The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-06-17
Census Of
Fish Food.
State Job.
University Will Inventory
F1athead Lake Resi-
dents LarderS.

Statesmen may scratch
their heads at the question,
How great is the worlds
food supply?' but the one
which will occupy the State
University biological station,
which opens tomorrow at yell
low bay, Flathead lake, is,
How great is the food supply
for the fish in Flathead
lake?"
To the layman the biolo-
gists' problem may seem one
which could we'll be deferred
until man was out of danger
OF starvation, but such judy
ment would show only pass
ing thought. If the fish have
not enough to eat, man fails
to get the maximum benefit
from one Of his best sources
Of food supply. When the
biological station finishes its
survey of Flathead lake this
summer the state fish COM
mission will have accurate
data on how many fish the
lake is capable of supporting
with the present food supply
and thus how much it can add
to the food assets Of the state.
The survey will be con-
Quoted during the six weeks
in which the station is open
and for several weeks after
wards by DR.. Morton ]. e.
rod, professor Of biology at
the State University, who is
in charge of the station, and
by his corps of assistants.
Last year the biologists made
a survey of the species of fish
found in the lake and the food
eaten by them for the fish
commission. This year they
hope to complete the work.
Bucket for Research.
Special apparatus has been con-
structed to carry out the research. A
clamshcll bucket, designed to be let
down into the mud and ooze at the
bottom of the lake. Is ready for the
work. The bucket Is a miniature OF
those used on construction jobs. When
II has sunk into the mud a spring
trap Will close the two jaws and the
bucket will be hauled up with its
specimens from the lake bottom. The
bucket has capacity OF a gallon.
Tho samples thus obtained from diff
ferent parts of the lake will then nc
examined under the microscope In the
station laboratories From the con
tents a fairly accurate estimate of the
"hio'ut VI liSII loOtS ein Dc ODlH1ncu.
The Foot Of tho Scale.
Tho investigators will start with tho
very beginning of fish food-the mi
croscOpic plants WHICH grow in the
lake bottom to depths OF 80 or 40
feet. Below this level light will not
penetrate through the water and the
plants cannot live. While the fish
are not vcEctarians. the small insects
and worms which they cat do subsist
on the plants The order is something
like the celebrated house which Jack
Is said to have built The small fish
cat the microscopic insects which cat
the microscopic plants which eat"
light and watcr-turn the chamical
clements into living organisms. And
then the big fish eat the small fish
which-but you see the connection.
What the Fish Eat.
Twelve species of fish were found
In the lake last year by the biologists.
-Four hundred of these were caught in
gill nets and cut open and examined
for the contents of the stomachs. In
this way the scientists determined just
what The fish were 'bitin.'"
The bull trout and black bas' daily
meal consisted mostly of small fish
The shannon trout preferred insects
worms and entomostracha. No. that
last word isn't French disguise fol-
homely dish. 1t is the Latin tern,
for those little shrimp-like animals
about the size of a pin head. which
are abundant In. Montana lakes. These
little morsels are the chief item on tho
bin OF fare for the Columbia club ant
with other microscopic insects furnish
food for the w'hitefish.
Sucker Hard to Diagnose.
The sucker was no easy mark TO
the investigators. In the first place
instead of dying as any REASONABLE
fish would when caught in a net, h,
hlandly lived on and had all the foe,