The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-12-04
LAKE ERIE FISH.
How ihey Live and Where They Come


The Columbus correspondent of th,
. Cincinnati COHlmerciGf has been in
terviewing John h Klippart, one o
1.-THE Commissioners Of the State Boar
! OF Fisheries, and giges the result
thereof, in very interesting letter q
that journal, from which the follow
ing is taken: r-.s 80 -
= The Commissioners were engaged
during the month of October in a Sc
I, ries OF observations as to the habit.
and food of the white fish ofthe lake
It was aseertained that fish OF this va
riety are migratory in their habits
leaving the deep waters Of Lake HUI
ron and perhaps the lakes beyond, and
moving out Though Detroit River in
to Lake Erie, and along the north
I shore OF the lake for q consid erable
distance eastward, and thence across
to the south side at some point east.
ward OF the Ohio and PENNSYLVANIA
4 line thence westward along the wa
/ 1ters of the south shores to the isla nds,
Peai Asulas, hogs and capes west oi
! Slevelznd seeking the shallow waters
I AZ the way back to the neigh borbood
Of sPoledo, as a suitable place for de-
/ posting Their eggs this Being their
Spawning season. "a reSular aortfer
OF processfuu'' 9 observed "a Gale N i
grafton. First ia the line 10ne euChe
young males Of perhaps q I, pound
weight apiece, followed by the fe-
males OF fsimilarusize; these are fol-
lOTedlhgnE school OF larger males, fol-
lowed by the females, and these by
still largerlOnes until the largest Of
the season close up the procession.
When shallow. water is found, with
q sandy bottOm suitable for receiving
the deposit Of eggs, the female pre-
pares place in the sand and passing
over it deposits the spawn, being an
the while closely watched by the
male fish from position ih near
proximity. As the female moves
away from u . place, the male fol.
lows, and passing closely over the
eggs, imparts TO them the fertHizink 2
principle, after which he covers them
with a shallow covering Ofsand, and
leaves them to their fate.
T. rare the male fish Lolygamous ?'
inquired, ser do you mean that each
fish, in the act of depSsiting tie eggs,
is separateiy wstehtd by one Of the
other EeZ Si1 gri .dsE = 1laa ives
"Fhere is no pairing8ff. One male
will be on the hOkOut fer any number
of the females.ii-o-s
''Aud what becomes OF tiIe eggs ~
'Great numbers are swept away by
the motion II the waters, and the
spawn will be found by myriads lin
ing the beach in some places. There
can be said 70 b positively M instiRct
OF maternal at -cIh- ~. for tasIf
young by the fish, aud as soon as they
have disposed oftleir eggs a way they
go again up thelake" --.-.----s-r.-.-l
And what becomes of the young
fish ~ 3 ~ - p -. .- -
"rhey subsist for a few weeks on
food found in these w4ters,- and than
away tHey go up into the lakes be-
yond, following the course the older
fish had taken.f .--..---..-' 49,.
what practical good results from
having made these observations ?''
1'Fhis: We are constantly receiy-
ing inquities and suggestions from
persons who would like to have steps
taken for the propagation of white
1sh in the ponds and reservoirs with
in the State. To ascertain that that
kind of fish is migratory, Is to demon
strate in advance the futiiity of efforts
to produce them in waters that are
confined in narrow limits.n
-"Nhat else did you accomplish 90
I'VE engaged in dredging and other
examinations to ascertain what con-
stitutes the food OF the white fish. It
has been, fornd thai when these fish
have been taken in the pounds no
trace Of tie nature Of their food can
be found in their stomschs. From
observations made by dredging in
Lake Michigan, it VasY aseertained
that they suhslstelf o a crstaceans-
Holsters and similar creatures.
! "And the young fish ?'i "a
HPhere Is q kind of water grass
growing along the shailowy water Of
Lake Ecie known by various botani-
cal names, and the stalk of it is COW
cred with a substance of which the
name will be familiar to the readers
of Darwin and writers of his s-hooI.
They callit amoeba, and regard it as
one of the efFst} forms ofslife.y IT is
very abundant there, and young fish
feed upon it. -. Ira .sas. =. ...i "a 0
as the ame5a exuded by the
plant ~ rr-4 -rvy-, r0-5 r.-o~r
psrhat is what I don't propose to
tell. shouldn't like to commit my
self on that point, forthe sufficient rea-
son that 1 don't know.U
"lt is undecided, then, whether it
is a vegetable or animal organizs-
ton IN ?pl I (, 81 = IfnIB a
The Commissioners have also visit
ed Turtle Foot Lake, near Akron,
and were much pleased with speci-
mens Of blue sun fish N taksn, some of
which were photographed. They are
now on their way to examine the
resOryOir. e-vEva