then, whether it Ia a
vegetable or animal organization ?"
II don't know"
The OOmmissi ners have also visited
Turtle Foot Lake, near Akron, and were
much pleased with specimens of blue sun
fish taken, some of which We're photo
graphed. They are now on their way to
examine the l. lwiston reservoir.