M . *

mi

■

m I

%> «

ISM

w

■■*' •'

+,. «

-

4f " - ' »

*

1 r

•
>■

■

ft ft- * ■ ** M

9«*

&M

Mi %.

*

l*i^

-

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

LIBRAKY

OF THE

MUSEUM OP COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY.

GIFT OF

u-

>^VvAAXVvvJ

A °\, \<\oV)

ou

<v

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR
BUREAU OF FISHERIES

^LUV

GEORGE M. BOWERS, Commi'iliontr

THE

GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES

BY

LEON J. COLE

APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER
OF FISHERIES TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
AND LABOR FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1904

Pages 523 to 641, Plates I to III

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1905

JAN 9

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR
BUREAU OF FISHERIES

GEORGE M. BOWERS, Commissioner

THE

GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES

BY

LEON J. COLE

APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER
OF FISHERIES TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
AND LABOR FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1904

Pages 523 to 641, Plates I to III

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1905

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES

By LEON J. COLE

523

CONTENTS

Pago.

Introduction 525 528

The species Oyprinus carpio Linnaeus 528-536

Description . . . , 528

Races and varieties 531

Hybridization 534

Size, growth, and age 535

The common name 536

The carp in Europe 537-539

Introduction and distribution of the carp

in the United States 539-550

Habits and special senses of the carp 550-579

Sight 553

Hearing 554

Taste and smell 555

Migrations 556

Reaction to inflow of fresh water 560

Hibernation 561

Vital it y 562

Feeding habits and food ' 564

Breeding habits 573

524

Page.

Diseases, parasites, and enemies of the
carp 579-584

Economic relations of the carp 584-603

Relation to vegetation 586

Roiliness of water 592

Relation to other fish 594

Food value and uses of the carp 604-610

The carp fisheries 610-622

Seining 611

Other methods of capture 616

Packing and shipment 616

Extent of the fisheries 617

Angling 619

( 'a rp culture 622-632

Permanent ponds 623

Temporary ponds and pens 625

The value of carp ponds 631

Conclusions 632-637

Bibliography 637-641

Report U. S. B. F. 1904.

Plate I.

1. Scale carp.

2. Mirror carp.

3. Leather carp.
THE GERMAN CARP.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES.

By Leon J. Cole.

INTRODUCTION.

For a number of years there appears to have been in many sections
of this country an increasing popular prejudice against the German
carp. These fish were distributed very generally throughout the
United States something over twenty years ago, with the idea that
the}' would be extensively raised in ponds and so provide a supple-
mentary income from small inland waters which were unsuitable for
other fishes, or from land upon which artificial ponds could be con-
structed. It was inevitable that many of the fish should escape into
the natural waters of the country; and within a few years many of
our rivers and lakes were teeming with carp, for which, at that time,
there was little or no market. With persons who had been able to
obtain in abundance many species of our finer native fishes, the coarser
flesh of the carp found little favor, and. under the circumstances, it
was perhaps but natural that prejudice should arise, especially because
the carp was supposed to be injuring the existing fisheries. In some
cases the adverse opinions were founded upon facts and a knowledge
of the habits of the fish; more often they were the repeated hearsay
born of suppositions and complete ignorance of the subject or of
misinterpreted observations. The newspapers also took the matter
up, and the carp was decried on all sides without stint.

In the summer of 1901, in order to obtain evidence upon the matter,
the writer was appointed by the United States Bureau of Fisheries
(then the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries) to make
an investigation of the habits of the carp and to gather any available
information relative to its usefulness or obnoxiousness. The work
was done in connection with the general biological investigation of
the Great Lakes under the general direction of Prof. Jacob Reighard,
of the University of Michigan. Professor Reighard was not in active
charge of the work, however, in 1901, Prof. H. S. Jennings, then also
at the University of Michigan, acting as director during that season.
I- take pleasure in thanking both Professor Reighard and Professor
Jennings for their interest in the investigation and for their readi-
ness at all times to do everything in their power to further the work.

525

526 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

Probably the two regions in the United States where carp are
found most abundantly are about the western end of Lake Erie and in
the Illinois River and its tributaries. This investigation was begun,
however, at Lake St. Clair, this locality being chosen because of such
complaints as the following, which appeared in a Port Huron paper:

FISH IX LAKE ST. CLAIR THE CARP ARE RAPIDLY DESTROYING ALL THE OTHER KINDS.

G B , an old fisherman, who has plied his trade on Lake St. Clair

three miles above Mount Clemens for twenty-three years, says in three years more
there will be no fish except carp left in the lake. The carp eats the spawn and
destroys the perch, bass and other good fish in those waters, and the supply is

already much reduced. Mr. B suggests that the government offer a bounty

of 3 cents or so for the destruction of the carp in order to save the other fish.

This particular paragraph is quoted because it gave the starting-
point for the held work, and because it illustrates so well the general
tone of complaint against the carp. The shallow bays of the delta
occupying the upper fourth of Lake St. Clair afford an excellent place
for carp — except that possibly the water averages a little cold for their
most prolific development — and they are to be found there in consid-
erable numbers. Furthermore, the usual comparative clearness of the
water makes it easier at times to observe the fish than in the muddier
waters in which they are usually found. When the carp are rooting
about in the bottom for food, however, even clear water is made so
roily that there is little chance to watch them.

After about three weeks at the St. Clair Flats, the remainder of the
summer, until August 31, was spent on Lake Erie, especially at the
upper end. During the last week in August all of the important
wholesale fish houses on the west and south sides of Lake Erie, from
Detroit to Buffalo, were visited to obtain figures as to the magnitude
and value of the carp fisheries of the lake. In November, 1901, about
three weeks were spent on Lake Erie, principally at Port Clinton and
Put-in Bay, in order to determine the relation of carp to the white-
fish, which were in the height of their spawning season at this time.

In 1002 it was not practicable to begin the field work until after the
1st of July. As before. Lake St. Clair was first visited, but the con-
ditions there being unfavorable on account of heavy storms, which
made the water roily, investigations were renewed on Lake Erie,
especially at Port Clinton and at Sandusky. During the last season
of the investigations, in the summer of 1903, with headquarters in
Sandusky, the work was conducted for about three weeks, during the
spawning season of the carp, most of the time from a camp in the
marsh, some 20 miles above the city, near where the Sandusky River
opens into the large bay of the same name.

In addition to the observation of the general habits of the carp in
waters where it has become adapted to a new environment in such a
short time, several special problems were kept in mind. Thus a study

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 527

was made of the abundance and distribution of carp in relation to the
conditions existing at various places, and measurements and records
were taken to determine if possible whether the fish had changed
perceptibly in accommodating' itself to these conditions.

Most of the time, however, was given to the more strictly economic
side of the question, and hence, either on account of their uncom-
pleted state or because of their technical nature, the results of certain
lines of the study have been omitted from the present report. One
of the more strictly economic questions was the relation of the fish to
aquatic vegetation, the destruction of which was being deplored, par-
ticularly by sportsmen, who maintained that the best food of many of
the ducks, such as the canvasback and redhead, was fast being destroyed
by the carp. It was also to be determined how far, if at all, carp
interfere with the spawning of other fishes, and whether they eat the
eggs and prey upon the young of other fishes, and if so, to what
extent. It was claimed that they were especially detrimental to bass
and white-fish — the former one of the greatest favorites of the sports-
man, the latter one of the most valuable food-fishes of the Great
Lakes.

Offsetting the possible harm done by the carp to vegetation and to
the fisheries must be its own value as a food-fish; for the carp fishery
has within the last few 3'ears, in the regions of the carp's greatest
abundance, grown to be an industry of no mean proportions. Must
the carp, then, be unconditionally condemned, or should we find that,
if properly utilized, its value would compensate for the degree of dam-
age it undoubtedly does? It is hoped that the conclusions reached in
the following pages may do much toward settling this question, though
there are still many points upon which fuller information i- desirable.

In order to make the report more useful to those who are interested
in the carp, it has been thought best to include a general description of
the fish, its habits, and its history. The figures of the different vari-
eties of carp here reproduced (pi. 1) are from drawings made for the
Bureau of Fisheries from fish in its ponds in Washington soon after
the introduction of the species into this country. The photographs
and other figures are by the author.

It is impracticable to mention here all to whom I am indebted for
assistance of one kind or another in the prosecution of my investiga-
tions. I am under especial obligations, however, to Messrs. Cleaver,
of the firm of 11. Bell & Co., Port Clinton, who not only furnished me
a place in which to work in their fish house, but placed at my dis-
posal, without cost, whatever carp were necessary for my work. The
Bense Fish Company (which has since changed hands), of the same
city, extended to me similar privileges. It was frequently necessary
for me to call upon Mr. S. W. Downing, superintendent of the Bureau
of Fisheries hatchery at Put-in Bay, for aid, which was furnished with

528 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

uniform courtesy. Through the kindness of Prof. Herbert Osborn
1 was enabled, when in Sandusky, to make my headquarters at the Lake
Laboratory of Ohio State University, where 1 had the use of a table
for considerable periods during the summers of 1901 and 1902. And,
finally, I wish to express my gratitude to the many fishermen who
took great interest in nry work, who gave me whatever information
was at their disposal, who permitted me to accompany' them on their
fishing trips, who shared with me their food, and who were nry com-
panions in camp for weeks at a time. Other special acknowledg-
ments have been made in their proper places throughout the report.

THE SPECIES CYPRINUS CARPIO LIXnFN^US.
DESCRIPTION.

Within the past decade the carp has become so generall}T distributed
throughout the United States and so abundant in some places that
nearly everybody is more or less familiar with it in a general way, but
it has been almost universally neglected in the descriptive works in
this country, further than a simple statement of its occurrence. It
may therefore be well to give a brief description of the carp and its
principal varieties.

The carp belongs to a family of fishes (Cyprinidse) best represented
in America by the minnows (especially of the genus Notropis) which
abound in most of our lakes and streams. In the eastern United States
the members of this family are all small, the largest rarely attaining
18 inches in length, while the smallest is scarcely 2 inches long
when adult. The Old World species are generally much larger than
this, and on the Pacitic coast there are a few which reacR a length of
5 or 6 feet, and which are also apparently more closely related to the
European forms in structure.

Scientifically the carp is known as Cyprinus carpio, the name given
to it b}^ Linnaeus. It varies greatly in many of its characters, a con-
dition probably brought about in large part by its state of domestica-
tion, or semidomesticatiou, for a number of centuries. In shape it
varies from a long, rather slender tish (pi. i), whose height scarcely
equals one-fourth its length, to a deep form nearly or quite half as
high as long. The greatest height is at the anterior end of the dorsal
fin. In all cases, however, the body is rather strongly compressed
laterally, the cross section never approaching close to circular. The
greatest breadth is normalby a short distance back of the head, but the
bodies of female fish arc often, before the breeding season, distended
with roe to a considerably greater breadth. This dimension in nor-
mal individuals usually equals less than half the height. The snout is
blunt, and in typical forms the dorsal outline rises from the snout in
a nearly uniform bow or arch to the base of the dorsal tin.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 529

The length of the head, from the tip of the snout to the posterior
edge of the gill-cover or operculum, is in the neighborhood of one-
fourth the length of the fisha, but is usually considerably less than the
height. It varies considerably in individuals and with age. The eye
is situated slightly less than halfway back on the head and on a line
from the tip of the snout to the upper end of the branchial opening.
The eyes are not quite circular, but are elongated slightly in a direc-
tion parallel to the dorsal side of the head, and their long diameter is
contained six to seven times in the length of the head. The mouth
when closed is nearly horizontal, the gape reaching about halfway to
the anterior margin of the eye. At the corners of the mouth are two
short barbels, usually a little longer than the diameter of the eye,
yellow or reddish in color, which are, however, longer than two olive
colored ones on the upper jaw. Both sets are variable, and, according
to Seeley (1886, p. 95), may be unsymmetrical on the two sides or
frequently wanting entirely.6 The lips are rather thick and fleshy,
adapted to vegetable feeding, the lower somewhat shorter than the
upper. The tongue is smooth. The palate is covered with a white
and very sensitive skin ('•carp's tongue"). The nostrils lie imme-
diately anterior to the eyes and are double, those of each side being
separated by a small projecting flap of skin. The anterior nostril is the
larger.

The dorsal fin arises anterior to the median point in the length of
the fish and slightly in advance of the ventrals, and extends back even
with the posterior end of the anal fin. The base of the dorsal tin equals
rather more than a third of the length of the body, and its greatest
height (at the second and third soft rays) is equal to about a third of its
length. After the first two or three soft rays, of which there are 18
to 22 in all, the remainder are only one-half to two-thirds as high, so
that the free margin of the fin has a rather sharp reentrant angle at
this point. Three or four (usually three) spiny rays precede the soft
rays, the most posterior one being the stoutest and longest, with the
extreme end usually soft and flexible; this soft portion is often broken
away in older fish, however, leaving the ray with a hard, sharp point.
The posterior border of this ray is serrated, the serrations or teeth,
which have their points directed downward, lying on each side of a
median groove and increasing in size from below upward.

The height of the anal fin is greater than its length at the base, which
is about equal to one-fourth the length of the base of the dorsal. It is
composed of 3 spiny rays and 5 or 6 soft, articulated rays. The second
stout, spiny ray is similar to that of the dorsal fin. The first of the

"Throughout the description "length" is considered from the tip of the snout to the base of the
caudal fin, or, more strictly speaking, to the posterior edge of the hypural bones, which is found in
practical measuring by cutting the flesh away a little and probing with a steel point. For general
purposes this measurement can be taken to the last scale in the lateral line.

t>I, myself, have noted no cases in which they were absent.

F. C 1904-54

530 EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

soft rays is the longest, and the succeeding ones decrease gradually in
size to the last, which is about one-half the length of the first.

The ventral or pelvic fins are made up of 2 spiny rays each, a long
and a short one. and 8 or 9 soft rays. The height is much greater
than the length at the base, but when folded back the fins do not reach
as far as the beginning of the anal tin. The pectoral tins have each 1
stiff ray and 15 or 16 jointed ones, are rather elongated with rounded
extremity, and reach back almost to the base of the ventrals.

The caudal fin is large, broad, and equally lobed, with the ends of
the lobes rounded. The posterior notch is rounded, not very acute,
and extends in half the length of the fin or less. It is made up of 18 or
19, or occasionally only 17, jointed rays, not counting the short incom-
plete rays (usually 1 to 6) outside the first long one on each side. The
longest rays of the caudal fin are usually shorter than the head, and
never exceed it in length.

The body of the typical scale carp is uniformly covered with large
thick scales which approach a polygonal, four or five sided outline.
In the lateral line, which extends nearly straight from the upper
angle of the opercle to the middle of the base of the tail, or ma}T be
bowed slightly downward, there are 35 to 39 scales. Above the lateral
line are 5 or 6 rows, and below a similar number. The scales are
largest on the anterior part of the sides, where their diameter equals
about one and one-half times that of the eye. Usually less than one-
fourth of the scale is exposed; this portion is thicker and has a radial,
fanlike ornamentation. The portion of the scale which is concealed
by those in front of it is marked by fine concentric lines, which in
turn form bands of varying width and regularity, and which are cor-
related with the growth of the scale. The middle of each scale of the
lateral line i^ traversed by a small oblique or slightly curved tube, in
which the sense organs of the lateral line are situated, and the cephalic
canals of the lateral line system are noticeable on the suborbital ring.

In coloration the carp is fully as variable as in its other characters.
In general the sides are yellowish, golden, or greenish, shading into a
darker color on the back, which may be dark olive, or bluish-green,
or almost black with a greenish cast. The yellow of the sides often
becomes richer, approaching to orange on the ventral side between the
anal and caudal fins. The 3-ellow of the sides shades into whitish on
the belby. The posterior edge of each scale has a dark border, and
there is usually a dark blotch on the anterior part of the exposed por-
tion, the two together forming a reticulated, or netlike pattern over
the fish, with a dark spot at the anterior angle of each mesh of the
net (fig. 1, pi. 1). The lips are yellow or orange; the rest of the head is
dark olive, except the cheeks, which are yellowish, while the under
side of the head is light yellow or whitish. The iris is yellow.

The dorsal fin is olive or dark gray, each interray space being

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 531

darker in its posterior half; the rays themselves are of about the same
color. The anal is yellowish-red, while the pectoral and pelvic fins
are grayish or yellovrish, tending* to red toward their tips. The upper
lobe of the caudal fin is of about the same color as the dorsal; the
lower lobe has a lighter, yellowish cast, with more or less red. especially
toward the end.

The coloration is influenced b}- the age of the fish, the character of
the water in which it lives, its nutrition, the season of the year, its
sexual condition, and by the other conditions of its environment.
Seeley (1*80, p. 97) states that unsymmetrical coloring- is sometimes
found and that a fish may have glittering golden stripes on one side of
the ]>od\ and pale steel blue on the other. Sometimes typical carp are
black, bluish, green, red, golden, silvery, or even white, and Doctor
Fatio records that he has kept in confinement carp which were origi-
nally green or golden, but which became colorless in an opaque vase.
It is not an unusual thing to see in carp that have died out of water
a reddish suffusion, especially marked in the fins, probably due to the
congestion of blood in the capillaries as the circulation is stopped.

In common with the other members of the family, the mouth of the
carp is without teeth, the only organs of this description being the
blunt, knob-like structures lying on the pharyngeal bones in the back
part of the mouth, or "throat.*1 These are entirely for grinding
food, and, as is obvious both from their position and shape, are of no
use in grasping, this function 1 icing performed by the so called lips.
The alimentary tract is comparativel}' long, but uncomplicated; the
stomach is a simple tube not sharply differentiated from the esophagus
and without a blind sac, while the intestine has no pyloric appendag
The entire alimentarv tract from the beginning1 of the stomach" is
usually two to two and one-half times as long as the body. The air
bladder is large, with tough, thick walls. A transverse constriction
divides it into two parts; the posterior of these is the smaller and
ends in a rounded point, while the anterior portion is larger and has
its base somewhat bilobed.

RACES AND VARIETIES.

The great range and frequency of variation in the carp is undoubt-
edly largely due to its domestication or semidomestication since early
times. As is to be expected, this has resulted in the naming of a large
number of varieties or races. In Europe, where carp culture is car-
ried on systematically, these races are kept pure and true, so far as
possible; but in this country no attention has been paid to them, at
least in recent years, so that we need not treat them in detail here.
Those interested in the subject will find an exhaustive account in the
contribution entitled "liber Karpfenrassen," by Dr. Emil Walter, in

a The position of the thoracic septum is here taken as the beginning of the stomach.

532 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

the recent book by Knauthe (1901). These names have often been
given specilic value and were bestowed usually either for characters
of the integument or of form (cf. Giinther, 1808, p. 26); thus we have
such names as Cyprinus macrolepidot us, G. rex cyprinorum, G. specu-
laris (for the mirror carp), C. nudus (leather carp), and G. cirrosus,
G. regina, C. hungaricus, G. elatus, G. acuminatum, etc.. and G, hybis-
coides, a variety with the fins much prolonged. This list of synonyms
might be extended much further.

Hesse! (1881) considers all the varieties of carp as falling into thre<
chief groups, which he distinguishes as follows (op. cit., p. 867):"

1. Cyprinus carpio communis, the scale carp; with regular, concentrically-arranged
scales, being, in fact, the original specie* improved.

2. Cyprinus carpio spe< ularis, the mirror carp; thus named on account of the extra-
ordinarily large scales, which run along the sides of the body in three or four rows,
the rest of the body being bare.

3. Cyprinus carpio coriaceus, or nudus, the leather carp; which has on the back
either only a few scales or none at all, and possesses a thick, soft skin, which feels
velvety to the touch.

Walter (Knauthe, 1001), however, says the scale, mirror, and leather
carp must not lie considered as distinct species or races, although the
conditions of the scales are characteristic, since a similar differentiation
of the scales, or at least a tendency to it, is found in every true race
of carp. In many ponds where one of these forms (i. e., scale, mirror,
or leather) has been raised, the others have appeared spontaneously.
He concludes that the}' should be considered only as varieties. He goes
on to say that the ordinary characters are so inconstant and variable
that sharp lines can not be drawn between the various intergrading
races. In his opinion, the division into races should depend princi-
pally upon the relations in size of various parts or measurements of
the bod}*, though he correlates with this set of characters three others,
viz, (1) rate of growth (i. e. , the ability for rapid growth); (2) adapt-
ability to climatic changes, and (3) time of sexual maturity. He then
develops a rather artificial classification, depending mostly, as he says,
upon the two ways in which the flesh is disposed upon the back; that
is, whether there is a large development of the dorsal musculature,
forming a highly arched outline, often with a hump and a reentrant
angle back of the head, or whether the dorsal outline is low and com-
paratively straight. He uses as a measure of this the ratio of the
height of the body to the length. This ratio is designated by the
letter V in the following classification, translated from his paper (p. 85):

I. Cultivated races; V=l:2tol:3.

(a) High-backed cultivated races; V=l:2 to 1:2.6.

(b) Broad-backed cultivated races; V=l:2.61 to 1:3.
II. Primitive and degenerate races; V=l: 3.01 to 1:3.6.

Here belong also those forms under the size ratio 1 : 2 to 1:3 which do not
have a breadth in correspondence with their size ratio.

a The blue carp, so called, is probably but a color phase, and not a true "variety."

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 533

It seems probable, however, that the character of the scales should
be placed with the other four categories of characters given above
as being another modification brought about by artificial breeding and
selection and not as a condition due simply to conditions of domesti-
cation, as is sometimes supposed. All of these characters are probably
heritable, although some of them, such as rate of growth and time of
sexual maturity, may undoubtedly be readily influenced by external
conditions in the individuals of a single generation. Furthermore,
there apparently can be all combinations of these characters, and the
so-called different varieties and races are the fish possessing the vari-
ous combinations. In general, it may be said that the most highly
specialized carp are those which are destitute of scales, which grow
quickly, are high in proportion to their length, and tend to have a hump
back of the head, and which become sexually mature at an early age.

These various forms of carp probably differ in no essential way,
except that they are not so well differentiated and established, from
what are spoken of as "breeds" by stock breeders. There Mould
appear to be no valid reason for calling those with the different char-
acter of scales "varieties," and to class those which are differentiated
as to form as "races." It is merely that the most obvious characters
are those which have become most permanently established by selec-
tion, namely, character of scales first and form second. Walter
claims that ability for quick growth has also been fixed in certain
stocks. Thus a fish of good quick-growing stock may later make a
good growth even if poorly nourished during its first or second year,
whereas a fish of poor stock under similar conditions would be perma-
nently stunted. The hardiness, or ability to resist climatic condi-
tions, he says has not yet been made permanent in any stock, though
it is claimed that scale carp posses.; the ability to a greater degree than
the others. The adaptability to climatic conditions probably becomes
reduced rather than increased as the other characters are developed.

All intermediate stages are found in the sets of characters men-
tioned. For example, fish may be entirely covered with scales, but
the scales are larger and fewer in number than on the regular scale
carp, and, similarly, one finds all gradations between the leather and
the mirror carp. The same thing is true of the form of the body.
This is especially the case with the fish in our waters, where all kinds
have become established and have interbred until there is a complete
series in the gradation of characters in almost any lot of fish taken,
and a division of them into varieties must be an arbitrary one. As a
matter of convenience in my work, those fish which had larger and
fewer scales than typical scale carp I called mirror carp. Some
authors state that the leather carp should be entirely destitute of scales;
others that it may have a row of scales along the back and a row on
each side. In no case in the Great Lakes did I see a carp entirely

53i REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

destitute of scales, and those which are nearly bare are few compared
with those entirely scaled. Of nearly 3,000 fish counted at random at
various times and at different places about Lake Erie, something- over 91
per cent might be called scale carp, and I should judge that at Lake St.
Clair the percentage was even higher. It is very probable that under
the present free conditions of life of these fish, with the constant inter-
breeding, the}* are gradually returning to the primitive scaled condi-
tion, and although there are no data to show the rate at which this
process may have been progressing since they have become established
in our waters, a few years more may see an even smaller proportion
of mirror car}) than there is at present.

HYBRIDIZATION.

Not only does the interbreeding of the different varieties of carp
(using the word "•variety" in its broad sense) cause confusion, but all
these varieties cross readily with certain closely related species of
fishes, giving rise to a number of hybrid forms. The commonest of
these is a cross between the ordinary carp and the so-called crucian
carp {Carassvus vulgaris)) a common fish in Europe. The resulting
hybrid was described as a distinct species before its true nature was
known, and was given the name Oarpio kollarii. It is often known
in Germany as the "'poor man's carp." In general it is intermediate
in character between its two immediate ancestors, but often resem-
bles Ci/j.riiins earpio so closely that it can be distinguished only with
difficulty. Hessel (1881, p: 868) made the following experiments in
crossing in order to settle the question of what resulted from the
various crosses. He says:

In order to determine this question, I myself managed to bring about such crosses
by placing (1) female common carp with male crucian carp, and (2) female crucian
carp with male common carp, in small tanks, constructed with this end in view; (3)
I also put together female Carpio hollarii with male common carp; this for the sole
purpose of testing the capability of propagation of the C. hollarii, which had been
doubted. In the two former cases I obtained forms analogous to the Carpio hollarii
sometimes approaching in appearance the true carp, at others the crucian carp. In
the third case, however, having placed ripe Carpio kollarii together with Cyprirms
carpio, I obtained a product with difficulty to be distinguished from the genuine
carp. I took the trouble to feed them for three years, in order to try their fitness
for the table, but their flesh was exceedingly poor and very bony and could not be
compared by any means to that of the common carp.

Hessel remarks upon the frequency of this cross throughout Europe,
and says that in man}- instances it is cultivated by pond owners, who
suppose that the}- have the true carp. So far as I am aware the cru-
cian carp has not been introduced into this country. But the carp is
also said to cross readily with the gold-fish (Carassius auraius), tench
{Tinea tinea), and some others. The first of these is already abundant
in some of our waters, though the others have not as yet, at any rate,

THE GERMAN CAR!1 IN THE UNITED STATES. 535

become well established. a This is a mutter of considerable importance,
for whatever may be our opinion of the carp as a food fish, we cer-
tainly do not want it any poorer than it is. For this reason it would
seem that efforts should be made to prevent the introduction of the
crucian carp in our waters, and to restrict, so far as possible, the
spread of gold-fish, tench, and other fishes with which the carp may
hybridize with a resulting deterioration of the food value of the race.

SIZE, GROWTH, AND AGE.7'

There appears to be but little definite information as to how long
carp may live, and what size they may attain. It is said that they
may live to be 100 or even 150 years old, and may come to weigh S >
to 90 pounds, but these statements are generally based upon insuffi-
cient evidence. That the fish do commonly reach a weight of 30 to 10
pounds, however, seems quite certain, and Hessel (1881, p. 871) say,-:
"It is a well-known fact that two larg-e carps, weighing from 12 to 55
pounds, were taken several years ago on one of the grand duke of
Oldenburg's domains in Northern Germany." and also claims to have
had in his possession some scales 2| inches in diameter, which came
from a Danube carp that weighed 07 pounds.

The largest carp I have myself seen from the Great Lakes would
not weigh much over 20 pounds. That the fish do attain a much larger
size is, however, certain. Mr. W. Cleaver, upon whose information
1 can rely, tells me that in the spring of 1903 he received from San-
dusky Bay a female carp which weighed 30 pounds after -pawning.
According to the ratio between the weight of the ova and the entire
weight of the fish found in another case, before spawning this fish
would have weighed, in all probability, fully 37 pounds. From the
fishermen, both at Lake St. Clair and at Lake Erie, I often heard of
carp weighing 30 and 10 pounds, but these were only estimates and
not based on actual figures. That there are at present to be found in
these waters carp weighing more than 10 pounds I doubt.

As has already been stated, the rate of growth of carp (as is true of
most fishes) depends in a great measure upon the temperature of the
water in which the fish lives and the abundance of suitable food. Under
ordinary conditions in open waters of temperate regions they will
reach a weight of 3 to 3i pounds in three years (Hessel, 1881, p. 873),

aGoode (1888, p. 418) says the tench has become well acclimatized in the Potomac. Dr. H. M.
Smith, however, informs the writer that the tench is not numerous in the Potomac, but the gold-fish
is abundant and has become one of the regular market fishes at Washington. It has lost the brilliant
coloration it had when it escaped from the Government ponds, and now has the dull brown color of
the primitive type; the fish is not recognized in the market, and is sold under the name of "sand
perch."

kit is maintained that the age of carp may be told with considerable accuracy by means of the
successive lines of growth upon the scales, similarly to the way that the age of a tree is determined
by counting the annular rings. Persons interested in this subject will find a full discussion of it by
Dr. Emil Walter in the book on carp-culture by Knauthe ilSOl), chapter ill, pp. 8S-122, " Die Alters-
bestimmung des Karpfens nach der Schuppe."

536

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

but in warmer climates the growth is very much more rapid, and sex-
ual maturity also is attained at an earlier age. Numerous examples of
the rapid growth of carp in the warmer waters of this country have
been reported. Thus in a report of the Illinois Fish Commission
(Illinois. 1884, p. 10) will be found the following statement by Doctor
Adams, of Spring Hill Park, Peoria, with regard to some fish received
by him from the State:

At less than 2 years of age one of the carp weighed 9] pounds, measuring 22 inches
in length, a growth of over 1 pound a month from the time it was placed in wa rm water.

Doctor Adams had previously had the fish in a spring where the water
was cold, and they had not done well. Many more statements may he
found in the early reports of the United States Fish Commission.

Goode (1888, p. 411) takes from Cholmondeley-Penneirs "Fishing"
the following very good table giving the comparative weights and
lengths of carp:

Length.

Weight.

Length.

Weight.

Length.

Weight.

Inch s.

Lbs. Oz.

Inches.

Lbs. Oz.

Inches.

Lbs. <>-.

9

n

17

3 4i

■s<

10

10

11

18

3 Mi

i?6

11 11

11

14|

19

4 9

27

13 2

12

1 ::•

20

5 5±

28

14 10

13

l H

21

6 2*

29

15 4

14

1 14|

22

7 1|

30

16 0

15

2 1

23

8 \i

16

2 uj

2-1

9 3i

THE COMMON NAME.

For the sake of completeness a word as to the name of the carp may

not be out of place. According to Day (1880-1884, p. 150):

Carp has been derived from the Greek term "knprinos," itself said to be from
"kupris" or "Cyprus," where Aphrodite or Venus was first worshiped, and may
have been given to this fish in order to symbolize its extraordinary fecundity.
Holme (1688) gives seizling as yearlings, next a sprole or sprale from 2 years of age,
terms taken from Gesner's Swiss names of this fish, they not being called " karpf"
until 4 years old. In the last century Ave are told (Whole Art of Fishing, 1719) it
was called the fresh-water fox and queen of rivers. Cerpyn, Welch. De Karper, Dutch.
La carpe, French.

In the United States it has come to be generally known as the Ger-
man carp, because of its importance in Germany and its introduction
here from that country. Some protest has been made against the use
of the name, as the carp is not in the strict sense a German or even a
European tish, but, like the term English sparrow, it is a name that is
likely to persist. Both of these names are historically appropriate, so
far as we are concerned, since they serve to indicate the source of the
first" lots of each species introduced. In ordinary usage, however,
simply the word "carp" is used, and it is so that the fish is known
commercially.

<j This is leaving out of consideration the rather doubtful introduction of carp into the Hudson
River from France by Captain Robinson about 1830 (see p. 540).

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 537

THE CARP IN EUROPE.

The little that is known of the early history of the carp is given,
with slight variation, in nearly all works which treat of the fish, and
as I have nothing to add I shall here give merely a brief summary.
There seems to be a general agreement that carp were indigenous to
the temperate portions of Asia; and they had probabh^ spread into
southeastern Europe before the Christian era. Aristotle speaks of it
as '"a river fish without a tongue, but having a flesh}' roof to its
mouth; as producing eggs five or six times a year, especially under
the influence of the stars; as having eggs about the size of millet seed;
and as being occasionally struck by the dog-star when swimming near
the surface" (Houghton, 1870, p. 15). It is also mentioned by a num-
ber of other writers of early times and is spoken of as an excellent
article of food.

The carp probably came into western Europe by easy stages. Hes-
sel states that its culture in Austria can be traced back as far as the
year 1227, and it is claimed to have been introduced into Germany and
France two or three decades later (1258). The extensive ponds at
Wittingau, in Bohemia, were begun as early as 1367. Carp culture
tvas carried on. especially in connection with monasteries and on a
number of large estates, and has come to be an important commercial
industry, especial^ in Austria-Hungary and Prussia. It is said that
an acre of water suitable for carp culture will rent for as much as an
acre of land. The fish's range lias gradually extended in Europe,
until now it is found over practically the whole of the continent from
Italy to Sweden and Norway, and from France and the British Isles
to Russia and the boundaries of eastern Siberia. It does not do so
well, however, and is little cultivated, in the more northern portions
of its range, such as Scotland, Sweden, Norway. Finland, etc.

IVvrer (1876, p. 615) states that in Austria the "Danube carp"
was once a favorite and cheap food of the common people, but that
its numbers have become greatly decreased. A writer (Anonymous,
1880) whose paper has been translated in the Report of the United
States Fish Commission for 1878, and Veekenstedt (1880) have given
good descriptions of the carp fisheries of the Peitz Lakes in Nether
Lusatia, some 60 to 80 miles to the southeast of Berlin. There are
some 76 of these lakes, which are a royal domain and are rented to a
private individual at an annual return equivalent to $12,870. The
ponds are drawn in October, and this is the occasion for a general
holiday in the region. The drawing off of the water is begun three
weeks beforehand, and when the fish have congregated in the deeper
places they are taken b}T means of large drag-nets, or seines, capable of
holding 5,000 pounds of fish. At Cottbus, a near-by city, meets the
so-called "Carp Exchange," composed of buyers from the large firms
in Halle, Leipzig, Dresden, Magdeburg, Posen, Berlin, etc. The

588 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

misers also convene to determine the price that shall be asked for carp.
It is stated that from 200,000 to 300,000 fish are sold at Cottbus in a
season, representing an aggregate weight of 800,000 to 1,000,000
pounds. After being weighed the fish are transferred to perforated
boats — what we would call live cars — and are transported down the
canals and rivers to the large cities, where the}T are to be consumed.
This is a slow and laborious journey, the cars often having to be car-
ried over shallow places on rollers, and a week is required to get the
fish to Berlin, while to reach Hamburg and Madgeburg takes four or
five weeks. This is in striking contrast to our method of packing the
fish in ice and shipping them 500 miles or more to market in a couple
of days. The German method has the advantage of getting them there
alive.

Just when and whence the carp came into England is not known.
It is generalby conceded to have reached there, however, between 1051 5
when it was not mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Dictionary of iElfric,
and I486, the date of first publication of the "Boke of St. Albans,"
where it is spoken of as '*a deyntous fysshe: but there ben but
fewe in Englonde" (see p. 529). Linnaeus puts the date of intro-
duction into England as 1600, and it is sometimes attributed to Mas-
call0 in loll; but probably he is responsible onby for "the extension of
the range into Sussex (Day, 1880-1884, p. 103). In the privy purse
expenses of King Henry VIII, in 1532, various entries are made of
rewards to persons for bringing ''carpes to the king" (Yarrell, 1836,
vol. i, p. 306, from Pickering's edition of Walton, p. 2UT, note). All
recent writers agree that the of t-quoted " doggerel lines of —

' Turkies, carp, hop, pickerel, and beer
Came into England all in one year'

may be considered interesting as verses, but not faithful representa-
tions of facts."

Day (1880-1884, p. 163) gives the date of the introduction of carp
into Sweden as 1.360s and into Denmark as 1660; but de Broca (1876,
p. 270, footnote) says they were taken to Denmark more than a hun-
dred years earlier, in 1550, by Pierre Oxe. Malmgren (1883), in an
address to the bureau of agriculture of the imperial senate of Finland,
advises against any attempt to raise carp in that country, as he thinks
that on account of the climatic conditions it would not pay. They
were introduced into Finland in 1861, when Chamberlain Baron v.
Linder placed some in the ponds of his estate of Svarta, but they are
said to have died out after a few years. Some attempts were made
prior to 1861, but they were all failures. Malmgren sa\'s that Hol-
stein and Courland are the most northerly countries where carp culture

a Sometimes written " Marshall."

6 In his " Fishes of Malabar, " Day (1865, p. xii) remarks: " Block observes that in his time, 1732,
owing to the degeneration of the species in the north, due to the coldness of the climate, several
vessels were yearly dispatched from Prussia to Stockholm with further supplies of live carp."

THE GERMAN CAEP IN THE UNITED STATES. 539

is successfully carried on. and that even in Schleswig (he people com-
plain of lack of success. Nevertheless, w"in 1879 a landed proprietor
in Schoren [the most southerly Province of Sweden] commenced to
raise carp in ponds; and there is a reasonable prospect that this kind
of fish culture, if carried on rationally and cautiously, will prove
profitable, because carp can easily stand the climate in the southern
part of Sweden"' (op. cit., p. 377). However, all attempts of King
John HI to raise carp on the island of Oeland proved futile.

In Norway carp were, when Malmgren wrote, acclimatized in only
two places — near Farsund, in the southernmost part of the country,
and at Milde, near Bergen. In Russia they were said to be found in
some of the imperial ponds near St. Petersburg and near the convent
of Walamo, but there was no attempt at carp culture.

These records of the northerly extension of the carp in Europe are
of interest when we compare them with its distribution in North
America.

INTRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF CARP IN THE UNITED

STATES.

It is uncertain when the first carp were introduced into the United
States. This may have been done at any time by private individuals,
though if such was the case the fish were probably only kept in tanks
or small ponds as curiosities, for it is certain that with the exception of
their establishment in California they never gained a general distribu-
tion or attracted much attention until their successful introduction by
the Fish Commission in 1877. Certain early writers mention the
presence of carp in American waters, but there can be little or no
doubt that they have misapplied the name to some native fish. Thus,
in the Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of Massachusetts
(Massachusetts, 180*)), quoting the early colonists of New England,
occur the following lines in reference to the Connecticut River:

In it swim salmon, sturgeon, carp, and eels,
Above fly cranes, geese, ducks, herons, and t<

And again, in his history of the Fisheries of Chesapeake Bay and its
Tributaries, McDonald (1887) takes from the diary of Col. William
Cabell, of " Union Hill," Nelson County, Va.. the statement:

1769, Oct. 25: Caught 2 fine carp in our traps.

These traps were set in the James River, and in this case at least
we can easily see what fish may have been mistaken for the carp, since
the so-called carp-sucker (Ca?'piode$ cyprinus), which in a superficial
way greatly resembles the true carp, occurs abundantly in the waters
of that region. A much more recent case is given by Clark (1887, p.
735), who takes from Rieketson's History of New Bedford" (Massa-
chusetts) the statement following.

a 1858, p. 40o.

540 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

In 1858 the varieties [of fishes] to be found in the waters of New Bedford were:
Fresh-water: Trout, perch (white, red, yellow), pickerel, chub, carp, silverfish,
minnow, hornpout, eel, clam.

But as other evidence of the occurrence of the carp in Massachusetts
at that time is lacking, we must again conclude that the identification
was at fault.

In 1842, however, the name of the carp appears in scientific literature,
being included by De Ka\- (pp. 188-190) in his list of the fishes of New
York. He remarks upon its introduction as follows (p. 189):

I am not aware that any attempt has been made to introduce the carp into this
country previous to the year 1831, which, it will be t^een by the following letter from
Henry Robinson, esq., of Newburgh, Orange County [Xew York], was attended
with complete success,

"I brought the carp from France in the years 183] and 1832, some 2 or 3 dozen at
a time, and generally lost one-third on the passage. I probably put into my ponds
6 or 7 dozen. They soon increased to a surprising degree, and I have now more than
sufficient for family use. I have not paid much attention to their habits, lint I have
noticed that they spawn twice a year; first about the middle of May, and again in
July. It is said in France that they spawn three times, but I have not observed it.
During the period of spawning, which lasts about ten days, it is very amusing to
watch their operations. They come up to the surface, and the females deposit their
spawn along the sides of the pond among the grass, where they are impregnated by
the males as they are emitted. During this process, they keep the sides of the pond
in a foam with their gambols, and it is not difficult at that time to take them with
your bands. They grow quickly, reaching 3 or 4 inches the first year, but after that
time their growth is very slow. The largest I have taken yet have not exceeded 10
or 11 inches, my ponds being too small for them to equal the size of those you see in
Europe. They are very shy of the hook; I generally bait with small pieces of fresh
bread, (of which they are very fond,) made up into small pills with the fingers, and
at the same time drop a small piece of bread into the water near the hook, when they
bite readily. My ponds are supplied by springs of pure and clear water, but they
keep the water in such a state that they cannot be seen at the bottom.

"For the last four years past, I have put from 1 to 2 dozen carp every spring in the
Hudson river near my residence. They have increased so much that our fishermen
frequently take them in their nets. They are larger than those in my ponds."

There are several other references in the literature to apparently
the same introduction. In the Transactions of the American Institute
(1851) for 1850, page 397, in a discussion before the Farmers' Club,
we find the following:

Mr. Meigs. — We are pleased to see among us Captain Robinson, of Xew burgh, who
brought the Carp from England several years ago — thus conferring a great benefit
upon his country by adding a fish before that unknown in our waters.

Captain Robixsox. — I brought the Carp from France about seven" years ago, put
them into our Hudson river, and obtained protection for them from our Legislature,
winch passed a law imposing a fine of 850 for destroying one of them. I put in Gold
Fish at the same time. Now some of these Carps will weigh 2 pounds, and seme of
the Gold Fish, which are a species of Carp, are quite large, some of them being pure
silvery white. Both kinds are multiplying rapidly.''

a There i here a discrepancy in the date. If, as Robinson says in his letter to De Kay (above), he
brought the carp to this country in 1831-32, seventeen years would come nearer to it than seven.
b This discussion is noted by E. E. Shears (1882).

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 541

From both the preceding quotations it appears that Captain Robin-
son had been planting- young carp in the Hudson regularly since their
establishment in his pond. According- to a writer in Forest and
Stream, who signs himself 4iR.'1 (1874), these were further augmented
a few years before that date by the bursting of the dams of Captain
Robinson's ponds. He says:

Mure than fifty years ago0 Captain Henry Robinson, owner of one of the Havre
packets, brought the firsl carp and goldfish to this country from France. He placed
them in a small pond on his place in the southern part of this village [Newburgh,
N. Y.]. Several years ago, when the dam of the pond broke away, many of the fish
escaped into the river. They appear to multiply very rapidly, and any number
might be obtained from the fishermen about the bay.

Finally, in the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission for
1882, we find the following letter (dated New York, May 31, 1882), to
Professor Baird from Mr. Barnet Phillips (1883):

Today Mr. James Benkard, vice-president of our fish cultural association, told me
that his grandfather, Capt. Henry Robinson, had, about 1830, first brought carp from
Holland [sic] and put them in his ponds at Newburg, and that he had therefore
reason to suppose that the carp in the Hudson were derived from these. In Frank
Forester's "Fish and Fishing," of 1819, page 166, you may find a statement to this
effect, which Mr. Benkard says is substantially correct.

I have thought these data might be useful when the whole history < if the carp
in American waters is to he written up.

In spite of the positive statements in the foregoing quotations there

still seems to be some question as to whether the true carp was found

in the Hudson prior to the time of its introduction into tie1 country

by the Fish Commission. In the letter to Professor Baird from

Mr. Shears (1882). dated January 26, 1881, and already quoted, he

says:

I notice that the gold-fish are quite plenty in the river in this vicinity [Coxsackie,
Greene County, N. Y.]; also a fish about the size and shape, which is called a silver-
fish, but they do not correspond to Captain R[obinsori]'s description of the silver-fish.
These are nearly or quite as dark as a rock-bass. I have seen none that would weigh
over one pound and a half. When caught in fykes by the ii.-hermen, they are usually
pronounced unfit to eat and thrown back in the river. However, last fall I saw
them peddled through the streets, and the fishermen told me they could catch
scarcely any other kind, ami they sold as well as perch or bass. 1 have not had an
opportunity to taste any of them, therefore am no judge of their flavor.

It is to be noted that he makes no mention of the carp. That Pro-
fessor Baird was inclined to the opinion that there were no true carp
in the Hudson is shown by the following paragraph taken from his
report for 1877 (U. S. Fish Commission Report, 1879, p. *43):

Considerable discussion has arisen as to the person to whom the introduction of
the carp into America is due; indeed, it is claimed that this was done many years
ago. Certain fish-ponds on the Hudson River are said to have been emptied of their
contents by a sudden freshet, and, as a consequence, the Hudson is now full of what

a Here, again, there is a discrepancy in the date. The introduction of the fish could not have been
more than forty-three years before.

542 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

is called the carp and sold as such in the New York market. I have not yet, how-
ever, been able to find a single fish among those sold as carp which is really any
r than the common gold-fish, reverted to its original normal condition. Indeed,
in the olivaceous fish caught in great numbers in the Hudson there are usually found
precisely similar specimens of white, red, and all intermediate conditions. While,
therefore, I can not say that no genuine carp were transferred to the Hudson, none
have come under my observation; and it has occurred to me as possible that the
Prussian carp, Cyprinus carassius, L., may have been the one introduced, or possibly
the hybrid progeny of this and the true carp may have been gradually mixed with
the gold-fish.

If wo could know whether the description given by De Kay (1842,
p. 1S8) was made by him from specimens taken in New York, or
wdiether lie merely copied what he gives from some European writer,
we might be able to throw some light on this subject. Certain it is
that his description disagrees in a number of points wTith that of the
true Cyprinus carpio, but it is apparent that some of these are inac-
curacies, as they do not agree either with the Prussian (or crucian)
carp or with the hybrid, the so-called Oyjprirvus kollarii. The most
important points in this connection are, perhaps, that he gives the
length as 6 to 12 inches, and describes the "nape and back" as '; ris-
ing suddenly." True carp in the second or third year, under ordi-
nary conditions, should attain a length of more than 0 to 12 inches,
while the hybrid rarely exceeds 8 inches in length (Seeley, 1886, p.
101). It is noteworthy, too, that Captain Robinson in his letter to
De Kay (p. 510) states that his fish grew quickly, reaching 3 or 1
inches the first year, but after that time their growth was very slow,
while the largest he had taken from his pond did not exceed 10 or 11
inches. He adds, however, that those subsequently taken from the
river were larger than those in his ponds.

Even more significant, it seems to me, however, is the statement
that the nape and back rise suddenly, for though this may be in some
of the more highly cultivated races of carp, it is not usually the ease,
especially when they have bred out of the confinement of ponds for a
time, where no artificial selection is made. On the other hand, the
description forcibly suggests the broad shape of the hybrid mentioned,
which in outline approaches the crucian or Prussian carp, < hrassiw
vulgaris. That this last is not the fish meant by De Kay is shown by
his statement that the fish has four barbels.

As matters stand, we shall probably never know whether the fish
brought over by Captain Robinson were true carp or whether he hap-
pened when procuring the fish in France to get hold of specimens of
the hybrid form, which occurs in abundance in many parts of Europe.
It makes little difference which they were, however, since the com-
parative!}' little stock in the fresh waters of southeastern New York
could have little influence on the multitude of fish, from a new impor-
tation, which was spread broadcast over the country a few years later.

THE GERMAN CAKP IIS THE UNITED STATES. 543

The circumstances attending the successful introduction of the
scale carp into California, in 1872, by Mr. J. A. Poppe, of Sonoma, are
better known. Mr. Poppe left California for Germany in the spring
of 1872. At a place called Reinfeld, in Holstein, he procured 83 carp'
of various ages and sizes (cf. Poppe, R. A., 1880, p. 663), the three
largest of which were 2 feet or more in length, the smallest "the
length of an ordinary steel pen." The fish were placed in 22-gallon
tanks arranged one above the other, so that the water flowed down
from the highest to the lowest, when it was dipped hack to the top.
These were put aboard a steamer for New York. Many of the carp
died on the way, the larger ones going first, and only 8 reached Xew
York alive. These were taken across the continent to San Francisco
in safety, but 3 more were lost before reaching Sonoma, where Mr.
Poppe arrived on the 5th of August. Is72, with only 5 of the smallest
of the 83 fish witli which he started. Ponds had already been pre-
pared, and the surviving carp were placed in them at once. They did
well from the firsthand, according to Mr. Poppe in the report men-
tioned above, they spawned the next spring, by which time they had
reached a length of 16 inches! It was estimated that in May (1873)
there were in the ponds over 3,000 young carp. The young fish were
sold to farmers throughout California and adjacent states, and some
were shipped even to Honolulu and Central America. The report
gives a list of persons in Sonoma Count}' who undertook the culture
of the fish, and states that at that time (presumably 1878) Los Angeles,
San Bernardino, and the adjacent counties in the southern part of the
state were well supplied with the fish, and reports were coming in
from all quarters that they were doing remarkably well.

There seems to be some question, also, as to whether the fish intro-
duced by Mr. Poppe were a pure strain, for Professor Baird (U. S.
Fish Commission Report. 1879, p. *44), who examined some specimens
that Mere sent to him. say-:

These are scale carp, apparently somewhat hybridized; at lea>t, they do not pre-
sent the characteristics of the pure breed brought by Mr. Hessel:"

He here refers to the fish introduced under the direction of the
Fish Commission, the subject which we will now consider.

The question of the introduction of the carp into the United States
was taken up by the Fish Commission within a few years after the
organization of that Bureau. The first mention of it occurs in the
report for the years 1872 and 1873 (U. S. Fish Commission Report,
1871, pp. Ixxvi, lxxvii) under '"Fishes especially worthy of cultiva-
tion." Professor Baird, at that time Commissioner, there says;

Sufficient attention has not been paid in the United States to the introduction of
the European carp as a food-fish, and yet it is quite safe to say that there is no other

aGoode (1888, p. (17) says: "Those [carp] introduced into California a few years ago by Mr. Popp
were an inferior strain of Scale Carp."

544 REPORT OB' THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

species that promises so great a return in limited waters. It has the pre-eminent
advantage over such fish as the black bass, trout, grayling, &c, that it is a vegetable
feeder, and, although not disdaining animal matters, can thrive very well upon
aquatic vegetation alone. On this account it can be kept in tanks, small ponds, &c,
and a very much larger weight obtained, without expense, than in the case of the
other kinds indicated.

It is on tins account that its culture has been continued for centuries. It is also a
mistake to compare the flesh with that of the ordinary Cyprinidse of the United
States, such as suckers, chubs, and the like, the flesh of the genuine carp (Oyprinw
carpio) being firm, flaky, and in some varieties almost equal to the European trout.

It was not the intention of the Fish Commission to introduce the
carp into waters that were already stocked with good native species,
nor was it claimed that the carp was superior to the majority of our
indigenous food fish. But it was believed that it could be successfully
raised in many sections of our country not favorable to the growth of
better fish. In this connection Professor Baird remarks in a subse-
quent report (U. S. Fish Commission Report, 1879, p. *41):

There are several species of American Catostomidie which might in all probability
answer in some measure, if not fully, in place of the carp. Among them are espe-
cially the buffalo fish, a large sucker, the flesh of which is much esteemed. As,
however, some special varieties of carp have been developed and had their instinct
of domestication established, while experiments on our indigenous species are scarcely
yet tried, there is no reason why time should be lost with the less proved species.

In another place (U. S. Fish Commission Report 1873-4 and 1874-5,
p. xxxvi) he enumerates the good qualities of the carp which made it a
desirable species for cultural purposes in the United States. These
are given as follows:

1. Fecundity and adaptability to the processes of artificial propagation.

2. Living largely on a vegetable diet.

3. Hardiness in all stages of growth.

4. Adaptability to conditions unfavorable to any equally palatable American fish
and to very varied climates.

5. Rapid growth.

6. Harmlessness in its relation to other fishes.

7. Ability to populate waters to their greatest extent.

8. Good table qualities.

Nearly all, if not all, of our American food fishes are carnivorous,
preying for the most part upon smaller fish of all kinds. The increase
of these forms is therefore necessarily limited, especially in small
bodies of water, where it is difficult to keep them supplied with food.
The large-mouthed black bass (Micropterus salmoides), which has been
extensively used for stocking rivers and lakes throughout the country,
is a good example. But where strictly a food fish was required, it
seemed that one at least in large part a vegetable feeder possessed far
greater advantages, and, as stated above, no native fish answered these
requirements so well as the carp.

In the winter of 1876-77, Mr. Rudolph Hessel, in the interests of
the Fish Commission, as an initial experiment shipped carp from

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 545

Bremen to Baltimore, but, owing to a storm of unusual severity to
which the vessel was exposed, all were lost on the way. He immediately
returned to Europe, however, where, at Hochst, near Frankfurt, ho pro-
cured another lot of fish. These be succeeded in bringing in safety to
New York, and on May 20, 1877, they were placed in ponds in Druid
Hill Park, Baltimore. This lot consisted of 345 fish, of which 227 were
naked and mirror carp, and 118 were common scale carp. The ponds
at Druid Hill Park not being sufficient for the proper care of the tish,
Congress allowed use to be made of the Babcock Lakes in the Monu-
ment lot, in the city of Washington, and appropriated the sum of
$5,000 to put these in proper condition. In the following spring
these ponds were ready for the reception of the fish, and 65 leather
carp and 48 scale carp were transferred to them from the Druid Hill
Park ponds.

The fish that remained in Baltimore, under the care of Mr. T. B.
Ferguson, spawned in 1878, but some gold-fish had entered the pond
accidentally, and the carp hybridized with these, so that instead of hav-
ing young true carp there were some 2,000 hybrid young. These
were destroyed as being worthless. The results were more satisfac-
tory in 1879, in which year about 6,000 young were reared. Of these,
2,750 were distributed to applicants throughout Maryland, the
remainder in other states. In this year the fish in the ponds at
Washington spawned for the first time, and about 6,000 were also
reared there. Altogether, in 1879, some 12,265 carp were distributed
to over 300 persons in 25 states and territories. Among the recipients
were various state commissioners, who redistributed their fish to
applicants in their respective states.

Applications for carp had begun to come in as early as the fall of
1876j and the number increased rapidly in the succeeding years. In
1877 there were 22 applications, in 1878 144, and in 1879 235, while in
1880 there were nearly 2,000.

In 1879 new ponds were constructed at Druid Hill Park, and it was
in this year, also, that a new importation of carp was made from Ger-
many. These were brought over by Dr. O. Finsch (1882), a German
naturalist, who obtained 100 mirror carp from Mr. Eckhardt, of Li'ib-
binchen. These were small fish, a year and a half old and only 6 to 8
inches long. Only 23 reached New York alive, although the water
was aerated by pumping air into it, and ice was used to keep the tem-
perature down. The fish were shipped from Hamburg in coal-oil bar-
rels, and Dr. Finsch attributes the large mortality to the fact that one
of the barrels was not clean, and to the warm weather. The survivors
arrived in New York on the 6th of May. whence they were shipped to
Washington without loss and turned over to Mr. Ilessel, the superin-
tendent of the Washington ponds.

F. C 190 J— 35

546 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

In the succeeding years the demand for carp steadily increased, and
the fish were furnished in great numbers by the Fish Commission,
being sent to all parts of the United States, and some shipments
being made to other countries. We find in the reports of the Commis-
sion that in several successive years carp were sent to Canada, and in
1882 n they were also distributed to persons in Ecuador, Costa Rica,
and the City of Mexico. In 1882 over 7,000 applications for carp
wore tiled, and 5,758 applicants were supplied with 15 to 20 carp each,
143,696 fish being distributed in this way. With an appropriation of
$12,000 made by the Forty-sixth Congress, the breeding ponds were
extended until there were some 20 acres of ponds devoted to raising
this fish.

In this year, also, an attempt was made to bring carp eggs to this
country. On May 31, Mr. George Eckhardt arrived from Germany
with two cases of carp eggs, packed after a method that had been
found successful for transportation for shorter distances; but when
the eggs were examined here they were found to be dead and covered
with fungus. The effort had been made only as an experiment, and
was so far unsuccessful, on account of the long time required for the
journey, that it was not repeated. Another importation of the adult
fish, however, is recorded in 1882. when, as a return for favors extended
to the Deutsche Fischerei-Verein, Herr von Behr forwarded to the
Commission a number of the so-called blue carp, "a variety believed
to be of particular interest, and which has not been hitherto cultivated
by the Commission.-' When these arrived on January 4, 1882, it was
found that 19 of them were of "pure blood," while 4 were hybrids.
The Irybrids were destroyed and the others turned into the Govern-
ment ponds.

As illustrating how thoroughly carp were disseminated throughout
the United States in these early years of its introduction, the data for
1883 furnish an interesting example. In that }*ear carp were sent into
298 of the 301 Congressional districts, representing 1,478 counties; in
this way 260,000 carp were distributed, in lots of 20, to 9,872 applicants.
The distributions continued large until about 1890, when they began
to diminish, and were final^ discontinued in 1897. The following
table gives the approximate figures for the distribution from 1880 to
1896:

a Records taken from United States Fish Commission reports have reference to fiscal years begin-
ning Julyl. Distributions of carp were made in the fall of the calendar ye. a- preceding the date
Dating the fiscal year— i. e., distributions in the fiscal year 18S2 were made in the fall of the cal-
endar year 1881.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES.

547

Carp distributed by the United states Fish Commission.

Fiscal year.

Number
of fish.

Fiscal year.

Number
offish.

1880

12, 265
66, 165

143,696
259, 188
162, 000
167. 948
348, 784
133,769
175, 410

1889

170.402

1881

1890

26,316

1882

1891

338,809

1883

1892

157, 093

1884

1 893

72, 481

j 885

1894a

•1, , 757

1 - - , ;

1895

1887

1896 b

87,203

1888

"In 1S94 400,000 young carp were used for feeding basa.

i>ln 1896 about 600,000 young carp were used for feeding bass, and since that date all the carp
hatched by the Government have been used for the same purpose.

At the present time the carp has come to have a very general dis-
tribution, especially in the temperate portions of the world. Its
distribution in Asia and Europe has already been mentioned (p. 537).
It is now found in abundance all over the United States wherever the
waters are at all suitable. Many were sent to Canada by this Govern-
ment shortly after the introduction of the species, but with the excep-
tion of some of the waters of Ontario, especially in the vicinity of the
Great Lakes, it does not appear to have become very abundant, owing
without doubt to the coldness of the waters. From this country a num-
ber of lots were sent to Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Mexico, where it was
said to be thriving. It was introduced into the Hawaiian Islands from
California, and Cobb (1902, p. 452) reports it as being found now on
the islands of Maui and Kauai. On the former it is quite common in
the irrigation ditches near Wailuku, where it is said to have been first
planted. The fish are not often sold, as they are not popular with the
whites and natives on account of their muddy flavor, but thev are
caught and eaten by the Japanese and Chinese.

In reference more particularly to the history of the carp in the
Great Lakes region, there can be little doubt that prior to 1879 there
were no carp here. In that year the first distribution was made by the
United States Fish Commission, and those who received fish were 6
applicants in Ohio, 5 in Indiana, 2 in Illinois, and 1 in Wisconsin. In
the following ^year a large number of persons in these states received
carp either directly from the United States Commission or indirectly
through their state commissions, and the real introduction of this fish
into the waters of the Great Lakes basin may be said to date practi-
cally from that year. This was onhT twenty-five years ago, and the
wonderful increase of carp since that time is in many ways compara-
ble to that of the English sparrow in this country.

The distribution of carp in 1880 did not take place until late in the
year—in November for the most part — and it is not likeh* that many
reached the public waters that fall. Many of them surely did so the
following season, however, to sa}T nothing of those that were planted

548 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

there directly by the government and state commissions. There was at
this time a fever of enthusiasm for carp culture throughout all parts
of the United States. From the time of the proposed introduction
the Fish Commission had published many papers, including a number
of translations of German articles, giving much information on the
habits of the carp and its desirable qualities, and explicit directions as
to the methods in vogue in raising carp in Germany, where this indus-
try is most important. The newspapers took the matter up and were
loud in its praises, but neglected to give so large a share of attention
to the practical side of the question — to the care and attention the
fish should have in order to make the venture a success. Most men
are interested at once when they think there is a chance of getting
something for nothing, and here seemed to be an opportunity to have
a perpetual supply of fresh fish for anyone who had land with any
kind of a mud hole on it that would hold a few bueketfuls of water.
Accordingly applications for carp piled in, and were filled as soon as
possible. As a result of ignorance and neglect, a large proportion of
these fish or their offspring wTere soon undoubtedly in the public
waters — largely from the breaking of dams of improperly constructed
ponds, and two years later (in 1883) came reports of their being taken
in considerable numbers by fishermen in the rivers and lakes.

Besides the stocking of the public waters which occurred accident-
ally, many fish were also purpose!}" planted in them. In 1881 the Ohio
State Fish Commission put 40 carp into the Maumee River (Ohio Fish
Commission Report, 1882, p, 1435), and in May of the same year some
were planted in Ten Mile Creek. These were 2^ inches long when
liberated, and it is reported that in the following September and
October a number were caught which would weigh 4^ to 5 pounds,
while one had a weight of 8 pounds. In the same report we read that
12 carp were given to Mr. Charles Carpenter, of Kelleys Island, which
is in the very midst of the breeding grounds of the white-fish, and 17
to Mr. Fd ward Lock wood, on the (Catawba) Peninsula. Both of these
lots doubtless contributed sooner or later to stock the lake. Indeed,
one of the first lots of carp sent out from Washington was in Novem-
ber, 1879, to Mr. Lewis Leppelman, Fremont, Ohio (Smiley, 1886,
p. 792), which is on the Sandusky River, and probably there is no
place in the United States to day where carp are much more abundant
than in the waters of Sandusky River and Bay. in July, 1883, how-
ever, Mr. Leppelman thought he still had all his fish, so they could
not have contributed to the first stocking of the river and lake.

One of the earliest records I find of the taking of carp in Lake Erie,
where they are now so abundant, is given in a compilation by Mr.
C. W. Smiley (1886, p. 738) among the statements of those wdio
received carp of the Fish Commission. This is the statement of J. C.
Sterling, of Monroe, Mich,, December 10, 1883, that one of the

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 549

Monroe fishermen found in hi.s catch of white-fish the previous week
a fine specimen of German carp which weighed 3f pounds. The pound
from which the fish was taken was in Lake Erie, about three-fourths of
a mile out from the mouth of Raisin River. I was unable to learn
from the fishermen of this region the exact year when they began to
catch carp, but all agreed that it was "in the early eighties." I was
told that when the first carp were taken no one about the fish houses
knew what they were, and they were kept on exhibition in tubs as
curiosities. It is needless to say that they are no curiosity there now,
when hundreds of tons arc shipped from a single place in the course
of a year.

About this same time carp began to be taken by the fishermen in the
waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Early in July,
18S3, a fisherman at Naples, 111., on the Illinois River, caught a mirror
carp weighing 5 pounds. At Pekin a mirror carp was taken which
weighed 6 pounds, and at Meredosia, also on the Illinois River, another,
with a weight of 8 pounds (Illinois Fish Commission Report for
1883, pp. 10-12). Carp which had escaped from ponds were also taken
at or near Hannibal, on the Mississippi, and young carp were taken at
Quincy. Their numbers have increased to a remarkable extent, until
now the carp forms the most important fishery product of Illinois.

The Great Lakes are, on the whole, not well suited to carp. Their
sandy or rocky bottoms near shore are hard and wave beaten, and
support at the best a very scanty vegetation, while they slope off so
quickly to a considerable depth that the sun has little chance to raise
the temperature of the shallow water to that degree of warmth most
favorable for these fish. The western end of Lake Erie and Lake St.
Clair, especially at its upper end, on the broad delta formed by the
St. Clair River and known as the St. Clair Flats, are exceptions. In
the latter place the shallow bays often possess soft, muddy bottoms,
and are filled with animal and plant life similar to that found in the
smaller inland lakes. These conditions suit the carp well, and it is
found there in great abundance. Even better are the conditions in
Lake Erie, for the whole upper end of the lake is of inconsiderable
depth, while into it open rivers and bays with hundreds of square
miles of flat, muddy, reed-grown marshes, which furnish ideal feeding
and breeding grounds for a fish like the carp. It is probable that the
fish breed, for the most part at least, in the marshes; but they are
often fully as abundant in the lake itself. Just what relation they
have to the two places — to the marshes and to the open lake — has not
been definitely determined, but the probability of their migration from
one to the other, with possibly more or less regularity, will be dis-
cussed later.

The most extensive marshes connecting with Lake Erie are those of
Sandusky Bay and Sandusky River, which opens into it. the marshes

550 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

along the Portage River above Port Clinton, at Monroe, Mich., and
at places along the north shore. These last 1 have never had oppor-
tunity to visit. Marshes of less extent occur at Erie, Pa., and at other
places along, the south shore.

It must not be supposed from what has been said that the carp are
by any means limited to the places mentioned in Lake Erie and Lake
St. Clair and in the waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
As a matter of fact they are usually present in numbers in any of the
inland lakes and streams of the region which are suitable for them,
and especially near the mouths of many of the rivers emptying into
the Great Lakes, which usually have more or less extensive marshes
for some distance back. This is true of nearly all the streams which
open into the lower end of Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake
Erie, and into the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, connecting them. It is
due to a slight tilting of the earth's crust to the southeast, which has
caused the waters to flood the lower courses of the streams and pro-
duce what are known as "drowned channels." The marshes along the
western side of Michigan are probably due for the most part to a sim-
pler cause. There the sand, which is thrown up by the waves and has
been blown up into immense dunes, tends to choke up the mouths of
the streams entering Lake Michigan, causing them to flood the country
many miles back. Such marshes are found along the Kalamazoo,
Black, and Grand rivers, and at Muskegon and other places along the
lake, in all of which carp are plentiful.

That the extensive carp fisheries are at present confined to so few
localities results from a number of causes, among which is not so
much the relative abundance of the fish as the ease with which it
may be taken. The shallow shores of Lake Erie and the equally
shallow bays of the St. Clair flats afford excellent places for hauling
a seine — an operation which is of ten attended with great difficulty or is
well nigh impossible in the marshes, where the bottom is soft and the
water grown with weeds. Local laws also, in some places, interfere
with the seining of carp.

HABITS AND SPECIAL SENSES OF THE CARP.

Observing wild carp under natural conditions requires much care
and a great deal of patience. Under favorable circumstances, when
not disturbed or alarmed, they may often be seen swimming lazily
about among the weeds in shallow water, frequently with the dorsal
fin projecting above the surface. Their mouths are constantly in
motion as they breathe, taking in water and expelling it through the
gills, and at the same time working about in the mud or over the sur-
faces of the water plants for food. The resemblance of their mouths
to that of the sucker is at such times especially apparent. In spite of
the appearance of taking life so easily, they have nevertheless the

THE GEIOIAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 551

ability for quick and powerful movement, for, let anything give the
fish the least fright, there is a twirl, a splash, and it is gone. It is,
in fact, a strong and rapid swimmer when it puts forth the effort.
One who has occasion to search for carp comes to be able to recognize
them almost without fail just by the way they make this sudden break
and dash away, even if the water is so roily — as is often the case — that
the fish can not be seen at all. If the water is more than a foot or so
in depth, there is usually not a splash, although there is an audible
sound, a sort of dull thud; the water boils up where the fish started
with the first strong lash of its tail, and a disturbance of the water
due to the rapid passage of the fleeing fish underneath shows the course
as it dashes away. This it usually does in an almost straight line —
that is, it does not zigzag about. If the water is clear, a glimpse of
the fish may be caught; or, if among rushes or cat-tail flags, the move-
ment of these indicates the line of retreat. If a considerable school
of large carp is startled, and they go off in this way through the
rushes, the whole surrounding growth will wave and rattle as if a
sudden and erratic wind had struck it, the reeds twisting and bending
in all directions at once. There are other fish, such as the fresh-water
dog'-fish {Am /a oalva) and some of the bass, which one will sometimes
start up singly here and there among the rushes, and which will dart
suddenly away; but anyone who ever chances to startle a school of
carp in this way will have no trouble guessing the authors, if, indeed,
it occurs to him to attribute so much commotion to fish at all.

This refers to carp in the open. In ponds they become easily tamed,
learn to come to a certain spot to be fed, and, it is said, will even take
food from the hand. This tameness in small ponds probably depends
not only upon the familiarity the fish come to have with the surround-
ings and with people, but as well upon the fact that they are better
fed and the struggle for existence is g-reatly reduced — their common
enemies are absent, so that they get less exercise and tend to become
more sluggish in temperament. To prevent this, it is the custom
of European fish culturists to introduce into their ponds certain pre-
daceous fish, such as pike, which keep the carp active and in good
condition.

That carp are wary is well known to fishermen, who speak of them
as " wise,*" "knowing," and "cunning." For this reason their capture
is difficult. They usually avoid the ordinary form of set net, so that
comparatively few are taken in fykes, traps, or pounds. Seines, once
around them, are difficult to evade, and it is in this way that they are
taken for the most part. But if a seine becomes torn or does not drag
closely on the bottom the\* are quick to find the opening, while large
numbers often escape by jumping out of water and clearing the cork
line. Day speaks of this characteristic of the carp in his work on the

552 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland (1880-1884, p. 160). To use his
words:

The fisherman finds this fish an adept at escaping from nets, by burrowing below
it, or springing over the corks, ... So difficult is it to net that . . . one can well
understand the Norfolk pen-men regarding it with mysterious awe, how its entrances
and its exits into pieces of water puzzle them, and how, as Lubbock remarks, they
consider it as something more than a fish, and look upon it as what the Scutch term
"no cannie."

Although 1 have spoken above of the carp's habit of ordinarily swim-
ming about lazily and quietly, this is by no means always the case, for
these fish often produce a considerable disturbance by their splashing.
This is when they are feeding in shallow water, and will be discussed
more fully when we come to consider the feeding habits. They also
splash about considerably at the breeding time.

Carp exhibit a marked tendency to go about in schools. In regions
where they are abundant, it is usual to find either a large number in a
given locality, or else none at all. That these schools are frequently
of great size is apparent from the fact that several tons of carp are
often taken at a single seine-haul along the shore of the open lake,
which is rather more conclusive evidence than is afforded when they
are taken in a bay or other partially inclosed place.

Moderately warm, shallow waters with abundance of aquatic vegeta-
tion, and deeper places to which the fish can retreat, are the most favor-
able conditions for carp, and it is in such places that they multiply
fastest and obtain their most rapid growth. In the hill}7 eastern part
of the United States localities of this kind are relatively scarce, but the
rivers and lakes of the Southern and Middle States, with their exten-
sive bayous and marshes, come very close to the ideal conditions.
This suitability is abundantly evidenced by the rapidity with which
carp have taken possession of them, and have become in them, it might
almost be said, the dominant piscine type. Nevertheless they are by
no means confined to these waters which meet their requirements to
the best advantage, but seem to be able to adapt themselves to a variety
of conditions, though with less success. Thus we find them invading
to a certain extent the colder and deeper waters of the Great Lakes,
though a few fathoms is a great depth for them, and I have no evidence
to show that they go to any extent into the deeper waters. They will
live in small ponds fed by springs, where the temperature of the
water always remains very low, but in such places their growth is slow
and the}7 are by no means so prolific as in warmer waters. On the
other hand, they may sometimes be found living in mudholes, where
it would not seem that the}7 could obtain enough food for existence and
where the temperature must at times in summer become comparatively
high. They will live, and apparently do well, in waters that are
strongly mineral. I saw, for example, a carp pond in northern Ohio

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 553

fed by an artesian well so heavily charged with sulphur that what
appeared to be free sulphur was deposited in the wooden trough
which conducted the water from the pipe to the pond. It is said that
they even occur in abundance in the brackish or semibrackish waters
of the Atlantic coastal region (Townsend, in "Discussion on Carp,"
Transactions American Fisheries Society for 1901, p. 117); and Day
(1880-1884, p. 103) states that "a considerable number are taken in the
Black Sea and Caspian; and Nordmann remarks upon their presence
in the salt lakes of New Russia."

SIGHT.

Although carp work about in rnuddy, roily water, the roiliness being
due largely to their method of feeding, they have, nevertheless, a quick
sio-ht, which serves them well when the water is clear. As will be
discussed more fully under the subject of hearing, many actions which
have been attributed to that sense are in reality dependent upon sight.
Not only do they take fright easily at anything which moves, but there
can be no doubt that they are able to recognize unusual stationary
objects as well. I have often stood quietly for long times where the
water was clear and carp were feeding on all sides of me only a short
distance away. But when a fish came in my direction, it seldom
approached closer than seven or eight feet, and usually not so close,
before it would take fright and dash suddenly off. On the other hand,
I have sometimes stood in roily water when they would actually bump
into my legs before they would turn with a splash and dart away. At
one time 1 built a scaffold some seven feet high above water in order to
be able to overlook a wider circle of marsh. It was on the edge of a
large spawning ground of black bass, and although a bass which was
guarding a nest not far from the base of the scaffold soon became
accustomed to the unusual structure and resumed his domestic duties,
few carp came in sight, in spite of the fact that I sometimes remained
quietly there for an hour and more at a time. When they came
within a circle which would be traced by a line at an angle of approxi-
mately 15° from my position to the water, they apparently became
frightened, and left suddenlv.

In attempting to study the behavior of the fish at night, I at another
time employed a powerful acetylene searchlight, such as is manufac-
tured for use on launches. But this seemed to frighten them, even
when 1 or 5 rods away. As the beam of light was swept around to
different points I could hear the carp dash away through the rushes,
and could sometimes see the disturbance they caused in the water, but
in no case was 1 able to get close enough to see the fish themselves.
Common experience in fishing at night with a "jack" shows that
many kinds of fish are not so frightened by a sudden strong light.

That sight plays an important part in the feeding of carp may

554 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

readily be seen by the way they sometimes immediately take food
thrown into the water before it has a chance to settle to the bottom.
I have made no experiments to test accurately the sense of sight in
carp.

HEARING.

It has always been a widespread opinion among carp culturists and
fishermen that these fish are quick to detect and respond to ordinary
sounds, such, for example, as the human voice. It is well known
that pond fish regularly fed at a particular place soon learn to congre-
gate at that place to receive their food. Many such instances have
been recorded not only for carp, but for gold-fish, trout, and other
species. As an illustration of the popular belief, which was appar-
ently as prevalent in this country as in Europe, I ma}T quote the state-
ment of Mr. S. W. Coffin, given by Smiley (18S6, p. 696):

The pound of my voice is sufficient to bring them to the surface of the water, and
a whistle causes them to come for food. For this they scamper through the water
like so many pigs. They disappear as suddenly at the voice of a stranger.

Seeley (1886, p. 98) says:

The hearing of the carp is excellent, and there are man}7 examples of their answer-
ing a call; and it moves by hearing even when it cannot see. It makes an audible
sound in eating and in swallowing air.

Fishermen, both here and abroad, are very careful to make as little
noise as possible as they set their nets around a school of carp in the
open or prepare to seine them from a pond; but when the net is set
and it is desired to drive the fish into it they splash the water and shout
to make all the noise they can.

Parker (1903) has recently investigated this sense in a few fishes and
has given a general discussion of the subject. Since then Bigelow (1904)
has done the same for the gold-fish; and since this last is such a near
relative of the carp, we may be reasonably certain that the conditions
in the two species are much the same. The experiments of these
authors show without doubt that certain fishes, including the o-old-fish,
and so we are safe in assuming also the carp, are capable of hearing
sounds produced in the water, or which are transmitted directly to
the water, such as striking the side of a boat with an oar. I have had
opportunity to see evidence of this in the field myself. By paddiing
quietly and carefully I have been able to work my boat into an open
area in a pond where carp were present in numbers Avithout disturb-
ing a fish, when a sharp blow against the rail of the boat with the
paddle would send them scurrying into the rashes in all directions.
In this case, however, other vibrations besides sound waves are trans-
mitted to the water which the fish might perceive by the sense of
touch, so that such an experiment could not be considered as conclu-
sive evidence that the fish heard the sound. This complication was
obviated in the experiments of the authors mentioned above by the

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 555

use of an electric tuning fork giving a certain number of vibrations
per second, which was placed against a board end of the aquarium in
which the tish were being tested.

On the other hand, most fish "appear to be unaffected by loud talk-
ing or other like noises originating in the air** (Parker, 1903, p. 45),
due undoubtedly to the fact that the ordinary sound waves produced
in the air are transmitted to the water to a very slight extent at most.
Several years earlier Kreidl (1896) had performed certain experiments
on trout in the fish basins of the Benedictine Monastery at Krems,
Austria, where the fish were called up to be fed at the ringing of a
bell. He found that the fish appeared just the same if a person went
to the customary place without ringing the bell, and that no amount
of bell ringing would bring them if the person remained out of sight.
On this account Kreidl concluded that fish could not hear at all. That
sight is the important factor in the assembling of gold-fish to be fed
was suggested by Seeley (18S6) some ten years before, though he
credited them with the ability to hear as well. He says (p. 112):

Their sense of sound is sufficiently acute to obey a familiar call. The Chinese are
said to assemble them in ponds at feeding-time in this way; but in ponds where vis-
itors feed them in Europe they presumably detect the newcomer by sight; for we
have noticed that a gathering never fails to greet visitors on their appearance at pub-
lic gardens in which these fishes are exhibited.

From all this it appears that while fishermen, when desiring not to

frighten the fish, need to be careful not to make disturbances which

are transmitted directly to the water, such as splashing, or jarring a

boat or similar object partially submerged, they need have little fear

of talking; while, conversely, shouting probably- has as little effect in

helping to drive the fish, when that is the result desired. This fact

will probably be received with satisfaction by those anglers who

believed it necessary, but found it onerous, to maintain a sphinxlike

silence while trying to outwit their finny prey.

TASTE AND SMELL.

As a matter of convenience these senses will be considered together.
Of the two in fishes the former is much the better understood.
Herrick (1903) has recently made an important contribution to the
subject, besides giving an excellent review of the literature. It has
long been known that carp have sense organs, known as "terminal
buds,'* over the whole surface of the body and on the barbels, similar
to those which occur abundantly in the mouth, and to which the sense
of taste has rightly been assigned. Direct physiological experiments
have not been made on carp, but from his experiments on a large
series of other fishes Herrick concludes (p. 266) that —

It may be regarded as established that fishes which possess terminal buds in the
outer skin taste by means of these organs and habitually find their food by their
means, while fishes which lack these organs in the skin have the sense of taste con-
fined to the mouth.

556 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. -

Terminal? buds, or taste-buds, outside the mouth are best developed
in bottom-feeding forms and those which, like the carp, burrow into
the mud for their food. They probably enable a carp to determine
the presence of food material in the mud without actually having to
take the mud into the mouth to test it.

What part the sense of smell plays is not so well established, though
from the experiments that have been made on other fishes it would
appear to be of minor importance and to be of little value in a direct-
ive way in the finding of food. In man;/ fishes, however, it appears
to enable them to detect the presence of food when it is in the imme-
diate vicinity.

The tactile sense is well developed.. How far carp can detect slight
movements of the water, a faculty attributed by Parker (1003) to the
lateral line, has not been determined.

MIGRATIONS.

The word migration is not used here in the strict sense of a reg-
ular and stated movement from one place to another, such as occurs
in the salmon, shad, suckers, and many other species that ascend riv-
ers and streams to spawn. The onl}T habit of the carp which can be
compared to this is their retreat to deeper water with cold weather
and their return to shallower water with the coming of spring. Their
movements at other seasons appear to be irregular and probably
depend upon local and variable conditions. In ponds and other small
bodies of water such migrations are necessarily limited, but may be
much more extended and noticeable in large bodies of water such as
the Great Lakes.

Some attempt was made to study this question in Lake Erie and the
adjacent waters by liberating tagged fish and distributing a circular
among the fishermen and fish dealers of the region, asking for the
records of any of these fish that might be recaptured. A small copper
tag bearing a number was attached, usually to the strong spine of the
dorsal tin, by a piece of copper wire, though in a few eases the wire
was passed through the basal lobe of one of the pectoral fins. This
work was attempted only on a small scale at first, and later opportu-
nity did not offer for giving it a more effective trial. Moreover, the
method in which the carp are handled by the fishermen and in the
wholesale houses made it very unlikely that the small tags would be
noticed before the fish reached the retail dealers' in far away cities,
when it would be too late to get the desired data, even if the tags
were returned. As it was, only about one hundred individuals were
tagged and liberated, mostly in the vicinity of Port Clinton and San-
dusky, and none of these was ever heard from again. As a conse-
quence, direct observation and the results and testimony of the fisher-
men had to be relied upon for what information on this subject they

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 557

would give, and as the evidence gathered in this way was rather meager
the question is still far from settled. Some of the observations are
of much interest, however, and may serve to throw a little light on

the subject.

A large proportion of the carp shipped from northwestern Ohio
and southeastern Michigan are taken directly from Lake Erie. Many
fishermen are engaged in the business, and they, for practical pur-
poses, have had to learn much about the habits of the fish which
furnishes them their livelihood. They go to the fishing grounds
usually in open sail boats, returning to market when they have
secured a good haul of fish. This means only a day's, or possibly two
days', fishing when the carp are "on," but under unfavorable condi-
tions the boats are often gone a week or more. The fish are taken
for the most part by means of seines in shallow waters along shores.
The methods of seining will be described more fully later (p. 611).

It is not surpising, in a body of water the size of Lake Erie, that
storms should affect very largely, in fact we might almost say control
entirely, the abundance of carp along the shore. According to the
government chart, there is nowhere in the upper end of the lake more
than six fathoms of water, while along the southern side water less
than three fathoms deep extends to a distance of two to five miles off
shore. Strong northwesterly winds are not infrequent during the
summer months, and in the winter the principal storms are from the
north and northeast. It does not take very high winds to stir such
shallow waters to their depths, as is shown by the fact that even in
moderate storms the water is made roily to a long distance off shore.
At such times the carp apparently go out to the deeper waters,
and the fisherman say they do not come in again until a day or two
after the storm. Unfortunately the only data we have for determining
the extent and character of these movements are the occurrences in
the shallow shore water; we have little or no data for telling where
the fish go when they leave. Pound nets in the vicinity of Niagara
Reef, which is seven miles from the nearest land, and which were kept
in operation all summer by a Port Clinton firm, did not help to throw
any light on this question, since few carp were taken in them at any
time. It is possible that during storms some of the carp leave
the lake and run up the bays and rivers, and I am not convinced that
such is not the case, at least with easterly storms, which raise the
water level veiy appreciably at the western end of the lake. This
produces a backward current up the bays and rivers, and evidence will
be brought forward to show that carp run up the rivers with this back
set. But storms from the north do not have this effect, while westerly
winds lower the water rather than raise it. So while I think it not
unlikely that man}T of the carp in the lake may enter the bays and
rivers when there is an easterly wind, it seems that if this were

558 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

generally true with all storms, whatever their direction, it would
surely be known to the fishermen, who utilize this movement of the
fish in the river for their capture, as will be explained later.

As mentioned above, the water level at the upper end of Lake Erie
is very variable. The long axis of the lake lies nearly west-southwest
and east-northeast, so that both westerl}' and easterly winds have a
great influence in piling the water at one end or the other. The pre-
vailing winds of summer are southwesterly to westerly, so that the
level is almost constantly changing. This gives a great resemblance
to tides, except that the changes are, of course, much less regular, and
generally of less amplitude. A strong southwest wind, however,
blowing steadiby for a day or two, will lower the general water level
in Sandusky Bay, for instance, a foot or more, while a long-continued
storm may result in an even greater change of the level. As soon as
the wind ceases, or shifts around to the opposite direction, as is usually
the case in our cyclonic storms, the reverse current sets in, affecting
the water for miles up the Sandusky and Portage rivers.

Just how far this variation of the water level and the consequent
reversion of flow of the rivers influence the movements of the carp I am
unable to say. This much, however, is certain. A fall of a foot or even
less in the general water level means the laying bare of great expanses
of marsh land, and the carp which were feeding over this area have to
seek deeper water as that on the Hats gradually becomes shallower.
In this way they work into the smaller streams, and so into the larger
creeks, and from these into the river. It is at such times that they
are taken in large numbers in a seine which has previously been
stretched across the mouth of the creek, as will be described more
fully in connection with the methods of fishing (p. 613). The fish
appear to be quick to appreciate the lowering of the water, for they
begin to run out very soon after it has begun to fall. Conversely, they
run up again and spread out over the marshes as the water rises.

This movement, which seems to depend upon the gradual lowering
of the water in the shallow places, is distinctly different in nature from
the ordinary reaction of most fishes to a current of water. As is
well known, most fishes, when placed in running water, immediately
react by turning head-up into the current/' That this is true of
young carp, I have ascertained by experimentation. It may also be
the explanation of the crowding of these fish around the inlet when
fresh water is being pumped into a pond, a phenomenon which will be
described more fully in the discussion of their reaction to fresh water
(p. 560). It is equally true that most fish become uneasy as the water
in a vessel or other container is gradually lowered without producing
a definite strong current. It is probably this "uneasiness" which
causes the fish to leave the marshes as described above.

i For a diseussion of the orientation of fish to running water see a recent paper by Lyon (1904).

THE GERMAN CAHP IN THE FNTTED STATES. 559

As to the movements of the iisli in the wintertime, when the rivers
and bays are frozen over, I have no information. That thev are in the

■ *-■

deeper parts there is no doubt, and it seems likely from what I can
learn from the fishermen that thev mast move about more or less even
daring the coldest weather. They are occasionally taken in numbers
at this season, I am told, by means of a seine hauled under the ice.

It will be seen from what has been given above that, although they
apparently do not have any regular and definite migrations, carp do
make considerable movements dependent upon the conditions under
which they live. It was at one time thought there might be some evi-
dence to show that in Lake Erie the carp were coming to make a rather
regular migration into the deeper parts of the lake with the approach
of cold weather. The lake grows deeper to the eastward, and this
would mean a general movement to the eastward in the fall and to the
westward again in the spring. This habit in time might become
established into a definite migration. But though the fish do undoubt-
edly seek deeper water in the winter, they probably go only far
enough to escape freezing and the effects of storms. So long as thev
both feed and spawn in shallow water there is no other need for a
migratory habit, unless perhaps the overpopulating of the more favor-
able waters may force some of the fish to seek new grounds. Reports
of large schools of carp at times seen toward the eastern end of the
lake seemed to lend some support to this view. Thus I was told by
Mr. Crangle, a fisherman in Cleveland, that some time in July, 1901,
large schools of carp were seen in the open lake. In near shore were
small fish, while farther out were schools of large ones, which were
noticeable from their swimming about with their dorsal tins out of
water. Mr. Crangle says this was the first time carp had been seen in
this part of the lake in such numbers; and he was certain of the iden-
tification, because his tug was run right in among them. Prince (1897)
maintains that the carp has an inherent nomadic tendency, and thinks
it is owing to this, in large part, that it has gained such a wide distri-
bution. He says (p. 33):

German carp are nomadic in their habits, and wander apparently aimlessly into
all accessible waters, hence it" introduced into any streams or ponds adjacent to and
connected with others, these fish will rapidly spread over the whole system. Sal-
mon, trout, white-fish, pickerel or dore, indeed all our native fish are more local in
their wanderings and as a rule haATe definite courses of migration, and confine them-
selves within recognized limits. The German carp has no such denned movements
or habitat, thus Lake Erie, the St. Clair waters of western Ontario, Lake Huron and
other Canadian areas are being overrun by these fish, which have wandered from
the more or less remote localities in United States territory where they were origi-
nally planted. Like undesirable weeds they spread everywhere and it is practically
impossible to limit their progress or to effect their extirpation.

560 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

REACTION OF CARP IN PONDS TO INFLOWING FRESH WATER.

This reaction, which is very curious and marked, I am uncertain
whether to consider a reaction to the current caused by the inflowing
water or a response to the volume of fresh water being- added to that
which has been standing in the pond. Hessel (18S1, p. 879) says:

The inflow of water into the pond should never he allowed to he direct; as, for
instance, a hrook falling into it. This often causes the water to rise at an inoppor-
tune time, carrying into the pond other fishes, especially the rapacious pike. Tlie
carp alsohas the disposition to swim toward the inflowing water, by which menus it is drawn
away from its proper feeding-places. a

This matter was first brought to my attention in a practical way by
Mr. Thomas Hurrell, who owns a carp pond near Port Clinton, Ohio.
This pond covers an area of some 20 acres, or more, of marsh land
beside the Portage River. A deep cut was made along the riverside
and embankments thrown up on three sides so that it is possible to
keep the water level two or three feet above that of the river, the
fourth side of the pond being formed by the natural slope of the land.
The water is maintained at a nearly constant level by pumping in fresh
water, as necessary, from a dredge-cut just outside the embankment
which leads from the river. The water is really elevated by means of
an endless-chain elevator. This is shown in figure 2, plate in, while
figure 1, plate in, shows the chute which empties into the pond. At this
place the water in the pond is some 8 to 10 feet deep, and directly
from it leads the deep ditch along the riverside, while shallower ditches
lead off into other parts of the pond. (See figure, p. G28.) Mr. Hur-
rell said that scarcely has he started the elevator when the fish begin
to come from all parts of the pond and to congregate in the deep area
where the fresh water pours in. His account of their quick response
seemed almost incredible, and I expressed a desire to see the thing
myself ; at which Mr. Hurrell kindly started the gasoline engine oper-
ating the elevator, and at once a good stream of fresh water began to
be poured into the pond. I was subsequently fortunate enough to
witness the phenomena I am about to describe on several different
occasions. The following account is taken with little change from my
notes of one time:

At the time of which I am speaking, a number of carp could be seen
swimming about in the vicinity of the pumping house with their backs
out of water. Mr. Hurrell attributed this to the fact that he had
recently been pumping, and that the fish had not all dispersed as yet.
He now started the engine again, and within five minutes the carp began
to congregate in numbers in that vicinity, and they could be seen com-
ing far down the large ditch, as many of them swam with their dorsal
fins above the surface. The water near the inflow was soon full of
them — it seemed as if there must be a number of tons of fish right

a The italics are mine.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 561

there. They worked continually up toward the chute, where the
water poured in, heading- for the most part in that direction, but
turning and twisting slowly about. They became so numerous after
a time that the upper ones seemed almost forced out of the
water, and many were turned over on their sides at the surface.
Figure 4, plate in, shows a nearer view of the writhing mass of
fish, all struggling to get nearer to the source of incoming water,
though their movements appear rather slow and deliberate. ' Here it
will be noticed that some of the lish are turned on their sides, and
by the exposed backs it can be seen that the}' are nearly all headed
in the same direction — to the right in the photograph. It was
impossible to estimate the number of fish; there was no way of telling,
in fact, whether they were mostl}* at the surface or whether they were
as numerous deep into the water. I found, however, that at a distance
of 20 to 30 feet away, where few backs were to be seen at the surface,
an oar could not be put down into the water without hitting lish.
Before long those nearest the chute began jumping out of water, some
jumping to a height of nearly 2 feet into the air. Others made a
jump and swam up the chute against the current as salmon leap a
waterfall. Most were able to get up here but a short distance, while
others worked up the whole length of the chute, some 6 or 8 feet, to
the elevator itself.

From the actions of the fish in the vicinity of the inflow it seems as
though they must be reacting to the current. There is no direct evi-
dence that the response is anywhere to the fresh water and not to the
current, as it is evident that to any part of the pond where the fresh
water comes so as to influence the fish there must necessarily be some
current. The part that seems incredible is that it should so soon
effect remote parts of the pond with sufficient strength to produce a
positive rheotactic response on the part of the fish. It will be noted,
furthermore, that if this is the correct explanation the response
appears to be just the opposite of what has been given above for fish
in the marshes when there is a change in the general water level of
the river. There the fish ran with the current, spreading out over
the feeding grounds; here they come against the current as far as they
are able to come, and crowd about the inflow. What ma}* determine
the difference in the nature of the responses in the two cases I am
unable to say.

HIBERNATION.

Most observers agree that during the cold months in the temperate
regions carp seek the deeper holes in pond or lake, where they pass
the season in a semitorpid condition. It is said that they assemble in
circular groups with their heads together and pointed somewhat down-
ward towards the mud. During this time the}^ take no food, though
they are said to decrease but little, if at all, in weight. I know of no

F. C. 1904—36

562 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

statement as to whether the respiratory movements are suspended,
and I have myself had no opportunity to observe carp in this condi-
tion. When I visited Lake Erie in November, 1901, some carp at
least were still moving- about, as they were taken in small numbers
daily in the pounds and gill nets set for white-fish. This in spite of
the fact that the weather was very cold, with frequent snow squalls,
though the lake had not yet begun to freeze. Examination of the
stomachs of these fish showed, too, that they had been feeding, though
in no case was there much food in the alimentary tract. This observa-
tion agrees with the statement of Brakeley (1889), who says that
instead of hibernating with the nose in the mud for several months, as
they do in Europe, in this country they do so only for a short time, if
at all.

VITALITY.

Many instances have been reported to show the extent to which
carp can resist cold. 1 can not do better than to quote a case
reported by Smiley (1880, p. 070):

On the morning of January 4, 188-1, 2,100 German carp were forwarded from Wash-
ington, by express, to Birmingham, Ala. Mr. F. L. Donnelly, a messenger of the
Commission, proceeded by the same train to watch them on their passage and to
take charge of them upon their arrival at Birmingham. The fish had been placed
in the usual 4-quart tin pails, and packed in crates of 16 pails each. Each pail
contained 15 carp.

Mr. Donnelly and the carp arrived at Birmingham at 1.30 a. m., January 6.- The
packages were left in the oihce of the Southern Express Company through the
remainder of that night, but placed within 10 feet of the stove in order to prevent
the water freezing. The thermometer indicated 4-4° E. at the time of arrival. At
8 o'clock on the morning of the 6th Mr. Donnelly examined the condition of the
fish, and in his official report dated January 14, says:

"I was greatly surprised to find every drop of water in the buckets frozen into
solid ice, and all the fish apparently dead; but upon close examination of their eyes,
I thought perhaps a great many of them were still alive, though frozen solid in the ice."

Mr. Donnelly thereupon courageously undertook to see if any of the fish could be
saved. lie procured the necessary laborers, four large tubs, and a supply of water.
He then broke the ice from the small pails, transferring such as contained carp to
the water, lie states that "in this manner a great number of fish Avere soon freed
from their confinement, and by constant working with them during the entire day
we were able to save 1,300 fish." Although the thermometer continued to remain
in the vicinity of zero, by careful management he succeeded in keeping the 1,300 fish
alive until the 8th and 9th, when they were distributed to the applicants throughout
the State.

The saving of 1,300 carp out of a lot of 2,100, under such circumstances, may be
considered a very remarkable achievement.

Having prepared the foregoing statement from Mr. Donnelly's report, I sent a copy
of it to Mr. L. II. Black, route agent, Southern Express Company, Montgomery,
Ala., asking how far he knew the statements to be true. Under date of January 25,
1884, he wrote" me in reply as follows:

"As route agent of the Southern Express Company, my duties call me to Birming-
ham. I saw the carp first on the morning after their arrival at Birmingham, and
frequently during the day while Mr. Donnelly was at work with them. My opinion

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 563

is that this statement is correct in every particular. I give it from what I saw myself,
and from information Mr. Donnelly gave me during the day while he was working
with the fish."

Smiley gives another instance (p. 008). This is the statement of
Dr. George Wigg, Clay Center, Clay County, Kans. , and is as follows:

I have a German carp in my office that has been frozen stiff on 16 different occa-
sions in one month, and yet each time resuscitation has been produced after the
lapse of six hours.

Although known as cold-blooded animals, the internal temperature
of fishes is normally somewhat higher than that of the water in which
they are living. According to Knauthe (1896) the amount of this dif-
ference depends upon the condition of nourishment, and varies in the
different races of carp. In the winter, when no nourishment is taken
and the vital processes are ruosthy suspended, the temperature of the
body becomes the same as that of the surrounding water, and Knauthe
states that the crowding together at the bottom of such fish as the
carp, tench, and barbel does not help to keep their temperature up,
as is maintained by some authors.

The hardiness of carp in enduring low temperatures for a long
time without serious result is sometimes utilized in shipping thorn, by
placing ice in the water to keep the temperature down. The normal
activities are then much reduced, the respiration is retarded, and the
fish can consequently stand a much longer sojourn in a small amount
of water than would be possible at ordinary temperatures. I am told
that the fish packed in ice even at points in Illinois and northern Ohio
are sometimes still alive when they reach New York, in spite of the
fact that they are sent by freight. Townsend (1902 o, p. 677) says
those in the top layers will live two or three days: those below die
sooner. In this case, of course, they are out of water entirely, though
the gills are prevented from drying and the iish are kept moist by the
gradual melting of the ice.

Like many other hard}T fish, carp can be kept alive out of water for

considerable periods at ordinary temperatures if they are kept moist,

and they are often transported for short distances by packing them in

wet moss. In Germany it is said to be a common practice at such

times to place in the mouth of the fish a piece of bread or cake soaked

in brandy. The statement is commonly quoted, especially in European

works dealing with the subject, that carp are sometimes packed in moss

with the head protruding and are kept in this condition for weeks or

even months (!), being nourished in the meantime b}T placing food in

the mouth. As an example of what is often stated, the following ma}r

be quoted from Day (1880-1881, p. 160):

Pennant observes upon the following experiment having been twice made, of
placing a carp in a net well wrapped up in we! moss, the mouth only remaining out,
and then hung up in a cellar or some cool place, the iish being frequently fed with
bread and milk, and often plunged into water. Thus treated it has been known to
live above a fortnight, and grow very fat as well as lose its muddy taste.

564 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

Whatever may be the truth as to the above, it is certainly a fact
that these fish can withstand much in the way of adverse conditions,
and can live for a considerable period out of water so long- as the gills
are kept moist. When it is desired to transport fish from where they
are caught it is usual for the fishermen merely to load them into the
bottom of a boat when the distance is not too great. For longer dis-
tances by water they are usually towed in a live-car.

When the United States Fish Commission was distributing many
thousands of }Toung carp every year it became a matter of great impor-
tance to have some practical method that would be economical as well
as efficient. The original plan was to send a few fish in a large milk
can full of water, but this practice was expensive and unsatisfactory.
Later it was found that the fish could be shipped long distances, requir-
ing several days or a week for the journey, merely by putting them
in small pails with onlj" a little water. The usual method was to use
4 or 6 quart tin pails, in which were placed 15 to 20 3Toung fish 2 to 3
inches long, with little more than enough water to cover them (see
McDonald, 1882, and later reports of the Commissioner). This small
amount of water is kept well aerated b}r the jostling of the pails in
transportation and the movements of the fish. In fact, it usually
becomes foam}-, on account of the slime secreted by the fish. I have
myself used this method with success in shipping young carp from
Port Clinton, Ohio, to Ann Arbor, Mich., the fish being about two
da}Ts on the way.

Although carp will live so long out of water if the gills are moist,
or in a small amount of water well aerated, they succumb much more
quickly to foul water — that is, to water not well aerated, and conse-
quently charged with carbonic acid or unoxidized organic matter.
Under such conditions they may usually be seen swimming about with
their mouths at the surface, a circumstance that is always to be looked
upon with suspicion by the owner of a carp pond, as it usually means
that the fish will die unless the conditions are quickly improved. Carp
are apt to do the same thing when the temperature of the water be-
comes too high. Of course this action must be distinguished from the
normal feeding of the fish at the surface.

FEEDING HABITS AND FOOD.

Carp are frequently stated to be "essentially vegetable feeders."
It seems to me better to say that they are omnivorous, for I know of
no food substance which a carp can get into its mouth that it will not
eat. Since it can not be considered in the ordinary sense a predacious
fish, however, the animal matter which it can ordinarily obtain is lim-
ited largely to insect larvae, small Crustacea and mollusca, and other
similar small organisms, so that the bulk of its food is undoubtedly in
most eases vegetable. Carp are often compared to pigs in their feed-

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 565

ing, and the simile is not had, for much of their food is obtained by
rooting about in the mud. In soft muddy or marly bottoms one will
often see numerous little pits and holes a few inches, or often more,
in diameter, showing- where the fish have been at work. In most of
its feeding the carp works slowly and rather quietly, though persist-
ently; but the rooting in the mud they often undertake in a more vig-
orous manner, twisting and splashing, and tugging at the roots of
water plants. It is this that makes the water so roily, and anyone
familiar with their habits can tell at once the presence of carp when
they are feeding in this manner simply by the appearance of the water.
Moreover, the freshly dug up .stems and leaves of cat-tails, sweet flag,
wild celery, and other water plants are often to be seen floating about,
furnishing further evidence of the destructive work going on below.
The extent to which the character of the aquatic vegetation is changed
in this way will be discussed later, when we come to consider the
economic aspects of the question. The tish probably dig up these
plants mostly for the tender shoots and rootlets, but they undoubtedly
obtain many smaller organisms from the mud at the same time. The
barbels at the sides of the mouth, which are well supplied with taste
buds, are probably of much assistance in helping to ascertain the pres-
ence of food particles in the mud. I have not been able to observe
the process in natural surroundings, but judging from the actions of
small carp kept in an aquarium, I should say that much of the mud is
sucked into the mouth and further "tested" for food by the more
efficient" organs there; if satisfactory it is swallowed, if not it is
rejected. The fish will often take into the mouth in the same way
particles floating in the water, some of which will be swallowed and
others rejected in a manner similar to that described by Herrick (1903,
p. 265) in the sea robin {'Priotiotus carolinus). In respect to the dis-
tribution of the organs of taste and the manner of feeding, carp would
thus appear to be midway between such forms as the cat-fishes on the
one hand, which have a well developed sense of taste over the entire
bod}', and the sea robin on the other, in which taste is confined to the
mouth.

Carp do not, however, do all their feeding at the bottom by any
means. Where the water is shallow and clear the}' may often be
seen swimming slowly about, skimming floating particles of food
from the surface or workino- industriously along the stems of the

CD ml O

water plants. At the surface they probably get small floating plants,
insects or their larvae, such as mosquitoes, May flies (or "June bugs,"
as they are popularly called along the lakes), etc., as well as the seeds
of plants, and other substances which are dropped or blown into the

a Herrick (1903, p. 267) says that "the delicacy of the sense of taste in the skin is directly propor-
tional to the number of terminal buds in the areas in question." In the carp these buds are
especially well developed on the 'palate."

566 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

water accidentally. In feeding- at the surface the fish swim about
with the anterior part of the head showing, the mouth partly above
water, partly below. The mouth is continuously opening and closing,
and a sharp sucking or smacking- sound is often produced, much as is
made by a pig with his head down in the trough.

Much of the carp's food is obtained by foraging along the stems of
water plants, and it also often eats quantities of the plants themselves.
Many of these stems are covered with a considerable growth of a!ga3,
bryozoa, etc. , among which live a variety of minute, and even micro-
scopic, plant and animal forms. Such stems as float on the surface or
lie in a horizontal position in the water can be gone over very easihT,
and sometimes this appears to be done in a more or less systematic
manner, the fish beginning at one end and working gradual!}?" along to
the other. In order to get at the vertical stems the fish often turn on
their sides, when the mouth can be closely applied to the rounded
surface. Thejr were also often seen to take the end of a floating stem
or leaf, such as a cat-tail leaf, into the mouth and then pull and tug at
it vigorously. Even if the}T did not get off pieces of the stem in this
way, they undoubtedly pulled off the algpe and other substances
growing on its surface. In one case I noticed a fish swimming about
with a piece of partially decayed stem sticking from its mouth, but
whether it was finally swallowed I can not say, as the fish swam away
out of sight with the stem still protruding.

Few records of the food of the carp in this country made" from
examination of the contents of the stomach and intestine seem to have
been previously reported. H. Garman (1888) reported on one speci-
men from Broad Lake, 111., soon after the species began to be found
in the waters of that state. According to him the food "consisted of
vegetation and mollusks, the former constituting two-thirds of the
material in the alimentary canal, and consisting of dead leaves and
seeds. The seeds were, as far as could be determined in a hasty exami-
nation, chiefl}T those of trees and weeds. Elm seeds, ragweed seeds,
and the seeds of Pvhj<j were noted. The mollusca were partially

thin-shelled clams with an occasional Splicer/urn, and partby snails,
such as Physa and Lioplax. All the matter was apparently gathered
from the bottom. No trace of crustacean or insect food could be
detected."

In August, 1900, Mr. M. C. Marsh collected carp stomachs near
Bellevue, on the Mississippi River, near Omaha, and from Maumee
Bay and River near Toledo, Ohio. Apparently no detailed study of
these collections bus been made, but Smith (1902), in his report on
food fishes, gives a few general data. He states (p. 120) that the food
was found to be largely microscopic, and contained in what was appar-
ently a mass of mud passed on into the intestine, where he thinks the
digestion probably takes place. Portions that were recognizable

THE GEEMAN CAEP IN THE UNITED STATES. 567

macroscopically wore rarely seen. In a few cases fragments of the
higher water plants (e. g., Rammculus) were found in the esophagus,
while from the color of the small amount of fluid contents it was
believed that green alga? might have been eaten. In the Maumee
River the carp fed constantly and largely upon whole wheat that had
been lost in the river a season or two previous in a grain elevator fire.
From the foregoing it appears that a large proportion of the mate-
rial found by dissection in the alimentary tracts of carp was of vege-
table origin. Since this material is eaten in such quantities and is
digested in its course through the fish, as is shown by observation, the
natural supposition is that it serves as food. And such is the opinion
of most writers on the subject. Nicklas (1884), however, who discusses
at much length the question of the proper food for the "artificial
feeding" of carp, arrives at a different conclusion. It is his theory
that these fish should be fed on materials especially rich in nitrogen-
ous compounds, and in this connection he says (pp. 1011, 1012):

I have started my theory from the fact, which I know from actual experience, that
the food of the carp is principally animal and not vegetable matter, and I find that
in this I agree with most of the practical pisdcuJijuriste; but I differ from the viewa
of Professor Xawratil (Oesterreichisch-tTngarische Fischerei-Zeitung, L880, No. 35)
when he asserts that carp, from their third year, live principally on fresh and decay-
ing vegetable matter. This is contradicted by the experience that they are easily
raised in ponds which contain but few plants, and by the circumstance that, if aquatic
plants formed the exclusive, or even principal food of carp, vegetation would, in some
ponds, be utterly destroyed in a few days after they had been stocked with carp, or
at any rate in a couple of years, as carp are particularly fond of young . which,

by the way, show a pretty close proportion of nutritive matter [to animal food'?].
Such an occurrence, however, I have never yet been able to observe, nor has it been
observed by any other pond-culturist; Avhilst, on the other hand, it has frequently
been observed that in carp-ponds vegetation becomes so rank and luxuriant that it
has to be checked. As long as decaying vegetable matter has not been examined as
to the quantity of nutritive substances contained in it, no opinion can be formed as
to its suitableness for carp food.

My own observations have taught that the carp only takes to vegetable food when
absolutely no animal food can be procured. I have not yet been able to ascertain
whether the carp actually eats and digests decaying vegetable matter, because all I
have so far been aide to observe has been that the carp often swallows such matter,
but almost immediately ejects it agaiu, perhaps after having devoured worms and
insects clinging to such matter.

I can not help feeling that Nicklas's judgment is influenced by his
theory. Although he may possibly be right as to the kind of food
that will be most economical in putting a given amount of flesh on a
carp in a given time, it nevertheless seems evident, as a matter of fact,
that carp do under natural conditions eat a large quantity of vegetable
food. If Nicklas had examined the contents of the stomachs and
intestines of the fish he observed, he might not have concluded that
they ejected even all of the decaying vegetable matter that they ate.
While it is not probable that the actually decaying vegetable matter

568 EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONEE OF FISHEEIES.

contains a great deal of nutritive material for the fish, this does not
dismiss the whole question of vegetable food, as Nicklas implies; and
while he says that carp can be raised in ponds which contain but few
plants, being fed, I suppose, on animal food, on the other hand 1 have
seen ponds in northern Ohio, where carp were retained from spring
to fall, which contained practically no natural food at all, the water
being supplied from artesian wells, and where the fish were fed
exclusively on corn, barley, etc., and young "sowed corn,"' the plants
being cut when 1 to 2 feet high and thrown into the pond. I am
not prepared to say that these fish grew as rapidly as the3T would have
if fed according to Nicklas's formulas. But this does not concern us
here. The important point is that carp can live very largel}r, if not
entirely, on vegetable materials, and that under natural conditions in
our open waters plants and plant products form a very large share of
their food. The bearings of this, from an economic standpoint, will
be discussed later on, where will also be considered the question of the
extent to which carp may be injurious to the spawn and young of
other fish.

Susta maintained that of its own choice carp would first select animal
food, a contention in which he was supported hy the observations of
A. Fritsch in Prag and Emil Walter in Trachenberg. Karl Knauthe
pointed out that these investigators had used exclusively the highly
cultivated races, to which belong the so called Galician and Bohemian
carp. He himself extended the investigation by comparing as to
intestinal contents examples of the old Silesian carp and a new race of
it bred by Groger in Lauterbach with examples of the two quirk-
growing races mentioned above, using for the purpose fish of the same
age. These fish, after each individual had been marked so that the
four races could not be confused, were placed all in the same pool,
which was rich in animal and vegetable food. In this way it was
shown that the stomachs of the Galician and Bohemian carp were
generally filled with small Crustacea — chiefly Daphnia and Cyclops —
as long as these were abundant, while insects and their larva1 were
second only, in about the proportion of 3 to 1. Plant food was present
only as it was taken incidentally with the other. In the cultivated
Silesian carp the proportion of animal to plant food was about the
same. The old Silesian " Bauernkarpfen," however, contained a great
preponderance of vegetable materials, such as alga?, diatoms, plant
debris, and the seeds of higher plants, and only a few animals, mostly
small Crustacea. As soon as the supply of lower animals in the pool
was exhausted it became necessary for the Galician and Bohemian carp
to adopt a vegetable diet as well. Moreover, Knauthe found the
stomachs of these carp filled with a small species of pond snail which
was abundant in the pool, and which both of the Silesian races spurned.
From such and similar researches of Knauthe's it was shown that in

THE GERMAN CARP IN" THE UNITED STATES. 569

the spring- the Silesian carp, though apparently well nourished, had
reached a length of only 5 to 6 em., while the Galician carp had grown
to a length of 18 cm. The author answers the question, Wherein,
under natural conditions, rests the abilit}T for quick growth in fresh
water fishes? by saying: "'Partly, perhaps, in a better assimilation of
the food, but mostly upon a better selection of the same. The richer
this is in nitrogen, the greater, within certain limits, is its nutritive
effect." (Zoologische Garten, Jahrgang 37, 1896, p. 315, 316.)"

In order to determine the nature of the principal food of the carp
in this country I have examined the alimentary tracts of a great many
individuals. Many of these examinations were not made in detail,
but onl}' to determine the presence or absence of certain things, such
as the eggs of other fishes. A list of the contents of stomachs and
intestines of 33 carp, however, is given below. These examinations
were made with more care than the rest, but are for the most part
only qualitative, the relative quantities of the various materials being-
given only in rough approximates. The carp were from several dif-
ferent localities and a variety of conditions. The list is given in full
because it is believed to be important to convey a very thorough knowl-
edge of the nature of the food of the carp in our waters. I have never
found large particles of food of any kind in the alimentary tract, the
largest being strips of vegetable epidermis perhaps an inch long,
wings and other portions of insects, small snail shells, and the like.
It is stated that carp can grind or " masticate" thin food to a certain
extent with the flat, knob-like pharyngeal teeth, and probably this in
part explains the fact that what is found in the stomach is usually so
much broken up. Houghton (1879, p. 17) even maintains that "por-
tions of vegetable food are returned to the throat and remasticated by
these pharyngeal grinders," though I know of no evidence in support
of this hypothesis. The finely ground condition of the stomach con-
tents leads to some wonderment among the fishermen, who are accus-
tomed in other fish to find the food, such as smaller fish, swallowed
whole, and one man always insisted to me that carp " digest their food
in their heads."

1. Specimen from St. Clair Flats, June 30, 1901. Cham, small
amount; Ma}T fly (ephemerid) wings and broken fragments, consid-
erable numbers; insect larva?, small; roots, decaying leaves, and epi-
dermis ("bark") of aquatic plants, large amount; small shells and
fragments: sand. All the Chora seemed to be packed in the small
intestine. This was noticed in other cases, and seems to indicate that
when the fish get among the Chara they eat a large amount of it.

2. Specimen from St. Clair Flats, July 3, 1901. Rootlets and other
vegetable matter, such as would be found in bottom mud; coleopter-

aFor a more detailed discussion of the processes of digestion and assimilation in the carp, the
reader is referred to a later paper by Knauthe (1898).

570 KEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

©us larva, small: alga", fine shell fragments with fine sand or mud,
forming a "grit."

3. Specimen from St. Clair Flats, July 13, 1901. Large mass of
remains of Ephemerida, consisting for the most part of wings and of
more or less broken up cercopods. (Fore wings 18 mm. long; one
of the larger of the cercopods had '25 or 20 joints.) Very few other
parts of the insects in evidence, except small opaque bodies with ellip-
tical outlines, which Averc probably the eyes. The fact that the insects
were adults would indicate that they were taken from the surface of
the water either at the time of metamorphosing or when blown into the
water later." This one carp must have contained hundreds of these
insects. Prof. R. II. Fettit. entomologist at the Michigan Agricul-
tural College, kindly examined the remains of these May flies (or
"dune bugs") for me, but was unable to determine the species from
the material in hand.

1. Specimen \o cm.1 long from North Bass Island, Lake Erie, Juty
10, 1901. Chmra, considerable; copepods and ostracods, numerous;
OMron&mus larva* or related forms; fragments of shells (mostly quite
small), considerable; plant iibei ■•.

5. Specimen 27 cm. long from North Bass Island. Lake Erie, July
19, 1901. Mass of food quite well digested. Much filamentous alga?
(/Spimgrypa recognized) and diatoms.

0. Specimen -7J.-7 cm. long from Put-in Bay, July 27, 1901. (Mara,
bulk of material, packing intestine full in places, mostly in small
pieces less than 1 cm. long; May-fly larva?, 1 to 1-J- cm. long, large
numbers; shells, broken pieces, and small bivalves 2 to 1 mm. long,
entire; Cluira and considerable other vegetable matter, some of it
probably PAilotrm; mud, fine debris, evidently bottom sediment.

7. Specimen 33 cm., long from Put-in Bay, July 27, 1901. Okara,
mass of the material as in No. 0 ; amphipods, a number of small
7f//<t/'c7a-like individuals: broken shells, a very little; vegetable matter,
a little besides Chara.

8. Specimen 38.5 cm. long from Portage River, about 3 miles above
Port Clinton, August G, 1901. About 90 to 100 c.c. of rather fine,
dark material, composed almost entirely of finely divided vegetable
matter. A few filamentous alga?.

9. Specimen 50.5 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August
6, 1901. A considerable quantity of blackish "mud", vegetable
fragments, pieces of stem, etc., the principal constituent; one pulpy
mass, apparently an unopened bud of some kind, possibly "lotus"
{Neh&mho) or water-lily; insect larva?, occasional, head only recog-
nizable.

a On Lake Erie I have seen windrows of tin- cast pupa cases of ephemerias being drifted about by
the wind, and extending as far as the eye could follow them. If carp could have got among these at
the time the insects were leaving they would have had abundance of food for a time.

6 Length of fish if in italics means total length— i. e. . tip of snout to end of caudal fin; if in Eoman
type it is the length from tip of snout to base of caudal fin at middle.

THE GERMAN CARP IN TEE UNITED STATES. 571,

10. Specimen 33 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Some 20 to 30 c.c. dark mud-like material; consisting mostly
of plant fibers, fragments of stems, etc. ; one young shoot (apparently
of grass) about 18 mm. long.

11. Specimen 36 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Small amount of material of the appearance of fine mud; under
the microscope seen to consist for the most part of finely divided veg-
etable matter and some filamentous algse.

12. Specimen 17 cm. long from Portage River, as above. August 6,
[. About 150 c.c. of material composed for the most part of veg-
etable matter — short pieces of stem, etc. : some pulpy vegetable matter,
probably roots or bulbs of some aquatic plant; insect larva1, occa-
sional fragments.

13. Specimen 30 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Six to 8 c.c, of very fine material resembling mud in appearance,
almost entirely composed of vegetable matter; vegetable fibers and
some filamentous alga1 recognized.

11. Specimen 11 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Only 2 to 3 c.c. of fine "mud", consisting of plant fiber-,
fragments of stems, ere.

15. Specimen 36 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Ninety to 100 c.c. of rather coarse dark material, mostly plant
fibers and fragments; some pieces of leaves or stems 1 inch long, but
most are smaller.

16. Specimen 32 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Small amount of very fine material. Most that is recognizable
is portions of plant tissues — largely fibrous parts, and what appear
to be the glumes of grasses.

17. Specimens 39 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Fifteen to 20 c.c. of dark grayish, almost black material,
almost entirely composed of vegetable fragments.

18. Specimen 38 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August 6,
1901. Small amount of dark muddy material, mostly plant fibers and
small pieces of other plant tissues; considerable filamentous alga;
insect larva (dipterous ?), occasional.

19. Specimen 37 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August
6, 1901. Some 20 to 40 c.c. of fine, dark mud-like material consisting
of vegetable fibers, fragments of stems, leaves, etc. Very little
material in which vegetable cells could not be made out.

20. Specimen 34.5 cm. long from Portage River, as above, August
6, 1901. Fine material consisting mostly of filamentous alga and
partly digested tissues of other plants.

21. Specimen from "The Straits," 1 mile east of Cedar Point near
Maumee Bay. August 12, 1901. Plants, pieces of stem-, etc., con-
siderable; alga' (filamentous), considerable; maxilla of insects (?),

572 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

comparatively few; insect larva?, few; diatoms; Vorticellse; gastro-
pods (?), few small fragments; much flocculent debris with small frag-
ments of many kinds in it.

22. Specimen from Port Clinton, Ohio (from gill-nets in Lake Erie),
November 16, 1901. Shell fragments, many, some of them 3 to 1
mm. in diameter; insect larva?, fragments, caddis-fly (?) and some
chironomid (?).

23. Specimen from Port Clinton (from Lake Erie), November 18,
1901. Shells, few small fragments; larva? of caddis-fly (?), heads and
other fragments; most of the mass of material appears to be made up
of the nearly digested bodies of these larva?. White-fish egg, one.

21. Specimen from Port Clinton (from Lake Erie), November 18,
1901. "White-fish egg, one; larva? of caddis-fly (?); entomostraca,
mostlv fragments; much of the material unrecognizable.

25. Specimen from Port Clinton (from Lake Erie), November 18,
1901. Shells, few fragments; algae, few; apparently also other vege-
table remains very finel}7 divided; larva? or worms of some kind,
fragments; bulk of material unrecognizable.

26. Specimen from Port Clinton (from Lake Erie), November 19,
1901. Mostlv fragments of Chironomus (?) .larva1.

27. Specimen from Port Clinton (from Lake Erie), November 19,
1901. Many remains of chironomid (?) larva? (same as No. 26), much
broken up; bulk of material unrecognizable.

28. Specimen from Port Clinton (from Lake Erie), November 19,
1901. Only small amount, about 2 c. c, in intestine; shell fragments;
filamentous alga?; entomostraca, fragments, largely ostracods; caddis-
fly (?) larva?, much digested.

29. Specimen from North Bass Island (Lake Erie), November 27,
1901. Shells, 2 to 5 mm. in diameter, and shell fragments; ostracods,
numerous, fragments of entomostraca in general.

30. Specimen from North Bass Island (Lake Erie), November 27,
1901. Shell fragments; entomostraca, fragments; insect larva?, cad-
dis-fly (?), fragments.

31. Specimen from North Bass Island (Lake Erie), November 27,
1901. Shell fragments, nearly one-half of material; ostracods, few;
insect larva?, caddis-fhT (?), fragments; white-fish egg, one.

32. Specimen from North Bass Island (Lake Erie), November 27,
1901. Only a small amount of fine material, composed mostly of
ostracods, Cladocera (?), and copepods, mostly fragments, some almost
entire.

33. Specimen IfB.lf. cm. long from Port Clinton (seined in Lake Erie),
August 31, 1902. Principal material appears to be seeds of some sedge;
aside from these the mass is largely fragments of plants and unrecog-
nizable debris.

As to whether the fish were wont to feed most at any particular

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 573

time of day, I obtained no very satisfactory data. Neither did I find
any other conditions which seemed regularly to influence their feed-
ing. It is stated by some authors — and I have some evidence to bear
them out — that carp feed especially in the early morning and late in
the afternoon. But I have frequently found them feeding at all other
times of day, even in the hot midday sun of summer. This much
seems to be true, however, that they are usually more quiet in the
middle of the day; one does not hear them splashing about so often.
In the late summer, the fishermen tell me, the carp in Lake Erie, at
least, feed mostly at night. As to the time of year, Seeley (1886,
p. 97) says, "Like many other fishes, it feeds most frequently before
the spawning season." In Europe they are said not to eat at all during
the winter months. In this country I have reason to know that they
do, to some extent, at least.

BREEDING HABITS.

la Europe the carp is said to spawn principally in May and June,
though in some cases the process extends several weeks longer. As
well as I can ascertain, the same statement holds for the northern
United States. In our Southern States and California spawning is
apparentl}T earlier, often beginning in April. In the waters contigu-
ous to Lake Erie the height of the spawning season seems to be in the
latter part of JSLay and earty June. On the St. Clair Flats I believe
it is usually a little later on account of the lower temperature of the
water, which comes directly down from Lake Huron. This tempera-
ture difference affects the time of spawning of the bass, dog-lish (. i //' id),
and other shallow-water spawncrs as well, for I have found the eggs of
these fish at the Flats when the season for them was entirely past in
the interior lakes and rivers of the state.

The age at which carp spawn also depends largely upon the tempera-
ture. European authors state that they reach maturity in the waters
of temperate Europe when they are 3 years of age, and the same
probably holds true in general for the corresponding region in North
America, though apparently they sometimes spawn, at least in the lati-
tude of New Jersey, when they are only 2 years old (cf. statement of
John H. Brakeley, Bordentown, N. J., Smiley, 1886, p. 757). Judging
from other statements quoted in the same report, the}- commonly breed
at the age of 2 years in the South (where they do not hibernate in the
winter), and according to Air. Poppe, of California (Poppe, 1880, p.
GS-i), his fish spawned when they were only 0 months old. At the
time of first spawning the fish will usually weigh 3 or 4 pounds and
have a length of 15 to 18 inches.

At the spawning season, but before the fish have spawned, the
females can usually be readily distinguished by their distended condi-
tion. Thoua'h the ova themselves are rather small, the number is

574 KEPOET OF THE COMMISSIOJSTEE OF FISHERIES.

very largo, and the reproductive capacity of a carp increases greatly
for the next year or two after it begins to spawn. According- to
Hessel (1881, p. 8T1) a female weighing 4 to 5 pounds will contain on
an average 400.000 to 500,000 ova. Day (1S80-1884, p. 161) quotes
other estimates, thus: A female of 9 pounds had 600,000 eggs (Bloch);
one of 16f pounds had 101,200, one of 25^ pounds 203,109 (Harmcr);
one of 21i pounds had 1,310,750, and one of 16£ pounds had 2,059, 75< >
(Buckland).

In the case of a female mirror carp from Sandusky Bay, which I
weighed at Port Clinton June 22, 1903, I found that the ova com-
prised more than a fourth of the total weight of the fish. The fish
before being opened weighed 17 pounds; after the removal of the ova
with as little loss of blood as possible, the weight was 12 pounds 6
ounces, leaving 4 pounds 10 ounces as the weight of the ova. This is
27 per cent of the entire weight of the fish and 37 per cent (over a
third) of the weight of the remainder of the fish after the ova had
been removed/'

This enormous fecundity is undoubtedly an adaptation to compen-
sate for the dangers of the exposed condition in which the eggs are
left after being laid, since they are merely scattered about on the
vegetation in shallow water and are given no further care or attention
by either of the parent fish. It may also help to explain the remark-
able increase in numbers of the carp in our waters in a very short
time, for if we suppose that the ordinary enemies of the eggs were not
in the habit of searching for food in the kind of locality utilized by
the carp for spawning, or at least were not present in large numbers, it
is easy to see what an advantage this would give the carp-, especially
if the conditions were favorable to its growth in other respects.
Furthermore, it would not be at all surprising if, as has been known
to have happened in other cases, the increase in the quantity of food
furnished by the abundant supply of carp eggs would favor the cor-
responding increase of some other fish or other animal which finds the
eggs good eating. Or possibly, even, some form which has previously
lived on other food may adjust its habits to the new conditions, and
come to prey largely upon the spawn of the carp. It will rather be
surprising if something of the kind does not happen, for in their
struggle for sustenance nature's creatures are no respecters of person
nor property, and it would be an unusual thing for a rich supply of
food to be lying around long without some of them appropriating
it. When this does occur, the phenomenal increase of the carp will
undoubtedly be checked and the natural balance will again be approxi-
mated. One thing that militates against this in the case of the

"Day (1880-1884, p. KM inued cold weather may prevent carp from spawning, so

that the process may la several weeks or months, while some fish may retain the ova, thus

sioning disease. Bean (1903, p. 169) mentions that confinement of gravid f ■ in a small

tank may also canst; them to retain the eggs, and he speaks oi" two fish that died from this cause.

THE GEEMAX CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 575

carp and greatly reduces the danger is the short time required for
the development of the eggs and the rapid growth of the .young fish,
which quickly takes them beyond the stage where they can be preyed
upon by any but the larger of their enemies.

The general manner of the breeding of the carp is well known, but,
so far as I am aware, the exact method has never been studied in all its
details. This I found an exceedingly difficult thing to do in the open
waters, where the opportunity to observe the proceeding is very
largely a matter of chance. It is not so hard to find places where the
fish are spawning, but the difficulty comes in getting close enough at
the right time to see what takes place, and to have the water clear
enoup-h to see into when once close. These conditions I have never
had the good fortune to have fulfilled, largely because the greater part
of my work in the field has been after the spawning season of the carp
was past. It is stated by many writers that at the time of spawning-
carp are so fearless, or at least so oblivious, that a person ma}- approach
very close to them and that they may then be easih' captured (Hessel,
1881, p. 872). But I have always found even the breeding fish very
shy. The place to make a careful study of the breeding habits would
undoubtedly be in a moderately small pond, where the fish are con-
fined to a limited area, and where they have become more or less accus-
tomed to the presence of people in the vicinity. In the following
description 1 shall rely for the most part upon my own observations,
amplifying them where I can with the observations of others.

As is the case with the feeding, I could not ascertain that the spawn-
ing of the carp is confined to any particular time of day, though it
apparently takes place more frequently in the morning hours. He
remarks that it is more frequent in warm than in windy and rainy
weather, which agrees very well with my observations. At such times
groups of fish maybe seen swimming about at the surface, usually
close together in a compact mass. In the marshes along the Sandusky
River, where the best of nrv observations were made, the fish were in
shallow water, one to two feet deep, and pretty well grown up with
aquatic grasses, sedges, and flags, but with numerous open places from
a few feet to a few rods in diameter, where the vegetation was not so
abundant. The bottom was fairly solid, being composed of the roots
of the plants and much dead grass. In these open places especially
the carp could be seen, usually swimming slowl}T about with their dor-
sal fins and often a portion of the back projecting above the water.
These also seemed to be the favorite places for depositing the spawn,
though much is also deposited about among the thicker growth.

The spawning carp would usually be seen in groups consisting of
one larger fish in the lead and a number of smaller ones following
closely behind, making sometimes a string of-six or seven fish in line,
as is shown in the first figure on the next page. It is probable that

576

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

the larger fish ahead was a female and the others males, though I was
unable to capture any of them at the time in order to confirm my
opinion. This agrees, however, with the statement of Hessel (1881,
p. 872), who says:

Two or three or more of the male fish keep near the female; the latter swims more
swiftly on a warm, sunny morning, keeping mostly close to the surface, followed by
the males.

The Germans call this "streichen," or running' spawning. Other
writers agree in this matter, so I shall speak of the larger fish as the

Carp spawning. A female followed by a number of males.

female and the smaller ones as males, for convenience in description . As
they go along, the males each appear to be crowding and pushing in to get
as near to the female as possible, those behind often seeming to nose
under and displace the ones ahead of them. This often gives the appear-
ance of more or less of a struggle, and is accompanied by consider-
able splashing. After a time they come to rest, and four or five line
up parallel to one another, as represented below, one or two males

being each side of the female.
The}7 remain quietly in this way
for a short time, perhaps one to
two or three minutes, when one
■ of them , presumably the female,
starts forward and the others
follow as before. \Vhile they
are quiet, some of the fish of the
group may not form in line with
the others, but swim about in
the vicinity, falling into line
again as the procession moves
forward.

I was unable to tell at what
moment the actual spawning"
took place, though I observed that at times one of the males would
work forward beside the female until they were swimming nearly side
by side, when he would turn somewhat on his side and bring his ventral
side close under the female. At such a time the body of the male
usually shook with a sort of quick vibrating movement (though (his
was not always observed to be the case), and it was then, too, that
the most violent splashing of the water occurred. It is probabl}T at
this time that the eggs are laid and fertilized. Here again rav

Carp spawning. The fish at rest.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 577

observations seem to agree with those of Hessel (op. cit.), who

describes the process as follows:

They lash the water in a lively way, twisting the posterior portion of the body
energetically, and shooting .through the water near its surface with short, tremnlons
movements of the fins. They do so in groups of two or three males to one female
fish, and forming an almost compact mass. This is the moment when the female
drops the eggs, which immediately are impregnated by the milter.

To this he adds:

As this process is repeated several times, the female drops probably only from 400
to 500 eggs at a time, in order to gain resting time, so that it will require days and
weeks before it has given up the last egg.

Among the earliest observations on the spawning habits of the carp

are undoubtedly those mentioned b\r Walton (1901 ed., p. 110), which

are interesting on account of their curious mixture of more or less

accurate observations and quaint ideas. Walton says:

I told you that Sir Francis Bacon thinks that the Carp lives but ten years: but
Janus Dubravius has writ a bonk Offish and fish-ponds in which he says, that Carps
begin to spawn at the age of three years, and continue to do so till thirty: he says
also, that in the time of their breeding, which is in summer, when the sun hath
warmed both the earth and water, and so apted them also for generation, that then
three or four male Carps will follow a female; and that then, she putting on a seem-
ing coyness, they force her through weeds and flags, where she lets fall her eggs <>r
spawn, which sticks fast to the weeds; and then they let fall their melt upon it, and
so it becomes in a short time to be a living fish: and, as I told you, it is thought that
the Carp does this several months in the year; and most believe, that most fish
breed after this manner, except the Eel. And it has been observed, that when the
spawner has weakened herself by doing that natural office, that two or three melters
have helped her from off the weeds, by bearing her up on both sides, and guarding
her into the deep. And you may note, that though this may seem a curiosity not
worth ohserving, yet others have judged it worth their time and costs to make glass
hives, and order them in such a manner as to see how bees have bred and made
their honeycombs, and how they have obeyed their king, and governed their com-
monwealth. But it is thought that all Carps are not bred by generation; but that
some breed other ways, as some Pikes do.

It may be of interest to give one other account of the spaAvning,

though it adds nothing in the way of accurate details. Nicklas (1886,

p. 548) quotes the following from Horak:

The female fish, or spawners, accompanied by the male fish, or milters, move rap-
idly along the edges of the pond, or near the calm surface of the water. The actual
process of spawning generally takes place during the early part of the forenoon. I
have taken careful observations of this process, and have invariably noticed that sev-
eral milters always accompanied one female fish, and deposit their spawn, for not all
females spawn, at the same time. Sometimes this accompanying degenerates into a
regular chase which lasts until the act of propagation has been consummated. At
the beginning of the spawning season the fish therefore gather in large shoals and
move so close together as actually to touch each other. During warm, calm weather
the spawning process is carried on at so lively a rate that the water is squirted 50 to
85 cm. [20 to 34 inches] above the surface.

In another place Nicklas (op. cit., p. 523) says that in the artificial
propagation of carp the spawning ponds "must contain some stones,

F. ( '. 1904—37

578 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

and in some places aquatic plants, because the female fish like to rub
against stones for the purpose of ridding themselves of the roe" — a
statement that I know of no observations to support; it seems much
more probable that the eggs are extruded entirely by muscular action
while the fish are swimming about.

In pond culture the breeding ponds are usualby stocked with male
and female fish in a definite proportion; the unit is technically called
a "spawning party." Usage differs as to the relative number of each
sex that is best for stocking a breeding pond, but it is customary to
put in a larger number of females than males. It is usually planned
that each "spawning party" shall consist of one "milter" and two
"spawners,'' or else two "milters'" are provided for three "spavvn-
ers," while for each three milters is added one 3-year-old male fish,
known as a "driver" or "enticer,"1 which is "not used for spawning,
but simply to drive or entice the other fish to that process."

According to Hessel (1881, p. 872), the male carp at the breeding
season assumes a secondary sexual character which is common to many
members of the family at that time, namely, a various arrangement of
"protuberances, like warts." which are generall}' known as "pearl
organs." In the case of the carp these are said to occur on the skin
of the head and back. I do not remember ever to have seen them on
a carp rnvself, and have no mention of them in my notes. If they are
regularly present in these positions they undoubtedly function as Pro-
fessor Reighard has found they do in other Cyprinidse and some of the
Catostomidw, in helping to hold the female at the time of spawning —
observations which have not as yet been published in detail (abstract
Reighard, 1901). The method of the carp would seem to be much like
that of the sucker (Catostomus <<>ntmersonii), where the two males lie
one on each side of the female, holding her firmly between them with
the help of the pearl organs along the sides and tail.

Hessel also states that sometime before the spawning season sets in
the pharyngeal teeth fall out and are renewed each year. On this
point I have no observations.

The eggs are not laid in bunches or masses, but are scattered about
in the water, and, being adhesive, they become attached to the roots
and stems of grass and other aquatic vegetation, or to whatever objects
chance to cover the bottom where the}T are deposited. The fate of
the egg probably depends to a large extent upon where it chances to
become attached, for should it fall into the mud there would be little
chance for its further development. The eggs develop rapidly, but the
time required for hatching depends very directh' upon the temperature
of the water. In temperate regions, under f avorable conditions, they are
said to hatch in about twelve days, though if the weather be so cold
as to lower the temperature of the water it may take them sixteen or
twenty dajTs to reach their full development. In the warmer waters of

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 579

our Southern States the development is more rapid; in a pond in Geor-
gia, when the temperature of the water was 69°, the eggs are reported
to have hatched in five to six days. while the following }rear, with the
water still warmer, the whole time consumed for development was but
forty-eight to seventy-two hours (statement of H. H. Carey, M. D.,
Smiley, 1886, p. 687). The young fish also grow very rapidly and in
the latitude of Lake Erie reach a length of 1 to 6 inches the first fall.

DISEASES, PARASITES, AND ENEMIES OF THE CARP.

The most remarkable fact in this connection seems to be that.
although deformed and misshapen individuals are b\- no means rare,
carp in the Great Lakes region appear to be very strong and hardy
and almost free from diseases, whether such as are due to parasites
or to other causes. This fact impressed me especially while I was
working with them in the fish houses on Lake Erie, where I had a
good opportunity to compare them with large numbers of other lake
fishes. One finds intestinal parasites in almost any of the other species
in great abundance, but in large numbers of carp examined I have
found parasites in the alimentary tract in only one case. This was a
rather large fish, which had some 16 round worms, nearly chrome
yellow in color and 2 to 2.5 cm. (four-fifths inch to 1 inch) long, hang-
ing to the walls of the intestine. Their spiny probosces were buried
in the intestinal wall in true acanthocephalous fashion, and it required
a considerable pull to detach them. These specimens were referred
to Mr. H. W. Graybill, who studied the parasites of many of the
Lake Erie fishes in 1901. Mr. Graybill reports that these are a form
closely related to JEcMnorkynchus proteus, though he thinks they are
possibly specifically distinct from that type. He further states that
in 1901 he found in a carp a single dwarf specimen of the same worm.

Excrescences of the integument, probably caused by sporozoa, are
not infrequent on the wall-eyed pike {Stizostediori), and were occa-
sionally found on other species, but I did not observe them at all on
carp.

In one case I found a leech attached to the base of one of the pec-
toral fins of a carp, but unfortunately the specimen was lost before it
could be preserved, so that I have been unable to have it identified.
The only Lake Erie fishes on which 1 observed letches at all commonly
were the lake lawyer {Lota maculosa) and some of the cat-fishes (espe-
cially Ictalurus).

There can be no doubt that the lampreys must also be considered
among the external parasites of the carp, though I have never myself
seen one attached to a carp. The fishermen told me that ' ' lamper eels "
were " common " up the Portage River, and I often found them among
the fish brought to the wholesale house from both the river and the

580 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

lake. This was the so-called silvery lamprey, Iehthyomyzon eoncolor*
I inquired of the fishermen if they had ever seen the lamper eels
attached to fish, and they said, " yes;" to the inquiry as to the kind of
fish the reply was, "carp." On the 10th of August, 1902, I was
assisting in making a seine haul of carp in the Sandusky River when
one of the fishermen noticed a lamper " about 5 inches long " attached
to one of the fish; it became detached, however, and escaped through
the net before I could get to the place to see it for myself . Prof. S. H.
Gage tells me that in his aquaria at Cornell University the young of
the Cayuga Lake lamprey (Petromyzon marmus unicolor) have become
attached to carp as soon as they were transformed from the larval stage
and had left the sand. As carp are abundant in Cayuga Lake, as well
as most of the other lakes in which this lamprey occurs, it seems very
probable that during its free-swimming life the latter may be one of
the important enemies of the carp, as it has been found to be of many
other fish (Surface, 1898). In fact, Surface (p. 212) includes carp
among those fish he has found dead with the marks of the lamprey on
them.

Finally, under unfavorable conditions carp, like other fish, are sus-
ceptible to the attacks of fungus growths. So long as the water is
pure there seems to be little danger of this, for I have seen carp that
had been penned for long times whose heads were much bruised and
abraded, but which were free from fungus. On the other hand, some
young fish which I attempted to keep in an aquarium at Ann Arbor
were soon attacked by a Saprolegnia^ and I was unable to keep
them alive for more than a few weeks on that account. The usual
treatment with potassium permanganate and by immersing the fish
for a short time in strong brine afforded only temporary relief.
Smiley (1886, p. 751) gives the following with regard to carp attacked
by fungus:

Statement of B. E. B. Kennedy, Omaha, Douglas County, Xehr., April 14, 1883. .

Fungus. — On visiting our fisheries yesterday I find that many of the young carp
are affected with a kind of parasite or fungus, which proves fatal. With some it
appears on the back, some will have a strip nearly around the body, and some about
the fius and tail. This fungus is easily removed, and the skin or flesh under it has
the appearance as if the spot had been blistered. Several hundred have already
died, and many more are similarly situated, and, unless there is some remedy
administered, all will be likely to die. We have separated the affected ones from
the others, hoping to stay the spread of the disease, if it is one. Those that show no
fungus appear all right and take food readily.

Note by Professor Baird on fungus. — When the carp are taken from their
winter quarters for our spring shipments there seems to be a general tendency to the
development of the fungus. It is probably due to the abrasions produced in handling,

« In color these specimens agreed more closely with the description of Iehthyomyzon castaneu»
Girard.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 581

the development of fungus taking place in consequence of the emaciated condition
of the fish after wintering. We do not find this diseased condition in the fish taken
out of the ponds for the fall and winter shipments.

I am at a loss what remedy to suggest. It is possible that you may be able to
destroy it by immersing the fish for a few seconds in a brine, of course allowing them
to remain but a short time, and repeating the bath several times at intervals suffi-
cient to allow the fish to recuperate from the shock of the operation.

According to European writers the carp in Europe apparently does

not enjoy the wonderful immunity from parasites and from diseases

that it does in our waters. A few quotations will suffice to make this

clear. Seeley (1886, p. 98) says that in nature the carp lives 12 to 14

years, but survives much longer in confinement, though "subject to

many sicknesses, deformities, and wonderful variations." Veckenstedt

(1880, p. 673) remarks that diseases occur mostly to young carp;

"polypes render the lish unlit for its full development; tape-worms

constrict its intestines, make it lean, and finally kill it; lice torment it,

and produce dropsy." And on this subject Day (1880-1881, p. 162)

writes:

[It] is subject externally to fungoid growths, especially old carp; also the same
mosslike appearance occasionally attack young fish which reside in foul or snow
water, as well as blindness, epidemic fevers, visceral obstructions due to over-gorging
on chickweed, ulcerations of the liver, malignant pustules under the scales termed
small-pox by fishermen, carbuncles, and intestinal worms.

This difference on the two continents is probably in large part due
to the fact that the carp described by the European writers were
mostly fish whose ancestors for generations back were pond-raised
lish, and which, owing to their long domestication, were more sus-
ceptible to the attacks of parasites and disease. These authors do not
state what is the condition in the fish of the open waters of Europe in
comparison with those reared in ponds, except Seeley's statement that
carp kept in confinement are more subject to " sicknesses, deformities,
and wonderful variations." Neither do we know the condition in this
respect of those fish imported to the United States; hence it is difficult
to say whether the apparently almost complete immunity of the Lake
Erie carp is due to the fact that the fish originally brought to this
country were practically free from parasites, so that few have been
handed on to their descendants, whether it is due simply to the free,
active life of the fish, or whether there is something peculiarly favor-
able to the fish in the conditions of our waters. The last seems to me
likely to be the most important factor — that the conditions which have
allowed such a phenomenal increase in the numbers of the fish have
produced a hard}T strain which is more than ordinarily resistant to the
diseases that normally attack the species.

Professor Prince, commissioner of fisheries in Canada, makes special
point against the carp on the ground of its susceptibility to diseases
and parasites, and in a paper in which he strongly urges Canadians

582 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

not to undertake its culture he has the following- to say on this subject
(Prince, 1897, p. 35):

German carp are especially subject to parasites and contagious diseases. From
their omnivorous and lethargic habits no fish are so readily attacked by diseases and
parasites as carp. The "fish leprosy," described by Blake as a fungoid growth
which spreads over the whole skin, turning the fish white and rendering it most
unhealthy and a source of disease to all other fish, is essentially a disease of the
German carp. Frank Buckland studied some of the diseases of these fish, and
among others enumerated one malady which he called small-pox in the carp."

Tapeworms and other disgusting endo-parasites occur most plentifully in carp.
One described by Harrington Keene taken from a carp of 16 pounds weight meas-
ured no less than 45 feet m length. Of all fresh water fishes the German carp are
the most subject to external and internal diseases. This is, in fact, unavoidable in
a family like the carps, with sluggish habits, a fondness for coarse and loathsome
food, and a preference for muddy and almost tepid waters.

If an}^ of the above is from Professor Prince's own observations I
feel quite certain that he can not, at all events, have made them in
this country. And if the German carp in Europe has been found to
be subject to a number of diseases and parasites, it must be remem-
bered that this is a subject upon which comparatively little is known
in general, and that the car]), being a cultivated fish, has afforded
opportunity for close study which most others have not. Certain it
is that some of the fungus diseases to which he applies such awful
names will attack almost any fish or other water animal under condi-
tions unfavorable to the latter, and especially if there happen to be
any abrasions of the integument. The carp's hardiness in this respect
is one of its chief characters, allowing of its cultivation in ponds and
small enclosures, conditions under which many of our native fish
would succumb to fungus and other diseases in a short time. Then,
too, contagious diseases, strictly speaking, are, according to present
knowledge, extremely rare among fish, and I am not aware that any
has yet been found which attacks the carp. The whole tone of Pro-
fessor Prince's paper leads us to suspect that if he were studying a
fish malady he would call it by some such name as smallpox in car}),
whatever title he might use to designate it in other species.

It remains now to consider certain enemies which menace the fish,
especially those which may attack them while the}' are in the ponds.
These are in reality very few in such ponds as are in use in this coun-
try, since the impounded fish are till adults, and the adult carp has
comparatively few serious natural enemies. With the young fish it is
different, and the regular carp culturist has, of course, to deal with all
these factors. The eggs are exposed to a great number of dangers, and
especially are they open to the attacks of minnows and other small

"The disease here referred to is apparently due to one of the Myxosporidia called by Hofer (1896,
1896a, 18966) Myxobolvs cyprini. This appears to be not uncommon in European carp ponds, but I am
not aware of its ever having been reported on the carp in this country. I have not had opportunity
to examine the recent handbook of fish diseases by Hofer (1904).

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 583

fish. It is a common statement, too, in books on the subject, that
frogs are very destructive to the spawn and even to the young- fish."
Walton (1901 ed., p. 115) even believes that frogs sometimes attack
the adult carp, and after speaking of the mysterious disappearance of
carp from ponds, relates the following curious story in defense of his
belief:6

And the like I have known of one that had almost watched the pond, and, at a
like distance of time, at the fishing of a pond, found, of seventy or eighty large Carps',
not above five or six; and that he had forborne longer to fish the said pond, but that
he saw, in a hot day in summer, a large Carp swim near the top of the water with a
frog upon his head; and that he, upon that occasion, caused his pond to be let dry:
and I say, of seventy or eighty Carps, only found five or six in the said pond, and
those very sick and lean, and with every one a frog sticking so fast on the head of the
said Carps, that the frog would not be got off without extreme force or killing. And
the gentleman that did affirm this to me, told me he saw it; and did declare his
belief to be, and I also believe the same, that he thought the other Carps, that were
so strangely lost, were also killed by the frogs, and then devoured.

And a person of honour, now living in Worcestershire, '' assured me he had seen a
necklace, or collar of tadpoles, hang like a chain or necklace of beads about a Pike's
neck, and to kill him: Whether it were for meat or malice, must be, to me, a question.**

Among the other enemies to the young may be mentioned all the
larger carnivorous fishes, turtles, water snakes, certain aquatic birds,
especially the herons, and a few of the fisb-eating mammals. Of the
mammals, the onlj' one that has to be especially guarded against in
the ponds of this region is the muskrat, and that not because of any
harm it does directly to the fish, but from the fact that it burrows
through the embankments, causing leaks which may seriously lower
the water level before discovered, and weaken the embankments
themselves. Undoubtedly there must also lie included among the
enemies to the fish certain waterbugs, such as Belostoma (commonly
known as the "electric-light bug") and Hanat?'a. An account of the
ravages of these insects is given by Dimmoek (1887), who quotes (page
69) the following letter, dated December 16, 1886, from Mr. E. A.
Brackett, of Winchester, Mass. chairman of the Commission of Inland
Fisheries of Massachusetts:

In October last, while drawing off the carp-pond, the water became very roily,
and I noticed several young carp moving on the surface, sidewise, evidently pro-

<i Miss Mary C Dickeraon, of the Rhode Island Normal School, who has had much experience in
keeping and observing our native frogs, has kindly sent me the following opinion as to the extent to
which tlie North American species of frogs might prove injurious to fish ponds:

" Frogs would prove a menace to fish ponds, i. e., if in large numbers and if they were the aquatic
frogs. We have only one in the East that would do any damage, that is S. caiesbiana, our common
bullfrog, although there is one other, R. clamata, that will feed on fish to some extent if there is not
a large supply of air and surface-water insects. In the West i?. pretiosa is wholly aquatic, i. e., it
takes its food from under water. All of our other frogs (some 9 kinds) would be quite harmless.
They spend very little of their time in the water and do not take food from below the surface. My
conclusions are from several years of laboratory feeding experiments."

bin a paper which has appeared while the present report was in press Gill (1905, pp. 208, 209) quotes
from other observations, which lend further credence to the belief that frogs, and toads as well,
under the influence of sexual excitement, may attach themselves to fish in the manner described.

<• " Mr. Fr. Ku." [Walton's original footnote.]

f*Day (1880-1884, p. 162) quotes another and similar case from Pennant.

584 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

pelled by some external force. With a dip-net I took these young fish out, and
found that in every ease they were firmly held by a water-bug. The fish were dead,
and the bugs apparently had been feeding on them. I had no means of determining
how many of these bugs were in the pond.

Dimmock gives several references to literature on the same subject,
and in the report of the United States Fish Commission for 1894
(1S96, page 36) it is stated that carp in the ponds at Washington suf-
fered from attacks of Wotonecta and JVepa. As has been said, how-
ever, there is little to be feared from natural enemies in the temporary
ponds and pens as they are conducted in this country, the greater
dangers arising from impurity of water and other physical conditions.

ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE CARP.

Under this heading it is proposed to consider the relation of carp to
aquatic vegetation, and to other fish and their spawn, as well as the
secondaiy questions arising from these. The discussion is, for the
most part, an examination of the numerous charges that have been
made against the fish as to the damage it does, and in this respect is
distinct from the succeeding chapter, which discusses the uses to
which carp are and may be put. In Europe the mass of the literature
on carp relates to its culture, but in this country it is safe to say that
more has been written on the present subject than on all the others
together. It has occupied our newspapers, our periodicals, and our
scientific proceedings. Although so much has been written and said,
however, this is nevertheless the subject on which perhaps the least is
definitely known; the latter fact is probably an explanation of the for-
mer. Many extravagant statements have been made on the one hand
as to the value of the carp, while on the other the English language
has been searched to find words .strong enough for its condemnation.

This state of affairs has, I believe, a very simple explanation. When
the fish was introduced, the impression became prevalent that if one
obtained a few carp, dumped them into any hole containing a little
water which he chanced to have or could construct on his land, with-
out further care he would always have a bountiful supply of excellent
fresh fish. As recently expressed at a meeting of the American Fish-
eries Society, "almost every farmer had a carp pond in his front yard,
back }7ard, or barnyard, or somewhere." These expectations were far
in excess of what was ever claimed for the carp by its introducers,
and it is little wonder that the people were disappointed. As it was
seen that the ponds did not yield the phenomenal results expected, and
as the novelty wore off, they were left neglected and uncared for, so
that within a short time, through the agency of freshets and the under-
mining of embankments, the fish had gone to help stock the public
waters in all parts of the country. For a time after this, comparatively
little was heard of them, except that in local lists of fishes they grad-

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 585

ually began to be included as becoming- common. But in many local-
ities in recent years there has been an alarming decrease in the number
of waterfowl, game fishes, and in many cases commercial fishes as
well, and gradually the blame for much of this has been shifted upon
the carp, which in the meantime has become the most abundant lish in
some localities. Whether the blame was rightfully placed or not,
remains to be seen. The game and food fishes seemed to be decreas-
ing, the carp were undoubtedly increasing, and to many minds the
inference was plain. It is a curious fact that those who are most con-
cerned in the decrease of the fish and game are often the last to see
that they themselves might in a measure be the cause. They are look-
ing elsewhere for the explanation, and when a possible factor presents
itself it is at once seized upon and made to bear the brunt of the whole
charge. This is the point that I wish to emphasize here — that most
of the statements that have been made as to the damage done by carp
have been based upon very insufficient evidence; if founded upon
direct observations at all, they were observations that, if not inaccu-
rate, were at least inadequate. At best the evidence has been circum-
stantial, while on the other hand the defense has been either simply
negative, or in places the attempt has been made to vindicate the carp
on the grounds of its usefulness.

The denunciations of the carp have been so numerous, and in many
respects so similar, that only a few quotations need be given to show
their tenor. The specific charges based on direct evidence, so far as
I have been able to find them, will be dealt with in more detail. What
I shall attempt to do is to sift the evidence in as careful and impartial
a manner as possible, adding to it what 1 have m\rself been able to
learn in the prosecution of my studies on the subject. The best
recommendation I can bring forward for myself as a juror in the case
is that I approached the subject with little knowledge of the particular
question, and, consequently, "unprejudiced and without previously
formed opinions. "

It should be borne in mind that direct observations bearing on the
various phases of the question as to the damage done by a fish like the
carp are very difficult to make, and are in most cases largely matters
of chance, while at the least they require a great amount of time. Take
for example the relation of the carp to the black bass. The question
is often asked, "Will a carp drive a black bass from its nest and
devour the spawn?" If a person by chance happens to see the thing-
done, and is certain that he has interpreted his observations aright,
there is the proof of the matter, and so it is settled. On the other
hand, one might watch a bass nest for a long period — say, many hours
each day — and never see a carp come near it, but one would still have
no proof that it might not do so — his evidence would be only negative.
To be sure, the longer the observation was continued the greater would

586 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

be the probabilities in favor of the harinlessness of the carp; but it
seeuis to me that in most of these charges of destructiveness the burden
of proof must rest with those that make the charges. If, however, in
the case supposed above, the watcher should see a carp come near and
be driven away by the bass, this would be good direct evidence in the
carp's favor. All this serves to emphasize the importance of taking
advantage of whatever opportunity chance may offer to throw light on
these questions.

The principal charges that have been preferred against the carp have
been enumerated in a preliminary statement of the present investiga-
tion (U. S. Fish Commission Report, 1903, p, 129) as follows:

(1 ) That the carp thrashes about and stirs up the mud, so that the breeding grounds
of other fish are spoiled; (2) that the carp roots up the vegetation, destroying the
wild rice, etc., and thus ruining good duck-shooting grounds; (3) that the carp eats
the spawn of other fish; (4) that the carp eats the young of other fish; (5) that the
carp is of no value as a food fish; (6) that the carp is of no value as a game fish.

To the first of the above might be added the charge that in stirring
up the mud of supply reservoirs of water that is used for drinking
purposes the water is made unfit for use. The first four of the charges
will be considered here, the fifth and sixth will be discussed in connec-
tion with the food value and uses of the carp.

RELATION OF THE CARP TO VEGETATION.

The principal complaint against the carp on account of its destruc-
tiveness to aquatic vegetation comes from sportsmen, especial 1}' the
duck hunters. They are almost unanimous in their condemnation of
the carp on this account, but conversation with a number of them soon
makes it apparent that while some are speaking from personal experi-
ence, and the opinions given are their own, many are merely repeat-
ing statements which they have heard, and which have become so
stereotyped that they are easily recognizable to one who is investiga-
ting the subject. It so happens that the St. Clair Flats, and more espe-
cially the marshes bordering Lake Erie, are among the most famous
duck-shooting localities in the Middle West, so that in this connection
I shall confine myself for the most part to inquiries made there.

The most definite information I obtained as to the changes that have
taken place in the aquatic vegetation in the last decade or so was near
the mouth of the Sandusky River, where it opens into the bay of the
same name. Mr. Fitzgerald, the keeper at the Winnows Point Club,
who has lived in the region all his life, not only told me of the changes
in the conditions as he could remember them, but. allowed me to exam-
ine the records of the club in further substantiation of his observations.

It appears that the iy^st carp were brought to that immediate vicinity
in 1883 b}^ D. W. Cross and Colonel Scovill, of Cleveland. A small
pond was prepared near the clubhouse and, according to the records,

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 587

on May 20 was awaiting the arrival of the fish. These probably came
soon after and were put into the pond on or before the morning of the
21st, for on that da}f there was a severe storm, the pond was flooded
and finally broke out at 2 p. m., and all the fish escaped. The lot con-
sisted of 20 leather and 20 scale carp. Later a large lot of young carp
were sent to the club and were liberated in the marshes b}T Mr. Fitz-
gerald's father, and still more were planted by a tug which went up
the river, putting in carp at various places along the route. To-day
these fish are extremely abundant in this locality, and have been so for
a number of years.

According to Mr. Fitzgerald's statement, coincident with the increase
in the carp there has been a great decrease in the amount of wild celery
{Vallisneria spiralis) growing in the shallower waters. He says that
formerly, in late summer, the strip of comparatively shallow water
extending some quarter to one-half mile from the clubhouse to the
main channel of the river was thickly grown up with this plant. Its
leaves were so abundant, floating on the surface of the water, that it
looked almost like a solid bank, and it was only with great difficulty
that a boat could be paddled through it. To-day this stretch is open
water; only here and there do a few lily pads come to the surface.
Much the same thing had been told me the previous summer by a carp
fisherman, who for many years has acted as guide for hunters in the
region. He affirms that the marsh has changed greatly in the last few
years, and believes it is due to the carp. He sa}rs the carp root up
principally the wild celery {Vallisneria), wild rice {Zizmxia) and deer-
tongue (probably meaning both Sagittaria and Pontederia); and that
the " canvasback celery "( Vallisneria) has been largely cleared out.

At the same time the duck shooting is said to have been rapidly on
the decline. The canvasbacks {Aythya vallisneria) and redheads
{Aythya americana) especialh' have been growing scarcer and scarcer.
The records of the Winnows Point Club, mentioned above, show a very
marked falling off in the number of canvasbacks killed in about 1893,
and conspicuously so in the numbers of both species in 1898-99. This
is ascribed to the " absence of food.11 Since 1899-1900 not more than
three or four canvasbacks have been killed b}T the members of the club
each year. It is the custom now to sow wild-rice seed in the vicinity,
but I do not know whether this has yet proved to be beneficial.

In order to learn something of the conditions and the sentiment of
the sportsmen in the western part of Michigan, where there are many
famous duck marshes, I sent a circular letter to the postmasters at
Muskegon, Grand Haven, Holland, Saugatuck. and South Haven, and
in each case received a reply either from the postmaster himself or
from some one to whom the letter had been referred by him. The
verdict from Saugatuck, on the Kalamazoo River, accorded very closely
with that from Lake Erie. Mr. Charles E. Bird wrote that they have

588 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

no wild celery, but do have much wild rice. Since the carp have been
planted, however, this has been largely rooted out; "they dig it up
like a drove of hogs, and have about spoiled the marshes for ducks."
Mr. C. J. Dregrnan, of Holland, writes that carp are abundant in
the lake (Black) and river there, and adds:

As to their destructiveness to wild celery or otherwise I have no reliable informa-
tion to give you. There is comparatively little wild celery here, and that which
does grow here seems not to be affected from year to year. Common report has it,
however, that carp are destructive to fish eggs and nests.

Mr. George C. Monroe, of South Haven, does "not believe they
cause any damage to plants along the river bank." At Muskegon,
according to Mr. E. D. Magoon, "the marsh is full of channels and
bayous, and these abound with carp." Wild celery, rice, and other
duck food are found here, but he expresses no opinion as to the effect
of the carp on these.

Considerable valuable testimony on the question under discussion is
given by Doctor Smith in his report on the acclimatization of fish in
the Pacific States (Smith, 1896, pp. 393-403). Several cases are men-
tioned where carp are reported as destroying the vegetation, most
notable among which are observations made at what are known as the
"Suisun Marshes." Doctor Smith (p. 397) quotes a letter from Mr.
Ramon E. Wilson, secretary of the California Fish Commission, dated
November 12, 1891, which states that certain portions of the marshes
referred to above have been preserved by live shooting clubs for a
period of ten years previously. The letter continues:

Each of these clubs has, from year to year, supplemented the natural and indigenous
growth of vegetation by planting non-indigenous seeds and grasses, until about two
years ago the ponds, ditches, and sloughs had so grown up with vegetable matter
that upon the opening of the season it was almost impossible to push a boat through
the dense growth. Last year, the season of 1890, it was discovered that a marked
change had taken place. The cause was attributed to the winter, which was a rather
severe one, in that there were many overflows and freshets occasioned by heavy
storms. This year the change in the respect mentioned was much greater. It was
early reported in the spring that there was very little sign of vegetable growth in any
of the ponds. Investigation followed, and it was found that fish in large numbers,
ranging from a few inches in length to 15 pounds in weight, had invaded the grounds
and taken entire possession of all the waters. These fish came, say, in May and
remained until about the latter part of July— that is, the bulk, but many remained later.
We are convinced that these great numbers came to spawn. About August this great
school, if you can so call it, suddenly disappeared — that is, the larger ones and the
majority of the whole. Their going was not unlike the grasshopper in effect on vege-
tation—not a sign or remnant was left. The result is that to-day, where these same"
ponds have heretofore afforded unlimited food supply for surface-feeding ducks in the
early part of the season and a like supply of celery bulbs for the canvasbacks and
redheads for the balance of the season, there is absolutely not a single sign of vegeta-
tion. At the time mentioned I carefully examined the beds of the ponds and found
them positively barren of vegetable matter. Notwithstanding the emigration, if it can
be so called, of the larger fish, the waters are still alive with the same fish, ranging
from 2 to 8 inches in length. These ponds, heretofore quite clear, are now nothing

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 589

more than mudholes. That this fish burrows in the rnud there is no question. The
beds of the waters are not unlike a sieve in appearance, with holes, round in form,
ranging from one-half inch to 3 inches in diameter. The banks of the ponds and
sloughs are quite like the bottoms. The fish have burrowed to the depth of a foot in
many places, and it can be readily seen that it has been done for the purpose of get-
ting at the roots of the vegetable growth.

That the fish which caused these disturbances were carp Mr. Wilson
determined by sending- specimens to Dr. David S. Jordan.

The testimon37 of Mr. John P. Babcock, at that time chief deputy
of the California Fish Commission, is very similar. He is quoted
as follows (Smith, 1896, p. 399):

The carp have destroyed almost all the wild celery of the lowTer Sacramento and
Suisun Marshes. They reach all the ponds during high water, and, as soon as celery
comes up, they eat the shoots, and, in many of the best ponds on the shooting pre-
serves, have taken roots and all of the celery. They have not destroyed the tule
grass to any noticeable extent, if at all. The damage has been to the better grasses.
Many of the clubs planted wild celery in 1891, 1892, and 1893, but the carp destroyed
it all, and it is claimed by observing men that the celery is entirely destroyed. The
clubs resort every season to baiting their ponds with grain, and in these ponds the
carp move in droves that W. P. Whittier tells me look like a tidal wave, as they move
from one side to the other.

The most extravagant charge as to the damage done to vegetation by
carp which I have seen is given by Prof. E. E. Prince, commissioner
of fisheries for Canada, in a paper discussing "The Place of Carp in
Fish-culture" (Prince, 1897). He says (p. 33):

In connection with this charge, a western United States paper tells of a rancher's
visit to Portland, Oreg., to sue for damages he had sustained from the introduction
of carp. He wished to find out whether he had recourse against the United States
Fish Commission for the introduction of carp into the rivers of this section. He says
these fish are destroying his meadows by eating his grass and grubbing up the roots.
As the water overflows his meadow the carp follow it up in thousands, the small
ones weighing about 3 pounds pushing their way up where the water is only 3 inches
or so in depth and clearing off all vegetation, so that when the water recedes he will
have mud flats in the place of meadows.

This statement appears the more credible, however, in view of some
remarks made b}1 Doctor Hutchinson, stationed at Portland, Oreg., in
a letter discussing the value of the carp as an eradicator of the fluke
disease of sheep. Doctor Hutchinson says (Stiles, 1902, p. 221):

All the bottom lands of this river [the Columbia] are subject to annual overflow,
and at this time the carp clean the meadows as thoroughly as a fire. Every spear
of grass, up to the very water's edge, will be eaten by them. They also have a
habit of rooting all around the edge of this overflow as it gradually recedes.

Mr. Hessel, in reply to the letter from Mr. Wilson regarding the
damage caused by carp in the Suisun Marshes (Smith, 1896, p. 100),
states it as his opinion that the carp are in search of worms, Crustacea,
larva?, etc., when they dig about the roots of the plants, and that the
uprooting of the plants themselves is merely incidental. According

590 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

to him the aquatic vegetation in the Potomac River has not been
damaged by carp, although these fish are abundant there. He says:

The carp is very numerous ami prolific in the Potomac River. There are speci-
mens from 20 to 30 pounds, but that they go for the water celery has not been noticed
here as yet. Water celery grows in abundance in places where the river flows
slowly, especially about the so-called flats, but any injury to its growth, or a reduc-
tion of its density, not to speak of its total destruction, has not been heard of, as far
as I know, with two exceptions only, not attributable, however, to the carp, but to
high water in the spring of 1882 and 1889, when every kind of vegetation was swept
away by the floods, and consequently water celery disappeared from the river dur-
ing the two years Mil (sequent to those freshets.

I must not forget to call your attention to the fact that turtles, too, are not averse to
a meal of water celery. Frequently I have seen "red-bellies" and "yellow bellies"
feasting in the dense growth of Potomac celery upon that plant. Another point: For
years I have kept quite a number of these species of turtles for ornamental purposes in
a small pond about this station and fed them with water celery taken fresh from two
ponds stocked with a great number of old and young carp, which never touched the
celery, though it must be admitted they did loosen the roots in their hunt for animal
food.

In conclusion, I reiterate that I am not familiar with the fauna of the Suisun
Marches, but my impression is that, upon closer investigation, there may perhaps be
found additional causes for the disappearance of the water celery and other vegeta-
tion therein, besides the undeservedly much-abused carp.

Even if Mr. HesseFs contention that the uprooting- of the plants is
a secondary result as the carp is searching- about in the mud for animal
food should be found to be true, the nature of the damage done would
be the same. It seems, however, from the facts brought forward in
the discussion of the food of the carp, that we should not be too hasty
in concluding that it is altogether for animal matter that they dig up
these plants; knowing as we do that they eat a large quantity of vege-
table matter, it seems likely that they would take it whenever there is
opportunity, so that in the case of the wild celery they probably eat
the softer parts of the plant as well as the Crustacea, insect larva?, etc.,
dug up in the mud.

The fact that the wild celery in the Potomac was not being destroyed
is a matter of more weight, but if the damage in other places is really
perpetrated by the carp it merely goes to show that under certain con-
ditions the fish does not harm the vegetation to a marked extent, while
in other cases it does. This perhaps depends upon the relative abun-
dance of other food. Furthermore, as Mr. Hessel suggests, there
should be further investigation as to whether the carp is the sole factor
in causing the rapid disappearance of these water plants. It must be
remembered that we know very little of the obscure ecological forces
at work which may cause great changes in the aquatic flora of a region.
Since these reports come from such widely separated areas, however,
the factor which is causing the destruction must be a very general one.
If the damage were confined to the Great Lakes basin, for instance, it
might be expected that some general phenomenon, such as a gradual

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 591

lowering of the water level in the basin, might be the cause, though
it is difficult to see how that particular factor, even if it could be
proved to exist, would effect the vegetation as has been observed. It
would be expected as the result of such a lowering that the different
floral zones would not in most cases be destroyed, but would merely
reestablish themselves a little farther out from the original shores.
Since a similar decrease is being complained of in many parts of the
country, however, and within comparatively only very recent years,
we would expect to find the same cause in all cases, and would look
for some new factor coincident with the trouble. The planting and
astounding acclimatization and propagation of carp seems to have
introduced such a factor.

Then, too, there must be examined the more direct evidence against
the carp. Vegetation has been rooted out of comparatively small
ponds and reservoirs, where close observations could be made, and
where apparently the only change in conditions that could account for
it is the introduction of carp. And, finally, we know that these fish
do root up many plants. In a pond where the carp were feeding in
large numbers I have seen the surface of the water quite well cov-
ered in places with the uprooted vegetation, among which were to be
seen whole plants of flags torn out bodily. In other places, when the
Yallisneria was still young and did not reach nearly to the surface, I
have observed the leaves floating about, recently torn from the bottom.
Although it could not be determined with certainty in this case, it is
very probable that carp were responsible. The roiliness of the water
at the place served to strengthen the suspicion.

One can not be too careful, however, in drawing conclusions of
this kind, since there are many opportunities to make mistakes. A
concrete example may serve to illustrate the point. I was wading
about in a little bay at the St. Clair Flats, where carp were abundant,
and noticed many freshly torn up leaves of flags floating on the sur-
face. It looked very much at lirst as if this were the work of the carp,
but I later saw the agency at work — a muskrat, which dived to the
bottom, cut off a leaf and brought it to the surface, floated there while
he ate the succulent lower end, and then left it, to go down after
another. These leaves were bitten off singly, however, while the flags
mentioned above as uprooted by carp were torn uproots and all, prob-
ably not so much on account of direct pulling as by having the mud
worked away from around the roots." The male dog-fish (Am In calva)

a Unfortunately it was found inexpedient to make an experimen it test of the effect of carp upon
aquatic vegetation. This could be doue by having two similar ponds or enclosures in which con-
ditions are as nearly the same as possible. Into one of these should be introduced a certain number
of carp, while the other should be left without them. If this were done in the spring, for example,
an exact comparison could be made of the conditions in the two areas as the season advanced. The
greatest caution should be taken in seeing that all conditions, except the presence of the carp, should
be the same in the two enclosures.

592 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

also cuts off the .young- shoots when building its nest, and at such
times these may be found floating on the surface of the water.

In conclusion, as to the relation of carp to aquatic vegetation, the
evidence seems to be pretty strong that in general they are very
destructive, and are probably, in large part at least, responsible for
the great reduction of wild celery and wild rice that has been noted in
many of our inland marshes in the last few years. This, in turn, has
deprived certain ducks, especially the canvasback and redhead, of an
important food supply, and has undoubtedly influenced their abun-
dance to some extent in the localities in question. Whether the great
reduction in their actual numbers can be laid to this cause is a very
different question; and when we observe that the same complaint is
being made of nearly all game birds and mammals not rigorously pro-
tected by law, it makes us look for an influence at work more general
than the introduction of carp into our waters. Such an influence is to
be found in the hunters themselves, and must be reckoned with in the
case of the ducks as well as elsewhere. Whether it is more or less potent
than the reduction of one of their sources of food is a question which
remains to be settled. It is possible, too, that with the development
of the country, and especially the opening up of extensive areas by
irrigation, the ducks, instead of being actually so decreased in num-
bers as would at first seem to be the case, have scattered to new feed-
ing grounds. A portion of the following quotation from the paper by
Smith (1896, p. 399), mentioned above, refers to this possibility, while
it also sums up in a concise manner the other aspects of the question:

In attributing to the carp the scarcity of canvasback and other ducks in a given
region, there should be proof that the carp does and other fish do not eat and uproot
large quantities of VaUisneria; and the influence of market hunters and indiscrimi-
nate killing by sportsmen must not be overlooked. The scarcity of canvasback ducks
in most streams probably antedates the advent of the carp in noteworthy numbers,
and, as in the Potomac, was coincident with spring shooting and with the activity of
pot-hunters using swivel guns. Mr. John P. Babcock, chief deputy of the California
fish commission, states that he thinks ducks in that State have changed their feed-
ing grounds; miles of land in the San Joaquin Valley are now covered with ditches
and miles of alfalfa now grow where a few years ago there was a desert; and the
main market supply of ducks comes from that region instead of the Suisun Marshes.
He thinks, however, that the carp have proved very objectionable in this region.

In consideration of all the evidence set forth above, although we are
obviously unprepared to say to what extent, we seem forced to conclude
that carp are, in some measure, detrimental to certain species of ducks.

ROILINESS OF WATER INHABITED BY CARP.

The extent to which carp stir up the bottom mud and make the water
roily has been mentioned in speaking of its habits, and especially its
manner of feeding. As a general thing this is one of the surest indica-
tions of the presence of these fish in waters that would otherwise be

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 593

clear; and it has several rather important economical bearings besides
the mere fact that it usually accompanies or is accompanied by the
uprooting of the aquatic vegetation. The constant roiliness of a body
of water that has theretofore been clear must be an important ecological
factor in determining the quantity and character of both the vegetable
and, at least secondarily, the animal life inhabiting it. This will
readily be appreciated when we consider that it decreases the amount
of light that would reach to any given depth, thus depriving plants at;
that depth of at least a part of one of the most important conditions
for their growth, while in the second place the settling of the sedi-
ment upon the stems and leaves of the plants acts as a mechanical hin-
drance to the ordinary processes of respiration. Where the balance
is once upset in this way in a body of water where things have become
adjusted to a certain set of conditions, it is difficult to predict just
what results will follow in the readjustment to new conditions; but it
is safe to assert that practically all the living organisms in the water
will be influenced to some extent. Even if the vegetation were not
uprooted b}7 the stirring up of the mud of the bottom, it is probable
that its abundance would be greatly reduced by the constant roiliness
of the water. This would in all likelihood affect the plankton or free-
swimming organisms as well, and thus greatly reduce the natural
food supply of the fish. In the large bodies of water these conditions
are ameliorated to a large extent, since by the movement of the tish
from place to place they are often absent from a given locality for
considerable periods, thus giving the sediment an opportunity to settle
and allowing the water to become clear; and even in smaller areas the
fish are not feeding all the time. But it must be admitted that where
there are a comparatively large number of carp in a pond the water
is kept in an almost constant state of roiliness. In the ease of run-
ning waters there is a further tendency to impoverishment in the
carrying away of the rich mud while it is held in suspension in the
water. There has been no direct evidence collected, so far as 1 am
aware, to show to what extent this ma}T be effective, it has even been
claimed by some that dikes and dams are weakened in this way, by
the destroying of the vegetation that held the mud in place, and the
loosening of the mud itself.

The roiliness of the water caused by carp in supply reservoirs
has, in a number of instances, proved to be a serious problem, and is
one which has to be met with promptness. The only practicable rem-
ed\T is the removal of the lish. In some places this can be done with
comparative ease by persistent seining; but more often, especially in
large reservoirs which present a diversity of conditions, this method
is not feasible. In some cases it may even be necessary, where the
disturbance is very great, to withdraw the water and drain the
reservoir for the purpose of getting rid of the carp. An interest-

F. C 1904—38

594 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

ing case of the way this problem was met in Lake Merced, one of the
reservoirs for the water supply of San Francisco, is reported by Smith
(1896, p. 395) in the paper that has already been quoted. A number
of sea lions put into the lake apparently did the work very effici-
ently: but unfortunately this is not a method that it is always possi-
ble, or at least, practicable, to apply. Doctor Smith quotes Mr.
Babcock, of the California Fish Commission, as follows:

Carp have entered the Blue Lakes in Lake Count}-. The Blue Lakes, three in
number, were formerly very striking and beautiful bodies of water. A. V. La Mott
now tells me that lower Blue Lake is so muddy that its beauty is gone, the carp
keeping the water roiled all the time. Lake Merced, property of the Spring Valley
Water Company, in the city and county of San Francisco, was so damaged by carp
as to be almost useless to the company. The company employed four fishermen by
the month to seine the lake, and during that time— some four months— bought 19
good-sized seals [i. e., sea lions] taken near Cliff House. These seals were placed in
Lake Merced in 1891, and for a time the company employed men to go over the lake
to pick up the pieces of dead carp that were so numerous as to be dangerous to the
purity of the water. In the summer of 1S95, at the request and expense of the
water company, I engaged several Italian fishermen to go to the lake, and under our
supervision they used all kinds of drag nets and seines in the lake and were unable
to take any carp or any other fish than sticklebacks. The seals have grown very
thin. Another effort was made in same manner with like results in the fall of 1S95.
I am of the opinion that there are no carp, big or little, in the lake at this time.
The coming season the company will try again for carp, and if none is found the
seals will be killed off and large-mouth black bass placed in the lake.

The planting and maintaining of large predaceous fish in waters
where carp are objectionable will undoubtedly help to a large extent in
keeping their numbers down, as they will prey upon the young carp.
It is doubtful whether they will be of much effect in removing- the
larger fish, however.

Another point is mentioned in the above quotation which is often
one of considerable importance, namely, the marring of the beauty of
lakes and other bodies of clear water by carp, by keeping the water
constantly muddy and roily. This is a problem which is apt to be
encountered by park commissioners, and is to be met in the same way
as in the case of the reservoirs. In parks, however, the usefulness of
carp as a source of interest to visitors, who take pleasure in feeding
them, may be considered as offsetting their undesirability in other
respects, though gold-fish are usually preferred on account of their
more showy appearance.

RELATION OF THE CARP TO OTHER FISH.

Perhaps more complaint has been made against the carp by anglers
and commercial fishermen for its alleged destruction of other fish
than by the sportsmen for its harmfulness to the feeding grounds of
ducks. These complaints have come from nearly all quarters, and it
v ill usually be found that they arise from a general sentiment rather

THK GEBMAK CABP IX THE DTTITED STATES. 595

than from definite information. It i- ;i noticeable fact that this senti-
ment is orach less general, or may be largely replaced by one almost
as unreasoning in favor of the carp's entire barmlessness, in regions
where this fish is commercially valuable on a large scale. The chai

may in a general way be divided into four headings: 0) That carp eat
the spawn of other fish; i'l) that carp eat the young of other fish; (3)
that carp prevent the nesting of such fish as the b \) that carp

produce unfavorable conditions chiefly roilinese of the water that
drive other fish away.

In the Great Lakes region the fishes that are generally conceded to
be in most danger from the carp are the bass and other members of
the same family (crappie, sun-fish, bluegill;. and the white-fish. It is
obvious that they can hardly affect directly such other commercial and
game fishes as the wall-eyed pike and sauger (Sti2o#tedion, commonly
called "pickerel" on the Great Lakes), or perch" {Percajlavi . or

trout; nor do I know of specific complaints of damage to the herring
(ArgryroeoTmis), sturgeon, or the true pike- (Esocidae, "pickerel" of
the inland water-/. Most of these do not lay their • here they

aii- likely to be troubled by carp, and some are probably considered
able to take care of themselves. Still it seems that carp might easily
affect wall-eyed pike, in cases where the egg^ are attached to water
plants; and if they affect white-fish they probably also affect herring,
whose eggs are laid at the same time and presumably in the same pla

The first of the complaints enumerated above, viz, that carp eal the
.spawn of other fish, is perhaps the one that 1, istently

maintained. One can scarcely read a communication by one of the
opponents of the carp without finding in it a statement to that effect.
Nevertheless, few, if any. direct observations are recorded. The argu-
ment i- something like this: Other fish, such as the bass, are decre
ing, while the number of carp is, or at any rate has been, steadily on
the increase; carp will eat practically anything: therefore, the decn
of certain other fish must be due in large part to the fact that the carp
devour their spawn. What I wish to point out i- that while the two
premises may be true, the conclusion i- by no mean- a necessary one.
It can not be deduced from the above prem - ithout other fact-.
and those facts have not been supplied. They might be of two kind-
first, direct observation of the eating of the -pawn of other fish by
carp: and. second, by the finding of the -pawn of other fish in the

a With regard to the perch, at the thirtieth annual meeting of Fisheries Sociel both

Mr. Dicker-on. of Detroit, and Doctor Parker, of Grand Rapids, Mich., expressed their opinion th. I
carp is indirectly harmful to the perch through the des iition. Doctor Parker

remarks (Transactions of the Society, 1901, p. 1 reha-

bilitation of waters. If you desl >n and the larvae, yon the minnows, and the

perch have no minnov I on, unk an eat the young of the carp, which they do not

appear to do, but the black bass will eat the young of the carp and will thriv<-. T you may

look for an increase of the black bass, a decrease of the minnows, and also of those fish that feed upon
the smaller minno'

596 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

stomachs of carp. Although it is stated that carp do go about over
the spawning grounds of other fish and that they devour the spawn,
with the exception of the little given in this paper relative to the
white-fish, I do not recall a single case that has been reported upon
where sufficient evidence has been adduced to show that such is really
the case. The absurdity, for example, of an assertion which has
recently been made by a writer in Forest and Stream (Chambers,
1904) is obvious on the face of it. This partisan, after deprecating
carp as a food fish and speaking of its habit of uprooting wild rice,
adds:

When the stomach of one caught upon the St. Clair Flats was opened last autumn,
it was found to contain at least a double handful of rice, while as an ilL stration of
their destructiveness upon the spawn of other fish it may be mentioned that a gallon
of spawn which had been devoured was taken from an 18-pounder — a weight which
the carp frequently attains.

The italics are mine. The enthusiasm of partisanship has apparently
led this observer into mistaking the spawn of the carp still in the
ovary for that of some other tish which has been devoured, for it
seems altogether out of the question that the stomach of one 18-
pound carp should hold a gallon of spawn. A double handful of
rice — wild, or Indian, rice (Zizania), I suppose is meant — might well
be present. The greatest amount of material which I have ever
taken from the alimentary tract of a single carp would surely amount
to much less than a pint, though I can not sa}7 that by distention it
might not hold more.

In my own researches at the St. Clair Flats, where the black bass
were nesting in numbers, I spent much time in attempting to get direct
evidence relating to the question at issue. Most of these observations
were made in a small bay where the general water level in the deeper
parts was about 3 to 5 feet. The bottom was composed of a tine clay,
in most places rather light in color. Practically the only vegetation
in this portion of the bay consisted of scattered groups of bullrushes,
each clump usually radiating in long lines from a common center.
The bassft nests were in this open part of the bay, large circular exca-
vations, a few inches deep, and usually appearing much darker than
their surroundings on account of the removal of the top soil. As a
rule they seemed to be placed near the lines of bulrushes, and were
usually plainly distinguishable for a considerable distance on account
of the clearness of the water.

Conditions about the margin of the bay were entirely different.
Here the shallow water, 1 to 2 feet or so deep, was thickly grown
up with vegetation — flags, sedges, lily-pads, etc. — and was succeeded
by wet, marsh}T, grass-covered ground. The bottom here was largely

«I believe these were the small-mouthed black bass (Micropterus dvlomicu), though I find no record
of the species made at the time.

THE GERMAN CAKP IN THE UNITED STATES. 597

soft, and black on account of me decayed vegetable matter. In this
shallower area all about the bay carp were often very numerous.

In the first place much time was spent in trying to learn whether
the carp ever intruded in the central portion of the bay where the bass
were nesting. It seemed very probable that they would cross the
bass nesting-grounds, at least in going in and out of the bay. But I
was never able to observe a single carp actually on these grounds,
though I at one time frightened a number of them in near shore which
started out in that direction. A fyke-net was set with a view to inter-
cepting any carp that might cross the tract covered by the bass nests,
but with negative results. These fish arc so wary, however, that it is
very doubtful whether they would have entered the net had the}r gone
that way. At another place I at one time had a large minnow seine
drawn over a portion of bottom where a few bass were breeding and
where I had reason to suspect there were carp present. Besides the
small fish captured the seine brought in a bass, a pike, and two carp,
which seems to show that they may at times go in. close proximity to
the area covered by the breeding bass, if not actually upon it.

In the bay mentioned above I built a scaffold at the border line
between the bass grounds and the shore zone, with the idea of having
a more commanding view of portions of both. On this I spent many
hours of vigilant watch, and although a bass which had a nest near by
soon became accustomed to the structure and resumed his care of the
eggs in the nest, and although carp sometimes appeared within my
range of vision in the water on the shoreward side, I never saw one
of them on the outer side, where the bass nests were located. Since I
have frequently seen schools of these fish lying quietly in water which
seemed to present the same conditions, except that the bass were
absent, I feel justified to some extent in concluding that as a general
thing carp avoid the actual breeding areas of the bass.

The question has often been raised, and has been much discussed, as
to whether a black bass would drive a carp away from its nest. A
number of opinions were expressed on the subject at the thirtieth
annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society, held at Milwaukee
in 1901 (see the Transactions of that meeting, published in the same
year, pp. 114-132). It appeared to be the consensus of opinion of the
gentlemen assembled there that the bass is fully able to take care of
itself, while it was further claimed by some that the bass were actually
increasing owing to the extra supply of food furnished by the young
carp. Below are given some extracts from the discussion referred to:

Mr. Titcomb. Is it not a base slander upon the bass to intimate that it would allow
a carp to touch its spawn?

Doctor Bartlett. I should think so.

Mr. Bower. I think that where bass and carp inhabit the same water it is natural
that the bass should increase. We have been hatching black bass for a number of
seasons in ponds where we have had an opportunity to observe their spawning

598 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

operations from the time the male fish begins to prepare the bed until a good many
days after the hatching is completed, and we know that the male bass guards the
bed against all intruders. He will put up the stiffest kind of a fight against any
animal that approaches the bed with a view of preying upon the spawn. There is
no danger of a carp ever looting the spawn from a black bass bed. On the other
hand I do not think the carp can retaliate against the bass in any way, shape or
form. While the bass is preying on the carp, the carp can not come back at them
in any way. In other words, in the interchange of hostilities between the two
species, the bass gets the better of it at every stage of the proceedings, and I think it
is a perfectly natural result that the bass should increase in waters where there is an
abundance of carp.

*******

Mr. Lydell. I never have known but a single instance where the carp has
destroyed the spawn of the black bass, and I never knew of their destroying any
other spawn. I have handled and opened what few carp were caught at the Detroit
river, Belle Isle, fisheries, during the last ten years, but never found any spawn in
them.«

*******

The President [Mr. Dickerson]. I have made this assertion, that no carp ever
got hold of an egg of a black bass unless Mr. Bass had first been taken off from that
spawning bed. I do not believe there is such a thing as a carp ever having devoured
a single egg from a black bass bed where the black bass was on the bed. Of course
if the beds are deserted that is different, but as long as the bass is alive and guard-
ing the bed, no carp ever got a single egg.

Other opinions were expressed, all with the same tenor; but it must
be remembered that these are in most cases only opinions. They are
expressed by practical fishermen, however, men who have had more
experience with the black bass and with the carp than almost any one
else in this country, and for this reason their opinions must be given
weight.6

In the Transactions of the Thirty-second Annual Meeting of the
same society (1903, p. 54) a statement similar to the above is made by
Mr. J. L. Leaiy. It is in part as follows:

As to his [the carp's] destroying the eggs or young fish, it is not a fact. My
experience is that I could not raise the crappy in clear water, and I adopted the plan
of putting so many carp in crappy ponds, and I raised some crappy and no carp,
showing that the young carp are all destroyed by the crappy. The smallest sunfish
can chase him away, for the carp is a big coward; the carp is a rapid grower and a
good fish.

While we are discussing the case of the carp it may be well to give
a little more fully the ideas of two members of the American Fisheries
Society (Transactions of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting, 1901) as to
the probable increase of these fish, as has been suggested above, on
account of having }Toung carp for food. Mr. Dickerson, of Detroit,

a This fishery is not prosecuted during the spawning season of the bass; the statement is meant to
refer to white-fish spawn.
b This question should be tested by introducing a few carp into a bass breeding pond.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 599

speaks of the complaints of the fishermen that carp are destroying- the
bass fishing on the St. Clair Flats, and then adds (p. 118):

But notwithstanding their claims the bass fishing on St. Clair Flats has been
better during the last three years than at any time during fifteen years previous,
and we have not planted any bass either. I can not account for it in any other
way except that the environments of the carp and black bass are absolutely different.
Black bass likes a clean, pure, sandy bottom, and the carp lives on a muddy, weedy
bottom. I believe that the carp is a good thing in many waters where black bass
thrive. I believe that the bass fishing at the flats has increased by reason of the
food that young carp make for the bass, though he was not planted there.

Dr. S. P. Bartlett, of Illinois, who has always been a strong- partisan

for the carp, says (Transactions American Fisheries Society, 1901,

p. 120):

When we take into consideration the fact that is so well known of the voracious
habits of the black bass, it shows an all-wise provision of nature to supply a very
large quantity of coarse fish to feed the other fishes, and I believe as firmly as I am
standing here that if the carp had not been introduced in the state of Illinois, the
buffalo having become almost extinct in our waters although it was once the great
commercial fish that the bass would have been gradually taken out entirely from the
list. As it is now, I want to repeat the statement that we have more black bass
than ever, and our carp certainly have increased in a greater ratio than ever before.

This statement, so contrary to what is so often maintained of the
bass at the Flats, seems the more plausible when we read in the Report
of the Michigan Fish Commission for 1885 (p. 11) the statement that
the decline of black bass in Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River was
mentioned in the early eighties, and was said to be due partly to their
being taken in nets, contrary to law, and partly because they were not
protected. At this time they certainly could not have been influenced
by carp.

Still more evidence along the same line is brought forward by
Townsend (1901). After giving figures showing the increase in the
catch of carp in the Great Lakes region and the Ohio and Illinois
basin, he continues (p. 178):

These figures show an increase in the quantity of carp derived from the above-
named waters amounting to nearly nine times the quantity yielded six years ago.
During the same period the total fishery products of Lake Erie increased more than
15,000,000 pounds and those of the Illinois River more than 5,000,000 pounds.
There are, therefore, no indications that the presence of the carp has produced any
injurious effect on the native species associated with it, but, on the contrary, its
presence may have a salutary effect, the young of the carp doubtless being food for
black bass and other species. It is certain that the black bass has increased in the
Illinois River along with the carp, the yield of black bass in 1899 being greater than
ever before, amounting to over 70,000 pounds.

Regarding the relation of carp to some of the other fish I have only
a few observations of interest. It seems a notewortlry fact, however,
that 1 have found the dog-fish (Am/a calva) on its nest, and appar-
ently unmolested, right in the midst of a portion of the marsh which

600 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

was traversed daily by the carp in their search for food. Moreover,
in the shore zone of the bay where the black bass were studied I
found nests of an unidentified species of sun-fish or bluegill, and this
was in the regular beat of the carp. The owners of these nests always
left them upon my approach before I could get a good view of them,
and immediately after their departure a number of small fish which
had been swimming about in the neighborhood pounced in and began
devouring the eggs. I succeeded in securing a few of these while
they were committing their depredations. Those I captured were
a small perch (Perca flavescens), a related form sometimes known as
log-perch or hog-perch {Perclna caprodes), and a small minnow
{Notroph whipplel a). All had their mouths and gullets crammed with
eggs from the temporarily deserted nest. Here we have a suggestion
as to one of the important factors that may tend to reduce the number
of bass. At the St. Clair Flats, owing to the cold water brought down
from Lake Huron, the bass usually spawn considerably later than they
do in the interior waters of the state, which become warm more quickly.
This is so late, in fact, that the close season prescribed by the law does
not protect them at the time they are spawning, and as a consequence
great numbers of them are taken by the bass fishermen directly off
their nests. In addition, many are also speared, contrary to law, by
certain lawless residents of the region. The poacher approaches as
close as possible in a duck boat to the bass as it guards its nest, and
when within long range throws his long-handled grain. Undoubtedly
more bass are hit in this way than are actually secured, for I have
seen numbers of them dead along the shore which showed the marks
of the spear upon them. What the consequence is as soon as the
parent fish is removed it is eas}r to see. Good food does not lie
around unprotected long when there are hungry fish in the vicinity,
and it is very probable that if a carp happened along at this time he
wTould not hesitate to avail himself of the opportunity, for a familiar
proverb might well be perverted to apply — all is food that comes to
the carp's mouth.

In summing up with regard to the damage done by the carp to the
spawn of other fish, especially the black bass, we find that there is lit-
tle in the nature of direct Observation, but what there is seems to
point to the conclusion that there is little danger to the eggs of these
other species so long as they are being guarded by the parent fish.
That the carp does eat spawn when occasion presents is not denied
even by Doctor Bartlett, the carp's greatest friend. He sa^ys, in the
Transactions of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the American Fish-
eries Society, 1901 (p. 120):

In order that I might know positively what amount of injury had heen done by
the introduction of the carp into the waters of the Illinois, I took occasion when

a This minnow was kindly identified by Mr. T. L. Hankinson.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 601

carp were first brought upon the market and the hue and cry raised as to their
destructive qualities, to open and to be present while hundreds of carps were opened,
to see if I could find in their stomachs anything that would indicate that they took
the fry of other fish or spawn of other fish. I can not say that I have never found
the spawn of other fish in their stomachs, but when I have found such spawn it has
been of such a nature as led me to believe that it was such spawn as floated on the
surface of the water, and that the carp took them in, in that sucking motion that he
has, going around on the surface of the water.

From data given by Doctor Smith (1902) it appears that the blame
for the destruction of shad eggs has been wrongfully placed upon the
carp. He says that observations in the Potomac River show that the
carp do not molest the shad eggs, as the^y do not go upon the spawning-
grounds. The greatest amount of shad spawn is consumed b}r cat-fish
and eels. This was shown by having a large shad seine hauled over
grounds where the shad apparently had just spawned. Many shad
and alewives were caught, but mostly cat-fish (about 5,000 Ameiurus
aJbuJus) 6 to 18 inches long, and every one of these, so far as observed,
was gorged with shad eggs.

With regard to the charge that carp devour the young of other fish,
any damage that it may do in this way is certainly so slight that it need
hardly be considered. It can not be said that carp never do capture
smaller fish, for two or three cases have been reported — one where a
carp ate some three minnows that were confined with it in a small
aquarium (Gurney, L8B0)", while in the other cases fish were said to
have been found in the stomach. The carp is obviously unadapted by
structure for capturing other tish for food. Its mouth is comparatively
small and adapted to •'sucking," while, furthermore, there are no
teeth which could be used in holding living prey. Its only teeth are
several rounded, knob-like structures situated well back in the " throat,"
and known as pharyngeal teeth, and are of service only for crushing
and grinding.

As to the third and fourth points, that carp prevent other fish from
nesting and that they produce unfavorable conditions which drive
other fish away, I know of no proof on either side further than what
has been brought out in the foregoing discussion.

I have chosen to consider separately the relation of carp to the
white-fish, because the conditions in this instance are rather different
and distinct from those in the case of any of the other fishes consid-
ered. Then, too, the white-fish fishery is one of the most important
in the Great Lakes, and if it were found that the carp interfered
seriously with the spawning of the white-fish it would be a very strong-
point indeed against him.

The white-fish of Lake Erie make an annual migration from the

a "A specimen of the common carp, between 5 and 6 inches in length, was lately observed to devour
three small minnows, each of about an inch and a half in length, which were confined in the same
aquarium with him. One of these tin' carp seized immediately the minnow was placed in the
aquarium and swallowed it whole, head foremost." (Gurney, loc. cit.)

602 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

deeper eastern portion of the lake to the shallow reefs at the western
end, especially around the islands there, in order to deposit their
spawn. The time of this migration varies somewhat with the tem-
perature, but at an average the spawning usually begins in early
November and is at its height during the middle or latter half of that
month. The eggs are scattered loosely over the rocky bottom.

During my visit to North Bass Island in the summer of 1901, I
heard much complaint by the local fishermen, who maintained that in
the fall carp did great damage on the spawning grounds of the white-
fish. Their statements may be summarized as follows: Carp are
abundant about the Bass Islands when the white-fish are spawning;
carp eat the spawn of other fish, especially white-fish; white-fish
spawn has been taken from a carp's stomach; when carp are numerous
on a reef, the white-fish are not there, being driven away by the carp.
Carp are not caught here for commercial purposes to any great extent,
and the prejudice against them was very strong. At such places as
Port Clinton on the mainland, on the other hand, where carp are
shipped in enormous quantities, and which is also one of the principal
ports for the white-fish fishermen, I found the belief that carp were
detrimental to the white-fish either entirely absent, or at any rate not
nearly so strong.

In November, 1901, I proceeded to Lake Erie in order to make what
investigations I could in the matter. At the time of my arrival,
shortly before the middle of the month, white-fish were beginning to
be caught in considerable numbers, though very few of the fish were
ripe. A week or so later the numbers caught increased greatly, and
the spawning seemed to be at its height, The season was an unusually
stormy one, with strong northwest winds nearly every day, and one
northeaster of several days' duration. The temperature was low
during nearly the whole time and there were frequent snow flurries.
The fishermen said that probably, owing to the rough weather, the fish
did not go upon the reefs to spawn in such large numbers as was usu-
ally the case, so that the gill nets, set on the reefs, got comparatively
few fish, while many more were caught in the pound nets in deeper
water. I spent several days both at Port Clinton and at the islands;
at the former place both pound-net and gill-net fish were brought in;
the fish landed at the islands were all taken in gill nets.

Very few carp were brought in at either place, and none of them
was large, averaging probably less than two pounds. On one day
when I visited the pound nets with the fishermen, only two carp were
taken. The stomachs of most of those examined at Port Clinton were
empty, or nearly so, and in only two cases was any white-fish spawn
found. At the time the preliminary statement of this work was pub-
lished in 1903 (Report of the United States Commissioner of Fish and
Fisheries, for 1902, p. 130) only a general and rather superficial exam-

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 603

ination of these stomachs had been made, and it was stated that no
white-fish spawn had been found. When a more careful examination
was made later, one white-fish egg was found among- the contents of
each of two stomachs. (See Nos. 23 and 21, p. 572.) The rest of the
material was mostly remains of insect larva?, entomostraca, shell frag-
ments, and alga?.

November 27 was spent at North Bass Island and several dozen carp
were examined. These fish, all small ones, 30 to 10 cm. (12 to 16 ■
inches) long, were brought in directly from the gill nets, set in from
10 to 25 feet of water, and for the most part on the reefs. Most of
the fish had some food in the alimentary canal, and in some cases the
stomach was well filled, showing that they had been feeding very
recently. Reference to stomachs No. 29 to No. 32 will show that the
food was of. the same general character as had been found at Port
Clinton. Here, again, one stomach contained a single white-fish egg
(No. 31).

The facts obtained lead me to quite a different conclusion from the
assumptions made by the fishermen. That carp do occur on the
spawning grounds of the white-fish is true, and, furthermore, they
seem to be moving about and feeding in spite of the lateness of the
season and the low temperature of the water. These are mostly small
fish, however, and the number of them on the reefs appears to be
comparatively small as well. The eggs of the white-fish, not being
adhesive to any great degree, probably become widely scattered, and
unless the carp were present in large numbers the relative number
of eggs destroyed would be small; and that such is the case seems to
be proved by the examinations of stomach contents made. That carp
capture the 3roung wThite-fish is even more to be doubted, and certainly
no instance has been reported where such is known to have been the
case. My conclusion is, then, that while the carp may eat some white-
fish spawn, the amount so consumed is so small as to he practically
insignificant, especially in comparison with the host of other forms
which probably prey upon the eggs now as they have always done in
the past. I suspect that by no means the least enemy to these eggs is
the common mud puppy {Necturus maculosus — called '"lizard" by the
fishermen) which is often taken in numbers in the pound nets. And,
furthermore, the danger to the white-fish spawn has been largely over-
come in recent years bj^ the operations of the Bureau of Fisheries, in
hatching the eggs in jars and turning loose the young fish in the spring.
It has generally been conceded to be due to this, and certainly in spite
of the increase of carp, that the white-fish have been on the increase
in Lake Erie in the last few years. The catch in 1901 was an espe-
cially good one, and was said by the fishermen to exceed any for many
years previous.

604 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

FOOD VALUE AND USES OF THE CARP.

At the time of the introduction of the carp to this country a greatly-
exaggerated idea became prevalent as to its value as a food fish, or, at
least, as to its qualities as a food fish. This will be noted by a glance
at the statements which were sent to the Bureau of Fisheries by those
who had received the fish, and which were compiled and published by
Smiley (1884, 1886, 1886a, etc.) a few years after the fish first began
to be distributed. Some of these enthusiasts even went so far as to
say that the flesh of carp was of a better quality than that of the trout,
white-fish, salmon, and many other of our finer fishes. How such a
notion should have become so generally distributed it is difficult to
see, for at no time were such claims made for the carp by those who
were most interested in its introduction, although it is true that prob-
ably most Americans will hardly agree with Mr. Hessel (1881, p. 897)
when he asserts that it "is one of the most excellent fresh-water
fishes." Mr. Hessel, however, was a German, and in Germany the
flesh of the carp is much esteemed. What early habitude ma}^ do in
determining likes and dislikes as regards food is illustrated by the fact
that Germans who live near the Great Lakes, where the}' could easily
get what we should consider better fish, often eat carp from prefer-
ence, while the American fishermen rarely, if ever, use the carp them-
selves. As will be mentioned later, the reason for this is perhaps a
matter of cooking.

At the present time the popular prejudice is in most parts of the
country generally against the carp as a food fish. It is even stated
by many that it is utterly worthless. A common complaint made
against it is its muddy flavor, and that this often exists is admitted
even by those who like the fish best. This flavor has, in fact, always
been recognized by carp culturists in Europe, and special precautions
are taken to avoid it. It is said to be present in those fish which have
lived in very muddy places, especially where the water is stagnant
and the temperature rather high. If the carp are removed from such
places and kept for a short time in fresh running water, the muddy
flavor is claimed to be removed entirely .a

In the chapter dealing with the carp in Europe, it has been shown
how extensively this fish is used for food there, especially in Germany
and France. It is the custom in many places there to keep the fish
alive in tanks at the market, thus selling them to the customers not
only in a fresh but actually in a living condition.

Many methods have been given for cooking carp — undoubtedly any

a Day (1880-1884, p. 162) says: " To improve their flavour Mr. Tull (Phil. Trans. Koy.Soc, 1754, p. 870)
castrated these fish and found that subsequently they grew more rapidly, fattened more readily, and
were of a superior flavour." Similar experiments have frequently been mentioned, especially in the
older works, but there seems to be no record of the attempt having been made recently. In this
connection see Weddige (1882).

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. C>05

German knows what arc best; but I do not feel competent to judge of
them. In general, it would .seem that the flesh is best boiled and baked
and prepared with some sort of dressing. Dr. S. P. Bartlett (11*03,
p. 4:9) gives the following suggestions :a

I feel sure that most of the prejudice to the carp as a table fish is from the fact
that they arc too often taken from the warm water, fried and broiled without prep-
aration. Their rapid growth and the warm water they are taken from, has a tend-
ency to make them soft. I have found the best mode of preparing them as follows:
Kill as soon as caught, by bleeding, taking'out all of the blood. Skin, soak in salt
water for several hours, then parboil and bake, basting frequently. They are fre-
quently served here as a boiled fish, covered with proper dressing. It takes but a
slight stretch of the imagination to place [them] on bill of fare as anything from
bluefish to buffalo. To-day I had bluefish served with my soup at one of the
principal hotels and it would have passed as such with the average man, tell-tale
bones, however, said carp.

Carp is probably more often served under the name of some other
fish than is generally suspected. Mr. John W. Titcomb gives an
instance where it was served at his instigation which shows that this
fish when well prepared compares so favorably to many others that
few suspect the difference. At the dinner in question (here were 224
people present, Mr. Titcomb's account of it is here given (Titcomb,
1902, p. 36):

That the carp is unfit for food, as claimed by many sportsmen, may be contra-
dicted by the statement that at the dinner of the Vermont Fish and Game League
held at Burlington, Yt., in January, 1902, at which were entertained the members
of the North American Fish and (lame Protective Association and representatives of
the fishery departments of three Provinces in Canada, the carp was served under
the title of "baked red snapper," and was a very palatable dish. The deception
was not planned by the hotel managers, but at the request of the president of the
league in order that the carp might be fairly tested as to its edible qualities. While
a great many of those who ate the fish knew that it was not the genuine red snap-
per, it is probable that not one of the guests had any idea that he was eating the
despised carp.

It is probable that many hotels and restaurants would find it profit-
able to have carp regularly on their bills of fare, especially such as
have considerable German patronage. The report of the Commis-
sioners of Inland Fisheries and Game (of Massachusetts) for 1893
(published in 1894) quotes the statement that at that time at least one
restaurant in Cleveland regularly had carp on its bill of fare; and a

"Doctor Bartlett also gives a recipe for "carp omelet "or "carp jelly," said to be of Swedish origin.
It was given to him by Doctor Weiss, of Ottawa, ill., who declares that the perfected product is
equal to the imported fish jelly that brings SI per pound. The recipe is as follows:

Take a 6 or 8 pound carp; scale and skin. Leave head and skin [tins?] . Cut into small pieces and
place in boiling water just sufficient to cover, and add salt, coarsely uround pepper, allspice, and a bay
leaf or two. Boil about twenty minutes or until perfectly soft. Remove from the tire, remove pieces
of fish from the water, but preserve the water. Break the pieces so as to be able to remove all of the
bones thoroughly. Skin fins and head pieces. Strain liquid through a colander and if necessary
add a cupful of gelatin, previously dissolved, to this liquid. At the same time add such ether pieces
as may be desired. Add the original pieces of fish to the liquid or gelatinized liquid. Stir and place
on ice until solidified.

606 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

recently published menu" of the cafe luncheon of the Waldorf-Astoria,
New York, for April 16, 1902, contains the item, "Carp, Rhine Wine
sauce'1 at 65 and 10 cents.

It is not maintained, however, that the attempt should be made to
put carp on an equal footing with our admittedly finer fishes. It is
merely desired to show that if the prejudice at present prevailing
against it as a food fish could be removed it would be much more
extensively used than at present. .Even now hundreds of tons of carp
are being consumed yearly in the larger cities of this country, though
the demand can still not be cpnsidered equal to the possible supply.
The amount of these fish now used will be considered under the sub-
ject of the carp fisheries (p. 617). The sale is at present mostly limited
to the poorer classes in the cities, and especially to the Jewish people.
For this trade it is necessary that the fish be shipped "in the round,"
and those that have previously been cleaned will not be accepted.

Several methods of specially preparing carp have been tried to some
extent in this country, but none of them has as yet been attempted on
a large scale. I was told that canning carp had been tried in Cleve-
land, but was unable to get any definite information on the subject.
If the dogfish of our coasts, a species of shark, can be put up success-
fully in this form, as is now maintained, it seems that as much might
be expected of the carp. The greatest difficulty would be, in both
cases, in overcoming popular prejudice and in establishing a market
for the product.

A few firms along Lake Erie have been smoking a considerable
quantity of carp, which has, however, never had a wide market, but
has been disposed of locally. For this purpose the larger fish are
used, weighing usually 12 to 15 pounds. With a sharp knife the skin
and scales are cut off in broad strips (about three to a side), the cuts
not going so deep, however, but that the imprints of the scales still
show on the flesh. The head, viscera, and fins are all cut away, and
the fish is then cut up into transverse sections or "steaks''' some 2 or
3 inches in thickness. This last process is readily accomplished by
means of a sharp knife fixed in a long-handled lever, as is shown in
figure 4, plate n (the operator to the left). Two skilled operators can
prepare a large number of fish in this manner in a comparatively short
time. The steaks are strung on long iron rods and are smoked in the
ordinary way. I was told that this product was sold as smoked carp
and retailed at about 15 cents per pound. The claim was made that
"except for the bones it could not be told from smoked sturgeon," and
that I myself tried I found to be very palatable. At a retail market
in Sandusky I actually found smoked carp on sale at 18 cents per pound
under the name of smoked sturgeon. The larger fish are not readily

a This menu has been reproduced in Transactions American Fisheries Society, Thirty-second Annual
Meeting, 1903, p. 123, and in the Report of the [Illinois] State Board of Fish Commissioners, 1900-1902.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 607

.sold in the round, those of 3 to 5 pounds' weight being considered best
for cooking, and it seems that smoking should be an important way
to utilize the less desirable size. 1 am unable to give even approxi-
mate figures of the amount or value of this particular product at this
time, but it seems to be an industry which is capable of being devel-
oped upon a paying basis to a much greater extent than at present.

Wholesale dealers who have tried the experiment of salting carp
down, as is done with the herring, and thus holding them over to a
season when they would demand a higher price, inform me that the
experiment was not a success. This is probably due largely to the
fact that the Jewish people are by far the largest consumers of carp
in this country, and thej^ want the fish as fresh as possible. It was
also the opinion that the salting had a deteriorating effect upon the
qualit}^ of the flesh. It is a common practice in most of the large fish
houses, however, to freeze large quantities of carp when the supply is
p-reatlv in excess of the demand at the time and to hold them over in
this condition until there is a market for them.

The scarcity of sturgeon and the high price brought by caviar
naturally suggested to rnaiw the possibility of using the roe of the
carp for their purpose. While the eggs are small, a single large
female often contains a large quantity of them (see p. 574), and during
the breeding season carp roe could be obtained in abundance. But
those on the Great Lakes who have attempted to manufacture caviar
from the roe of the carp have all reported a failure, complaining that
in the process the eggs turn pink or red. Inquiries have been made
as to whether this could be avoided. This change of color is probably
always characteristic of caviar made from carp eggs, as is evidenced
by the following quotation from Walton (1901 ed., p. 1 1 ' > ) :

But it is not to be doubted but that in Italy they make great profit of the spawn of
Carps, by selling it to the Jews, who make it into red caviare, the Jews not being by
their law admitted to eat of caviare, made of the Sturgeon, that being a fish that wants
scales, and, as may appear in Leviticus xi, by them reputed to be imclean.

It is possible that similar caviar made in this country would find a
ready sale in the large cities, such as New York and Boston, where
there are large settlements of Jews.

It is said that in some parts of Europe " the palate, commonly termed
the 'tongue,' is considered a great delicacy."

In common with numerous other fishes certain parts of the carp
were formerly considered to be of great medicinal value. Thus Walton,
on the page quoted above, says that "'physicians make the galls and
stones in the heads of Carps to be very medicinable."

Besides beino- of value as an article of food there are a number of

CD

other ways in which carp may prove to be most useful. Perhaps the
most important of these is in helping to keep in check the increase of
noxious insects which pass their larval stages in the water, and especially

tf08 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

that ever-present cosmopolitan pest, the mosquito. Howard (1901,
p. 161) emphasizes the importance of fish in this respect and gives an
instance where carp are said to have been very effective, though he him-
self doubts whether carp could have been the fish that destroyed the
larvae. He sa3Ts:

It was stated a number of years ago in Insect Life, that mosquitoes were at one
time very abundant on the Riviera in South Europe, and that one of the English
residents found that they bred abundantly in the water tanks, and introduced carp
into the tanks for the purpose of destroying the larvae. It is said that this was done
with success, but the well-known food-habits of the carp seem to indicate that there
is something wrong with the story. If top-minnows or sticklebacks had been intro-
duced, however, the story would have been perfectly credible, and it points to the
practical use of fish under many conditions. Some years ago Mr. C. H. Russell of
Bridgeport, Conn., described a case in which a very high tide broke away a dike and
flooded the salt meadows of Stratford, a small town on the north side of Long Island
Sound. The receding tide left two small lakes nearly side by side and of the same
size. In one lake the tide left a dozen or so small fish, while the other was Ashless.
An examination by Mr. Russell in the summer of 1891, showed that while the Ashless
lake contained tens of thousands of mosquito larvae, that containing the fish had no
larvae. «

From the results of the stomach examinations recorded in the earlier
pages of this report it does not seem that Howard's conclusion that
carp did not destroy the larva? in the tanks in question is warranted.
While it is true that no mosquito larva? were found among the intes-
tine contents examined in connection with the present investigation,
this may have been due to their small size; the fact that in some
cases the food of the fish seems to have consisted almost entirely of
insect larva? makes it probable that those of the mosquito would be
taken as well. Since it is reasonable to suppose that there was little
or no other food in the tanks mentioned in the above quotation, it is all
the more probable that the carp would there have eaten the mosquito
larva?, and I see no reason to doubt the original statement. It may
well be that among our native fish there are some species, such as the
stickleback and top minnow, which are better adapted to this purpose
than the carp, but the latter is not for this reason a negligible factor.
Undoubtedly many ponds that annually breed millions of mosquitoes
need only to have plenty of fish introduced in order to abate the
nuisance. If carp will do this as well as other fishes, it will serve a
double purpose, as it can also be used for food.

Another, and perhaps even greater, benefit to be derived from the
presence of carp has recently been suggested in a bulletin by Doctor

a In February and March, 1904, I had similar opportunity to observe the efficacy of fish in keeping
the waters where they arc present free from mosquito larvoe. About the hacienda at Chichen-Itza,
Yucatan, there are a number of large tanks which are kept constantly rilled with water for the stock
and for other purposes. In some of these tanks mosquito larva; were very abundant; but in the
others, into which a few small native fish, locally known as "mojarras" (Herus urophthalmus) , had
been introduced, none were to be found. The same was true of two natural pools in the vicinity
where these fish lived, while, on the other hand, large numbers of larva could be found in small
hollows in the rock and other places where the rain water had been standing for a few days.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 609

Stiles (1902), of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry. It
was learned by Doctor Hutchinson, an inspector of the Bureau in
Oregon, that sheep from the lowlands along the Columbia and Wil-
lamette rivers, where carp are numerous, are much freer of the fluke
disease than those from other sections of the country, and it is sug-
gested that the parasites {Fasdola hepatica) which produce the disease
may be destroyed by the carp while in a cystic state (cercarise) and
attached to the leaves of grass or while they are in their intermediate
host, the common fresh-water snail Limnsea. In a letter to the Bureau,
dated December 2, 1901, Doctor Hutchinson writes:

Prof. 0. V. Piper, of the Washington Agricultural College, in conversation with
me, mentioned the theory which I find is, as he said, extant in the minds of many
farmers along this river, namely, that "leeches" [liver flukes], which were formerly
numerous in the livers of cattle and sheep, have to a considerable extent disappeared
since the introduction of carp into the waters of this river.

While, of course, the farmers' idea is that the carp now consume the leech which,
according to their view, the cattle formerly swallowed with the water while drink-
ing, it is possible that there may be a practical connection between certain peculiar
habits of this fish and the noticeable freedom from fascioliasis among the cattle and
sheep ranged on the bottoms adjoining streams in which these fish are found, com-
pared with animals coming from other sections where carp are unknown. About 75
per cent of the cattle and sheep coming from the western slope of the Cascades,
exclusive of this Columbia River bottom, are infested with Fasciola hepatica; but from
this particular portion only about 5 per cent are so infested.

And in another letter of later date (January 4, 1902) he adds:

I am able to say that fascioliasis is much less common in animals from the lower
Columbia and Willamette slough lands than from any other swampy districts of
Oregon or Washington.

The carp have the more chance to destroy these parasites since the
bottom lands are subject to annual overflow, and at such times the fish
spread over the meadows and root out and eat much of the grass.
Although 1 do not know that any species of Limnsea has been actually
identified in the alimentary tracts of carp, there can be no doubt, as
Doctor Evermann states in a letter quoted in the above bulletin, that
carp do eat them when they are at hand. Doctor Stiles appears to
have justification for his final statement that ''the action of the carp
in this case appears to be very strongly supported by the facts stated,
and it seems that the introduction of carp into fluke districts generally
would result in a great decrease of liver-fluke disease."

The Bureau of Fisheries, as well as some of the state hatcheries,
have found that young carp make very good food for black bass, and
according to the reports of the Bureau at least 1,000,000 of these small
fish must have been used in this way in the years from 1891 to 1896.
They have also been used to put into trout ponds to clean out the for-
eign matter, to destroy the algae, etc. (Report United States Fish Com-
mission for 1900 (1901), p. 57). It is possible that small carp would

F. C. 1904—39

610 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

make excellent bait for bass, and perhaps other fish, but I do not know
that they have been tried.

On account of its hardiness and the readiness with which it will
accommodate itself to small quarters the carp makes an excellent aqua-
rium fish for exhibition purposes. At the large market in Boston there
are several large carp in a glass tank so small that the fish now have
barely room to turn around. It is said that these same fish have been
there for a number of years.

When carp began to be common in Lake Erie it was suggested by
many that perhaps the air bladders, or "sounds,'1 as they are called,
might be used for the manufacture of isinglass, which is extensively
used in clarifying wines and in similar ways. At present about the
only fresh-water fish whose sound is used for this purpose is the stur-
geon, and the sturgeon fishery is comparatively so small that the sale
of the sounds amounts to very little commercially. Those who had
tried to use carp sounds for this purpose had not been successful.
Nevertheless, at my suggestion, Mr. John Tufts, of the Cape Ann
Isinglass Compan}T, made further tests on some sounds which were
procured for me by Mr. Cleaver, of the firm of R. Bell & Co., Port
Clinton, Ohio. Mr. Tufts writes me as follows:

In regard to the carp sounds which you sent me, will say that I have tested them
and find that [they] will not answer our purpose, inasmuch as they do not seem
to contain any glue.

Finally, where carp are taken in greater numbers than can be used
for food, or where the attempt is being made to rid waters of them,
they can always be used for the manufacture of valuable fertilizer.
The importance of fish for this purpose and the extent of the industry
in some parts of the country, have recently been well described by
Stevenson (1903). Fish refuse is regularly sent from many fish houses
in the region to the fertilizer factory at Sandusky, but under present
conditions carp contribute very little to this, being shipped almost
entirely in the round.

The possible value of the carp as a game fish will be discussed in a
later section (p. 619). a

THE CARP FISHERIES.

Within the past decade the carp fishery has increased to such an
extent in the general regions of Lake Erie and the Illinois River that
it now forms a recognized and independent industry. Although it

n There is one purpose for which the carp would afford valuable opportunity which has not been
mentioned— that is, as material for scientific study of variation and heredity among fishes. Experi-
ments in this line have been actively prosecuted in recent years, especially with plants and mam-
mals; but so far as I am aware nothing has been done as yet with a fish. That the carp would be an
excellent subject for such experiments is evident from its great variability, its adaptation to domesti-
cation and the consequent ease with which it can be reared, its hardiness and rapid growth; and,
finally, its great fertility, affording abundant material for quantitative results. Probably the only
rival of the carp as a fish for this purpose would be the gold-fish, which might be preferable on
account of its smaller size.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 611

is carried on to some extent throughout the entire year, and some per-
sons devote their whole time to it, the bulk of the fishing, in the Lake
Erie region, comes in spring and .summer, when the number of men
engaged is greatly augmented. Many of these persons are profes-
sional fishermen who at other seasons are engaged in catching other
kinds of fish; but many also are farmers, usually living in the vicinity
of the fishing grounds, who supplement the income of their farms in
this way. For this reason it is very difficult to estimate the number
of men engaged in carp fishing, either for a part or for the whole of
their time.

By far the greater number of carp marketed are taken in seines,
and the methods differ only in details from those employed in seining
generally. For this reason I shall give but a short description of the
methods employed, and shall confine my remarks to the fisheries along
Lake Erie and the adjacent waters. Apparently about the same
methods are employed by the Illinois fishermen. (See illustrations in
Illinois fish commissioner's report, 1900-1902.)

Some of the fishermen, especially those who fish along the shores of
Lake Erie, make their headquarters in the cities where the wholesale
houses are situated, making trips of two or three days, or even a week
or more duration along the shores, and running back when they have
a load of fish. These trips are made usually in open, flat-bottomed
boats, of the st3rle known on the lakes as "seine boats" and "pound
boats." The}7 are rigged as single or double "cats," but with the sail
extending beyond the gaff to form a sort of permanent topsail.
Others, and especially the farmers who fish for only a portion of the
year, usually have a permanent camp established near some of the
marshes. The fish when caught at these places are transferred at once
to live-cars if to be kept but a short time, or to artificial ponds if
they are to be kept longer, and are later sent to the wholesale houses
either in wagons or by boat.

SEINING.

The seines used in this fishing are commonly 40 to 50 rods in length,
about 18 feet deep in the middle and 10 feet deep at the ends. The
middle portion or bag is generall}T about 5 rods long and has a 3-inch
mesh, while the wings have a 1-inch mesh. Longer seines — to a length
of 80 rods — are sometimes used, but are usually found to be too
inconvenient. The cork-line is well supplied with floats to keep it up,
but there are usually no weights on the lead-line. The lead-line is
made shorter than the cork-line, however, so that it hauls somewhat
ahead of the latter and hugs the bottom. The seine boats commonly
used are open, flat-bottomed, centerboard boats about 20 to 30 feet
long, square at the stern, and fitted with a single mast (fig. 3, pi. n).
The seine is loaded into the stern of the boat in such a way that it can
be paid off easily, and is taken to a ground where the fishermen have

612 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

reason to think there are carp. There are usually certain definite
beaches where the hauls are made, places that are known to be com-
paratively free of vegetation and snags. As the summer advances it
becomes more necessary to make the hauls on regular grounds, which
are thus kept comparatively free of weeds. Where the seine has not
been more or less regularly hauled the weeds become so abundant that
it is impossible to make a good seine haul over them, for the lead-line
trips and can not be made to hug the bottom. The various hauling
grounds are patrolled with considerable regularity, and as soon as the
fish come on in any numbers the fishermen are usually aware of it.

For a seine of the size mentioned a crew usually consists of not less
than four men, though two crews sometimes help each other haul,
thus reducing the labor. Nominally the waters are free for any one to
fish in them, but as a matter of fact certain crews come to have a feel-
ing of ownership for the hauling grounds they have established, and
in this way the}' assume rights which are generally respected among
themselves by an unwritten law.

Arrived at the hauling grounds, the fishermen proceed with cau-
tion, making as little noise as possible, so as not to frighten the fish.
A long brail rope is bent to each end of the seine. The free end of one
of these is left on shore, where a part of the crew remain as well, and
the others row the seine boat out in a big sweep around the hauling
ground. First the brail rope is paid out and then the seine itself, and
finally the other brail rope is carried to the shore at a considerable
distance from the point of starting. One person in a small duck boat
usually follows along the seine to see that it sets right, and that it has
not caught on any snags. The brail ropes are now passed around the
drums of wooden reels or windlasses, and wound slowly in, one man
keeping the line taut while one or two others wind in. In the mean-
time the fisherman in the duck boat follows along the net as it is gradu-
ally brought in, watching to see that it does not trip and freeing it if
it catches.

When the brails have been brought close into the shallow water the
two ends of the seine are carried along shore to some median point,
and the net is now pulled in directl}T, hand over hand. In order to
keep the lead-line down to the bottom a " jack'1 or "roller" is pushed
down into the mud, so that the line runs under a sort of wooden spool.
In this way the seine is gradually hauled in until all the fish are
bunched in a small portion of the bag (figs. 1 and 2, pi. n), from
which, with short-handled dip nets, they are either transferred directly
to floating wooden crates or live-cars, or are placed in a boat and later
transferred to the cars (fig. 3, pi. n.) The seine is then again loaded
upon the seine boat, and if another haul is not to be made soon is taken
ashore and spread out on a reel to dry.

Under certain conditions special methods of seining are regularly

Report U. S. B F. 1904.

Plate II.

U
LJ

<

>

LJ
I
CO

0.

or
<
o

LJ

I

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 613

employed. For example, some of the marshes connected with small
tributaries of the Sandusky River open into the main channel by out-
lets so definite that any fish which happen to be in the marshes can be
shut oil from the river simply by setting a seine across these outlets.
As has already been explained (p. 558), on account of the varying direc-
tion and force of the winds over Lake Erie the water level is almost con-
stant^ changing, affecting also the level of the waters of the bays, rivers,
and marshes. By experience the fishermen have learned that when the
current sets up and the water level is rising, the carp work up the streams
and spread out over the marshes. Converse!}-, with the fall of the water
they move out of the marshes again into the deeper waters. So careful
watch is kept of the currents, and shortly after the water has reached
its highest, and is beginning to go down again, a seine is stretched
across the outlet from the marsh, as described above. A row of stakes
is placed in a semicircular line on the downstream side of the seine to
prevent its being carried away by the force of the outgoing current,
and the cork-line is made fast to each of these stakes, so that the net
will not be carried away if the current should change and set upstream
again. As the water recedes the carp crowd on the upstream side of
the net in large numbers, and when the fishermen decide that enough
have come down to justify it, the haul is made. If the current is still
running out, a second seine is often set immediately in the place of
the first. The fishermen can get some estimate of the number of carp
that have gathered above the seine b}T the number that are seen splash-
ing, or by running a paddle slowly through the water, when, if there
are nmry tish present, the}' can be felt to bump against the paddle.
To make the haul, a brail rope is carried across upstream from one
side to the other, and the net is wound in to one shore in the usual way.

An outfit for seine fishing, including seine boat, seine, lines, and
other accessories, represents an outlay of about $150 to $200. In other
words, a capital of $10 to $50 each is required where the crew consists
of four men. Some crews, consisting, perhaps, of only two or three
men, who work on a smaller scale, are probably able to outfit for a
smaller sum. In some cases the outfit is furnished by a wholesale
dealer or fishing company, and the fishermen work on a salary or on a
percentage of the value of the catch.

The time ordinarily required to make a seine haul and dispose of
the fish is from one to two hours, though it may vary with conditions,
and the haul is not considered to have paid unless at least half a ton
of fish is taken. As a rule, the fishermen will not make a haul unless
they think there is a chance of getting a greater amount of carp than
that. The number of fish which may be taken at one time depends in
large part upon the season, and the size of single hauls sometimes
made during the spring months is almost incredible. Upon what
appeared to be reliable information there were reported to me a num-

6 1 4 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

ber of hauls in which 10 tons of carp were taken at one time. It
would probably be fair to assume that these fish taken in the spring-
averaged in the neighborhood of 8 pounds each, which would mean
that each haul contained some 2,500 fish. The largest single haul of
which I heard at Lake Erie was said to have contained 14 tons of fish.
A recent apparently well-authenticated report from Lake St. Clair,
however, exceeds this by more than as much again. Net fishing in
Lake St. Clair has been prohibited by the state of Michigan until
within a short time, and in the favorable marshes of the St. Clair
delta and about the mouth of the Clinton River the carp had increased
to an amazing extent, resulting in some phenomenal hauls now that
seining for these fish is permitted. The American Fish Culturist for
July, 1904 (vol. 1, no. 7, pp. 18-19), quotes from the Detroit News an
account of probably the largest haul on record, and adds further con-
firmation of the report from Mr. Seymour Bower, superintendent of
the Michigan state hatcheries. The article seems of sufficient interest
to quote in full:

" That despised fish known as the German carp is having a growing commercial
value, and with the possibilities of carp fishing in mind, Carl Schweikart formed two
companies, the St. Clair and Erie Carp Company and the Detroit Carp Company.
The field of operations is at the mouth of the Clinton River, where the water is clear
and the fish are supposed to be at their best. The former company has had phe-
nomenal success in carp catching, having taken in one haul last week 7,200, which
they suppose will average about 8 pounds. The catch was made about 8 o'clock in
the morning, and several men were kept busy all day getting the carp out of the nets
and into the ponds in which the carp are kept until sold. Eastern buyers are figur-
ing for the purchase of their entire catch, but Mr. Schweikart is inclined to wait for
better prices. The quotation in New York is now 3 cents a pound.

"What do they do with the carp? Well, they are considered a delicacy by hun-
dreds of patrons of the best hotels and cafes in the East, but the name ' Great Lakes
salmon' is preferred."

Referring to the above, Mr. Seymour Bovver, superintendent of the Michigan State
hatcheries, says:

"The big haul was made in Lake St. Clair, near the mouth of Clinton River. Net
fishing of all kinds was prohibited in this lake until the last legislature passed an act
allowing the seining of carp. This lake, as you may know, is famous for its small-
mouth bass fishing, and it is claimed that the presence of the carp in such over-
whelming numbers is bad for the bass; hence the passage of this law."

"Mr. Schweikart is interested in two companies fishing for carp, and I supposed
that report of the catch for the month of May, received a few days ago, covered
everything in which he was interested, but it was for one company only. The
report for the other company was received this morning, and the big haul is there
all right. I then called Mr. Schweikart by 'phone and he not only confirms the
statement made in the clipping, but says the half was not told, and I know Mr.
Schweikart is thoroughly reliable. He states that from the big haul they impounded
7,200 carp by count, and for want of time and facilities for handling were obliged to
let fully as many more go, and that the fish taken will average not less than 10
pounds in weight. The two companies in which he is interested impounded 44,900
carp by count in May, or upward of 200 tons.

"Following are the rules under which eleven firms are now fishing there:

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 615

"Rule I.

"No person shall catch German carp in any manner except with hook and line,

without first notifying in writing the State game warden and the State Board of Fish

Commissioners, at their office in the city of Detroit, of the time and place where he

intends to fish for carp.

"Rule II.

"No person shall catch or take German carp from said waters except with a seine

with a four-inch mesh extension measure as used, and with a hook and line. No

person shall catch or take German carp with a seine without first giving a good and

sufficient bond conditioned for the faithful observance of these regulations and for

the payment of a penalty of fifty dollars ($50) for each and every violation of these

rules and regulations.

"Rule III.

"If German carp which are caught are to be kept for future sale, shipment, or
delivery, a pond or other suitable inclosure shall be prepared in which said carp
shall be placed and kept, and the State game warden and the State Board of Fish
Commissioners shall be forthwith notified in writing of the location of such pond or
inclosure. Said pond or inclosure shall at all times be open to the inspection of the
said game warden, or any of his deputies, and to the inspection of the State Board
of Fish Commissioners, or to the inspection of any person appointed by said board
for the purpose of inspecting said carp and the manner of fishing therefor.

"Rule IV.

"When any such German carp are killed and sold, shipped, or delivered, the
owner or shipper shall make duplicate invoices of the same, one of which shall
forthwith be delivered or mailed to the State game warden, or to such person and to
such place as he may designate, and the other shall accompany the package of carp so
sold, shipped, or delivered. Said invoice shall truly state the time and manner of
shipment; by and to whom consigned, sold, or delivered. Every fisherman who
shall engage in business of catching German carp shall once a month make a report
to the State Board of Fish Commissioners, which report shall contain a true state-
ment of the quantity in pounds of the daily catch of German carp made by him
during the month. Said report shall be mailed or delivered as aforesaid on or before
the fifth day of each month.

"Rule V.

"Every package of German carp sold, shipped, or delivered shall be plainly
marked so as to show what it contains. It shall also show by whom same is sold,
shipped, or delivered, and such package shall contain no other kind of fish whatever.

"Rule VI.

"When any other kind of fish than German carp shall be caught or taken in the
seine prescribed by law and by these regulations, the same shall be carefully put
back in the water and, under no circumstances, kept by the fisherman.

"Rule VII.

"Whenever a special inspector shall be required to watch the taking, killing, or
shipping of German carp by any fisherman, the expenses of said inspector, not
exceeding three dollars per day, shall be borne by such fisherman.

"The right to amend and alter these regulations at any time is especially reserved
by the State Board of Fish Commissioners, and will for each violation of any of the
laws of Michigan with reference to the protection of fish, pay to the State Board of
Fish Commissioners the sum of $50, then this obligation is to be void, otherwise
to remain in full force. ' '

616 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

The laws governing the taking of carp in Lake St. Clair are quoted
to show what can be done in cases of this kind to allow of the utiliza-
tion of the carp, to decrease their numbers, if that seems necessary,
and still to afford protection to the native fish, especially the game n\ :b,
such as the black bass.

OTHER METHODS OF CAPTURE.

The number of carp taken b}T other means is insignificant as com-
pared with that taken by seining — in fact, it is seldom that any other
kind of net is set exclusively for carp. Small numbers are taken more
or less regularly in the pound nets set in Lake Erie for saugers and
pickerel (wall-eyed pike) and for white-fish, as well as in the traps
and fyke nets set in the bays and rivers for other species of fish. A
few carp — mostly small ones — are obtained in the gill nets set for
white-fish about the Bass Islands in the fail. Occasionally when a
number of carp have entered some place where a net can be set across
their only way of escape, or where they can be driven into it, a gill
net is used. Thus if carp are frightened out of the rushes where they
are feeding they will usually make directly for deeper water. If a gill
net is set so as to intercept them many will rush into it and become
entangled; but they are such vigorous fish that unless the net is an
exceptionally strong one they are apt simply to tear it to pieces. I
believe trammel nets have been tried in the same way, but not wTith
enough success to warrant their general use.

PACKING AND SHIPMENT.

The method of transportation of the fish to the fish houses has
already been mentioned (p. 611). The fishermen may dispose of them
immediately after they are caught, or they may keep them for a time
pending a rise in the market price. In the latter case the carp are
retained in pens or ponds as will be described later. The fish are
received at the wholesale houses often in a living condition, although
they may have come a distance of several miles packed a foot or two
deep in a wagon or boat. They are transferred from the boats to
boxes by means of short-handled dip nets, the iron frames of which
are usually straight on the side opposite the handle, a construction
which facilitates using them to take fish from the bottom of a boat.
The boxes are now slid inside the fish house and placed on the scales
where the fish are " weighed in," and are then dumped out in a pile on
the floor. Usually no record is made of the number of fish, but all
measurements are by weight. As soon as possible the fish are packed
into plain lumber shipping boxes of uniform size and especially made
for this purpose. A box is placed on the scales and chopped ice is
shoveled in until it tips a certain wTeight; a 150-pound weight is then
added, and carp are shoveled in until it is balanced. For handling the

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 617

fish when they are on the floor ordinary large scoop-shovels are used.
Each day the boxes of carp are shipped either by freight or express to
the large cities, where they are in demand. From the fact that some
of the fish from Lake Erie at times reach New York still in a living
condition, it will be seen that there is no need that the fish should be
cleaned before shipment, even did not the consumption of the greater
portion by Jews demand that they be shipped " in the round."

Some firms, when the supply of carp exceeds the demand at the
time, freeze a part of the catch and hold them over in this way, but
the frozen fish do not find so ready a sale.

EXTENT OF THE FISHERIES.

The amount and value of the carp output of Lake Erie has been
steadily on the increase for the past eight or nine years. The fish
first began to be handled by the dealers in about 1890 or 1891, but
had no extensive market until .about 1895. At a fish house in Port
Clinton it was stated that when they first began to be taken they were
thrown in with the mullets and sold at 1 cent a pound, and the
dealers did not want them at that price. They were then put on the
list as German carp, at 3 cents, and at once found a ready sale.

That the fishery had not become established in 1892 is shown by the
fact that carp are not mentioned under the "Products of Lake Erie
fisheries," in the Report of the United States Fish Commission for
that year (p. cl), nor in the paper by Smith in the same report on
the fisheries of the Great Lakes/' They were being used more or
less in other places, however, and Smith (1898, p. 494) estimates the
amount of carp taken in the waters of the United States, exclusive of
the Great Lakes, in 1894, as 1,448,217 pounds, valued at $37,683.
The catch from Illinois was more than four times that from any other
state, Iowa coming next. The Lake Erie fisheries had increased
enormously by 1899, and Townsend (1901) in reporting for that year
says (p. 178):

The catch of carp in Lake Erie in 1899 amounted to 3,633,679 pounds, valued at
$51,456. The report of the Illinois Fishermen's Association shows that the catch of
carp in the Illinois River is greater than that of all other species combined, the
quantity of carp taken in 1899 amounting to 6,332,990 pounds, valued at $189,980.
The yield of carp from the Ohio River and two of its tributaries, the Cumberland
and Wabash rivers, during the same year, amounted to 113,387 pounds, worth
$6,654.

These figures show an increase in the quantity of carp derived from the above-
named waters amounting to nearly nine times the quantity yielded six years ago.

aAlthough the Lake Erie and Illinois carp fisheries had not become established at this time, these
fish from eastern waters were finding a ready sale in the New York markets. This is shown by the
following statement of Mr. John H. Brakeley (1889a): " I have sold several hundred pounds of carp
during the past autumn in the New York market, the commission merchants getting 15 cents a
pound for them. I am satisfied that it will pay to feed carp, and shall do considerable of it next
season."

CIS BJBPOBT OF THE COMMISSIONER <>k FISHERIES.

In the summer of L901 I myself visited all the principal fish dealers
(in Lake Erie, and made as accurate an estimate as possible of the
extent of the carp fishery for the calendar year L900. A number of
EaotorB prevent great accuracy in such an inquiry; for example: (a)

Some dealers keep no record whatever of the carp handled by them;

(b) others keep record only of their own catch, not recording those
bought by them from fishermen; (c) in some cases the carp are weighed
in and Sold with tin1 suckers, and (//) it sometimes happens in the
Spring that carp come in faster than they can he handled, when the
surplus i^ weighed up with the refuse, and sent to the fertilizer fac-
tories. In spite of this, however, it is felt that the following- statistics
gives fair estimate o\' the total amount of carp shipped from Lake
Erie in L900:

rounds.

Detroit, ^1 ich 300, 000

Monroe, Mich 14,000

Toledo, Ohio 432, 548

Port Clinton, Ohio 2,361,723

Sandusky, ( >hio 1, 260, 817

rotal for western end of lake 4,369,088

1 1 axon, Ohio 14, 168

Vermilion, < >hio 3, 561

i orain, Ohio 20,773

Cleveland, Ohio 16, (XX)

Ishtabula, Ohio 2, 500

Trio. Pa 12.000

Buffalo, xv i60,ooo

rotal for eastern end of lake 229. 002

Total for lake 4, 598, 090

The price paid to fishermen for carp varies from about 30 cents per

100 pounds in the spring months to 2$ cents per pound in the winter.
Taking i\ cents per pound as a fair average, the value of the carp
catch o\ L 900 would be 168,971.85. This is an increase of 964,:

pounds over the catch of 1899, and an increase of valuation of over
| . .opo. As nearly as could be judged at the time, the catch for 1901
promised to be about as much larger than that of 1900. No accurate
statistics have been gathered since that time, but the fishermen say
that the fishery is still increasing.

The number of pounds of carp taken in Lake Erie in 1S90 equaled
nearly one-sixteenth of the total catch of fish of all kinds in the lake
for that year, while the value was about one twentv-second of the
entire fisheries product.

In the Mississippi River and the streams tributary to it. especially

in the Illinois River, the carp fisheries are of far greater comparative

importance, and for several years carp have constituted over one-half

the total yield of the fisheries of the last-named stream (Townsend.

IBS OKBM TBI ETBTTf

1902, p. 150). In I 909 I
pound-, rallied at I
S. I'. Bartlel

Illinois Rirei

pound- l>'-in^ t.h'- oatp - —

f ;:

A'ill nr.

:.'

The anglers for trout a?
it contempt,
pion the foreigner,

. many, angling for ear
and ha.-; beea a n imports

plf-: and in England carp .
earliest introdtu

v a*

the included

, ■

pilations often attri
the section on a... g was p:
I

carp in t . . . . lage:

here:

lane of hym.

-

more than I kr.

-

In the later P. . b writ .
prominent place, a.
natural history and th
rivers: a - .

■ -
-her an_ . .-. ays

Hirrfa4<

•
ciirfi for 1301 would be -rorzh. too. ;*j0. If we edxma :>il oa tr.

tke catch, of 1300 ii increase of nearly* tfcnd It -*anii am. ..-.- v lppmrfiMlirty

.: v" 2 - ••. V- ■:- :

i

7- _ . . . ■ ;.-^

620 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

He then o-oes on to tell when one .should fish, the kinds of bait that
should be used, and ends with an elaborate recipe for its cooking.

Perhaps the best directions for fishing for carp with hook and line
are those quoted from Pennell by Goode (1888, p. 414) in his popular-
treatise on American Fishes.

Early in the morning, and, occasionally, late in the evening, are the best times for
fishing; but, as observed, the catching of Carp with the rod and line is always a diffi-
cult and uncertain operation, particularly if the fish are large. The smaller the pond,
the better the chance I have always found of catching Carp and Tench, though, of
course, they are not so large as in bigger waters. I once caught a bucketful of Carp
before breakfast, in a pond by the side of a road between Weybridge and Byfleet,
which was not bigger than an ordinary sized ball-room. The biggest of these Carp
did not, however, exceed 2 pounds in weight.

The following is the method of Carp fishing in stagnant waters which I have
found most successful:

Let the line be entirely of medium sized or fine round gut — clouded, if possible—
with a very light quill float, say No. 4, and one good-sized shot, about 6 inches or so
from the hook, which should be No. 5 or 6 and baited with a brandling or red worm,
riumb the depth accurately; and arrange the distance between the float and the shot,
so that the latter may exactly rest on the bottom, weighing down the point of the
float to about "half-cock," and letting the gut below the shot and the bait lie on
ground. Fix the rod in the bank and keep perfectly quiet. When a bite is per-
ceived, do not strike until the float begins to move away.

It constantly happens, how ever, that the Carp will not be taken either by this or
any other mode of fishing with which I am acquainted; but if he is to be caught at
all it is thus.

The baits are, worms (first), gentles, greaves, grains and various sorts of pastes,
of which latter, however, I believe the plain white bread crumb paste is the best, as
well as the most easily made. Professor Owen, who had a good deal of Carp fishing
experience in Virginia water, gave me the results of his practice which concur in a
great measure with my own, except that he fished with his bait paste made of soft
herring roe worked up with bread crumbs and wool, a favorable substitute some-
times for the brandling.

In Germany the "angler usually prepares for his sport by "ground-
baiting' with a thousand or more angle-worms, twenty-four hours
before he expects to fish, and while fishing he throws worms into the
water."

While most of our sportsmen would probably indignantl}7 object to
having the carp classed as a game fish, it must be admitted that
whether it should be so classed or not depends largely upon our defi-
nition of a game fish, and, as Goode says (1888, p. xiv), "no fish
which is not of the highest rank as a table delicacy is rated b}^ Ameri-
cans as a game fish." He continues:

The barbel, the dace, and the roach, the pets of the father of angling, classical in
the pages of sportsmen's literature, are despised by new world authorities, and are
now considered "coarse fish" even by English writers. Yet they afford excellent
sport — sport which in England tens of thousands enjoy to every one who gets the
chance to whip a salmon or trout line over preserved waters.

And so it is with the carp. Those who live where there is an abun-
dance of other fish, such as bass and pickerel, or even of perch and

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 621

bream, will probably not abandon those fish for the pursuit of the
carp, while, on the other hand, those who have done most of their
fishing for buffalo, red-horse, mullet, or bull heads should welcome
the carp with 303^. How far in this country its capture is supplanting,
or at least supplementing, the other of the coarser fishes in this respect
has been best told by Dr. S. P. Bartlett (1903), of Illinois. For this
reason I quote the greater portion of his paper:

The question has been asked me a great many times why it was that carp can not
be taken with the hook and line. A great many persons have told me that they
Save used all kinds of bait and failed to get them to take it. These inquiries came to
me as a surprise from the fact that hundreds daily fish for carp with hook and line
on Quincy Bay and all along the Illinois River with great success.

1 have found the be st bait to be a dough ball made by boiling cornmeal to a good stiff
mush, and then working the ordinary cotton batting into it until it becomes hard and
stiff, and then rolling into little round pellets about the size of a marble. Bait prepared
in this way will not be easily dissolved by the water. I use the ordinary Carlisle
hook fastened on the end of a good strong line and three or four inches above the
hook, attach quite a heavy sinker which will take the line to the bottom and allow
the bait to flow up away from the bottom. Another good bait is the ordinary ship
stuff from the mills, boiled stiff and dough rolled out in sheets and then cut up into
little squares, perhaps three-fourths of'an inch square. Fried potatoes, sliced raw
and fried until they become stiff, not brittle, also is a fine bait. Anyone conversant
with the hook and line at all, will have no trouble in carp if this bait is used as
indicated.

On Quincy Bay I have seen as many as two hundred people fishing for carp along
the shores, and nearly all of them get good fair strings. The carp when hooked is a
very vigorous fighter, and care must be used that he does not break the hook or
break out the hook from his mouth. I would advise the use of the landing net.
They are daily taken on trout lines, using the same kind of bait.

Since, your request for information as to the carp from an angling standpoint, I
have given the matter a great deal of attention, and have been greatly surprised at
the extent to which carp are caught with hook and line. From Cairo to Dubuque
on the Mississippi River I have found shores at all the towns lined with people
ffthing for carp, all catching them. One day last week, from the lower end of
Peoria, Illinois river, to water works point, a distance of three miles, I counted
1,103 people fishing with hook and line, and on investigation [it] developed that a
large per cent of them were taking carp. The majority of those caught weighed
a pound and as heavy as five pounds, all of them probably used as food. Permit
me to introduce here a letter from one of the best known sportsmen in the State
[Mr. M. D. Hurley, of Peoria, 111.]:

"Carp fishing with hook and line has now taken its place with bass and other
kinds of fishing. All along the river in this locality carp are being caught freely
with hook and line this year, and to say they are gamey, is not half expressing it.
For the past month I have made it my business to go along the river and take notes
of this particular kind of fishing and talked with no less than 25 different persons
who were busy catching carp, and in every instance I was told it was rare sport to
hook a carp, as it was quite as much of a trick to land one as it was to land a bass;
dip nets were used generally to land the carp, as the activity of the fish when jerked
out-of the water would tear the gills and free the fish quite often. The bait used
when fishing for carp is dough balls and partly boiled potatoes, the latter being best
in the opinion of the majority. The carp will bite on worms quite freely also, and
in two instances,'! found carp had been taken with minnows, something that has
been considered impossible heretofore, but in these two cases I am certain it was

622 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

done, as I have the names of the parties who caught the fish. An old German who
lives here goes daily to the river with a regular fly casting pole and reel to fish for
carp. Of course he exchanges the fly for the regulation hook, but he used his reel
in landing the carp, and says there is no finer sport than fishing for carp. This man
uses partly boiled potatoes altogether and is very successful in taking carp in num-
bers daily. I have caught a great many carp myself with hook and line, using pota-
toes, dough balls and worms, and found that the partly boiled potatoes worked
best, as the carp seemed to take that particular bait when they would not bite any
other. As for the sport of catching carp with hook and line, 1 consider it equal to
anything in the way of pleasure fishing, as the fish is gamey and will fight as hard
against being landed as bass or other game fish and is to be handled with precaution
on account of the tender gills, which will often tear when hooked by an inexperi-
enced angler. In the past two years carp have become popular where they were
unpopular, because of the wearing away of the prejudice that they were of no bene-
fit to the angler on account of the belief that they would not take a hook. Now it is
different, as the very ones who were so loud in their protest against the carp, have
found great sport in taking them with hook and line, and it is wonderful to hear the
change of sentiment as to the carp for food purposes. They are a good fish now and
fit for a king in comparison to what was said of them while the prejudice still existed.
To my mind the carp is a good fish for food purposes and is fast finding favor in the
west in every way, now that the angler has found it is the coming fish for sport-
Just at present, in the Illinois river, we have a world of all kinds of game fish and
no end of carp, which insures the angler his full measure of sport until the end of
time."

At Detroit and at Put-in Bay I have seen numbers of persons fish-
ing from the wharves with hand lines for carp. The bait in most gen-
eral use was a piece of boiled potato wrapped in mosquito netting to
keep it on the hook. On the 25th of July, 1901, with this bait, I saw
taken from the steamboat wharf at Put-in Bay a carp which measured
31.5 inches in length and the weight of which was estimated at about
16 pounds. This fish made a vigorous fight, and would have taxed
the ingenuity of an expert angler if he had hooked it on a trout line
and a light rod.

There is a tendency among sportsmen to deny the title of game fish
to an}r that will not rise to a bait, either real or artificial. In such a
category the carp certainly can not be included; it must be classed
rather with those fishes that reward the quiet, "contemplative"
angler, who must wait patiently until the fish bites, but who then has
the same problem and must exercise the same skill in landing his
game that he would have to display had he hooked one of those
species g-enerally acknowledged to be game fishes.

CARP CULTURE.

Carp ponds and pens may be divided primarily into classes accord-
ing to the purposes for which they are used: (1) Permanent ponds or
complements of ponds, used for breeding, rearing, and retaining 4he
fish until such time as they are large enough to dispose of in the
market; and (2) temporar}' ponds or other inclosures. used only for
holding carp from times when they are easily obtained until, on

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 623

account of their scarcity, the market value has risen to a point making
their sale profitable. The terms permanent and temporary are thus
used here, as it will be observed, not in the sense of the time of dura-
tion of the ponds, but as denoting the manner in which they are used.
The latter sort correspond more or less closely in their function to
the stock ponds on a well-equipped German carp farm. Either sort
ma}r be natural or artificial.

PERMANENT PONDS.

With a few possible exceptions carp culture has never been attempted
in this country after the lines on which it is carried on so extensively
in German}". Most of those persons throughout the United States
who aspired to carp culture at the time these fish were being dis-
tributed by the Government merely dumped the fish into any body of
water that was convenient, or into any pond that could be hastily
scraped out or constructed by damming some small stream, and there-
after left them to shift for themselves, possibly feeding them occa-
sionally at first. That such efforts were not a success is no more to
be wondered at than would be a man's failure if he attempted to estab-
lish a successful poultry farm merely by turning a few dozen fowls
loose in the neighborhood of his home. Whether extensive and prop-
erly conducted carp farms would then, or would now, be profitable
and pay a reasonable return on the capital and labor invested, is
another matter, and will be considered a little farther on.

It is not proposed here to enter into an elaborate description of the
methods employed b}r the successful European carp culturist. Ameri-
can readers who may be interested in the subject are referred to the
excellent paper by Hessel (1881), which has been cited frequently
throughout this report, and to the fuller account given in the transla-
tion published by the United States Fish Commission of the work by
Nicklas (1886). Numerous works on the subject have been published
in German, and references to them will be found in the bulletins
named above; among the more recent books may be mentioned those
by Susta (1888) and Knauthe (1901).

Some idea of the extent to which carp culture is practiced in Ger-
many and the neighboring parts of Europe may be gained from the
following extract quoted from Hessel (1881, p. 866):

A celebrated establishment for carp-culture, with large, extensive ponds, was
located, as early as the fourteenth century, near the town of Wittingau, in Bohemia,
Austria. The first beginning of it may be traced back to the year 1367. At that
time the lords of Rosenberg called into existence and maintained for centuries these
establishments on a scale so extensive that to this day they are the admiration of the
visitor, the main parts having survived, while the race of the Rosenbergs has long
been extinct.

The manor of Wittingau suffered greatly from the calamities of the Thirty Years'
War, and with it, in consequence, its fish-culture. The latter only recovered the

624 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

effects of it after passing, together with the large estate of a rich monastery of the
same name, in the year 1670, into possession of the Princes of Schwarzenberg, their
present owners. The extent which carp-culture has reached on these princely
domains will be seen from the circumstance that their artificial ponds comprise an
area of no less than 20,000 acres. The proceeds amount to about 500,000 pounds of
carp per annum. The ponds of the Princes of Schwarzenberg are probably the most
extensive of the kind on the globe. They are usually situated in some undulating
lowland country, where small valleys have been closed in by gigantic dams for the
purpose of forming reservoirs. Similar establishments, though not equally exten-
sive, are found in the provinces of Silesia and Brandenburg; as, for instance, near
Breslau and Cottbus, in Peitz and Pleitz, which I visited last year. In Hesse-Cassel,
Hanover, Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, and Holstein there are also many hundreds of
ponds, none of them covering more than a few acres, but almost every large farm
possessing at least one of them.

The well-appointed carp-cultural establishment has at least three
kinds of ponds, each adapted for a particular phase of the industry.
These ponds are usually made by throwing- dams across small valleys,
and b}T the aid of dikes, and are commonly fed by small streams flow-
ing- into them, by springs, or they may depend entirely upon the
rains to keep them filled. These last are often spoken of as "sky-
ponds," and are much more uncertain than the others. The ponds
fed by streams are ordinarily protected from flooding by freshets by
leading the main channel of the stream around them, so that the
amount of water which flows into the pond can be regulated at will.

The classes of ponds are:

1. Spawning ponds. Shallow ponds in which the water is easily
warmed by the sun, and suitable for the spawning fish.

2. Raising ponds. Ponds, usually of medium size, to which the fry
are transferred and where the}^ are retained, isolated from the larger
fish, until they are a year or two old.

3. Stock ponds. Large ponds in which the fish are kept until they
have reached a marketable size; this is usually considered to be when
they have reached a weight of 2£ to 2£ pounds. One reason that the
young fish are reared for a time in the raising ponds is that in the
stock ponds with the older carp are often kept a number of predaceous
fish, such as perch, pike, etc., which are supposed to keep the carp in
better condition by preventing them from becoming too lazy and seden-
tary. These fish would destroy the carp fry if the latter were put
into the stock ponds while still small. The predaceous fish also form a
secondary source of income.

Since the stock ponds are not always favorable for the wintering of
the fish there are sometimes ponds especially adapted for this, and
these are known as —

4. Winter ponds. These should be in sheltered localities, if possible,
and should have a depth of at least 6 to 8 feet.

All the above classes of ponds are constructed upon the same general
principle. Ditches from the various parts of the pond lead into other

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 625

ditches which arc deeper, and these finally lead into a still deeper pit
(the "fish pit''), which is situated at the place of outlet, usually near
the dam. When it is desired to drain the pond, the water is drawn
off gradually, the fish work down into the ditches, which completely
drain the pond, and so they all come finally into the fish pit, whence
they can be taken with nets. In a properly constructed pond it is
possible to draw all the water from the pit, and thus completely drain
the pond. It is common on many farms to have a curious " rotation
of crops;" the fish ponds are drained and turned to agricultural pur-
poses for a season or two, when by closing the outlet gates and allow-
ing the water to fill them again they are reconverted into ponds, and
pisciculture is resumed. Such a proceeding is said to have a salutary
effect upon both industries.

TEMPORARY PONDS AND PENS.

Although there are very few, if any, carp-cultural establishments
in this country conducted on the principles of those that have just
been described, there is, nevertheless, an increasing number of ponds
being constructed and used for the temporary retention of the fish.
This is true especially in the Lake Erie district. These inclosures
vary all the way from the simplest pens, not calculated to hold more
than one-half ton to a ton of carp, to extensive ponds covering large
areas and constructed and maintained at a considerable expense.

These temporary inclosures may again be divided into two classes:
(1) Those in which the level of the water is not under control, but
Varies with the changing level of the surrounding waters; and (*3) those
in which the water level in the ponds can be artificially maintained at
any desired height.

Under the first class the simplest kind is that already mentioned
(p. 612) as being used when it is desired to retain the fish only a very
short time — a few days to a week or so at most. These are the ordi-
narv live-cars or crates — large boxes constructed of rough boards with
cracks between, which allow the access of plenty of fresh water. When
the fish have been placed in these, the covers are fastened down and
the cars towed out to where the water is deep and certain to be fresh-
well out in a stream, if possible. The cars are weighted with heavy
stones, so that they float with their tops just at the surface of the
water. Fish kept in cars are seldom fed, unless it is necessary to keep
them much longer than is usually the case. When the}7 are taken out,
dip nets are employed.

A common method of constructing inclosures which will accommo-
date a larger number of fish, and in which they may be kept indefi-
nitely, is to build out into a stream, or from the shore of a bay or
lake where the conditions are suitable, a sort of rough picket fence
around three sides of an area, the shore usually forming the fourth

F. C 1904—40

626 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

boundary (fig. 2, pi. n).a This fence consists of rough boards driven
into the mud a short distance apart, and supported at intervals by strong
stakes driven firmly into the bottom. It is necessary to have the top
of the fence several feet higher than the highest water, to prevent the
fish from leaping out. A woven-wire netting 2 to 3 feet high is often
added to the top of the fence for this purpose; it is not practicable to
use the wire netting under the water, as the fish would become badly
bruised in attempting to get through it, or by dashing into it without
seeing it. The pens may be of any size, from small ones, which will
accommodate only one or two hundred fish, to those covering an extent
of some 2 or 3 acres. Larger ones than this are probably not practicable
on account of the difficulty that would ensue in attempting to get the
fish out of them; obviously the water can not be drawn off and the pen
drained, so the only way of taking the fish is with a seine. This is
done by setting the seine around the perimeter of the area, close to
the fence, and then hauling it to one corner of the inclosure, where the
fish can be gathered into the bag of the seine (fig. 2, pi. n).

As a rule there is not enough natural food in these pens for the
sustenance of the fish, and in order to keep them from falling away
greatly in weight it is necessary to supply them with food. The
necessity of removing the fish with a seine makes it impracticable to
build the pens where there is plenty of vegetation to supply the fish
with natural food, since much vegetation would interfere greatly with
the seining.

Pens should be built in places sheltered as much as possible from
storms, for the high waves are apt to break down the fence and allow
the fish to escape. Unusually high water and severe storms caused
great damage in this wa}r in Sandusky Bay and vicinity in the summer
of 1902, one pen, in which there were said to be 40 tons of carp at the
time, being broken down in places so that all the fish were lost.

Portions of marsh which have comparatively narrow openings lead-
ing into them are sometimes converted into ponds by throwing
embankments, or more often building board stockades, across the
narrow places. Such ponds usually have the advantage of containing
plenty of natural food, but trouble usually arises when it comes time
to take the fish out, as the places are not adapted to the use of a seine.
In some cases the embankment or fence, with a convenient gateway,
is constructed early in the spring and the gateway is left open until
a large number of fish have entered the shallow water of the inclosure
for the purpose of spawning, after which the gateway is closed and
the fish are entrapped, to be seined out at leisure. At one or two
places great areas of marsh were cut off in this way and the fish were
prevented from returning to the larger open waters; but this was of

a A photograph of a carp pen similar to this is shown in the Illinois fish commissioner's report for
1900-1902.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 627

little avail, since the places were so large and the conditions so varied
that it was practical ly impossible to get the fish out.

There remain still to be considered those ponds in which the water
can be maintained at a definite height irrespective of the varying level
of the neighboring waters. Under suitable conditions they could
probably be constructed best in valleys and natural depressions
according to the plans already outlined as being in general use in
carp-cultural establishments. Under the conditions of our fisheries,
however, it is a matter of great economic importance that these ponds
should be as near to the fishing grounds as possible, and as the land
there is low and marsh}" the ponds must for convenience be constructed
in or along these marshes. For thia reason the problems presented
are very different from those met with in the building of ponds on
higher ground. The greatest difficulty comes, of course, in the mat-
ter of the drainage of the pond, since its deepest portions of necessity
lie below the level of the outside waters. An idea of the methods
that have been devised can probably best be conve}Ted by giving brief
descriptions of two or three ponds which have now been in use for
several years.

Along the marshy shore of the Portage River, a mile or two above
Port Clinton, Ohio, is a successful carp pond covering some 30 to 35
acres, and owned and managed by two brothers, who also conduct at
the same time a fruit farm immediately adjacent to the pond. The
site of the pond was originally a marsh, flooded by backwater from
the river, where the carp commonly came in to feed and to spawn. It
was first converted into a pond (see diagram, p. 628) by throwing up
an embankment along the river side, cutting it off from the river,
but still leaving it connected by an open gateway protected by a screen
or grating. The inclosed water was at the same level as the outside
water, and as the level rose and fell a stream rushed in and out through
the gateway. This plan was found to be unsatisfactory, as the
impounded fish crowded about the grating, neglecting to feed, and at
the same time becoming badly bruised by their contact with the bars.
The embankment was then raised and the gateway closed, so that the
water in the pond could be maintained at a level 1 to 2 or 3 feet or
so higher than the mean level of the river, while at the same time the
increased height of the water caused it to spread farther back over
the land, enlarging the pond, and encroaching upon a neighboring
cornfield, a large portion of which was thus converted into marsh.
The principal embankment was easily raised by having a shovel-dredge
make a cut along the inner side, the excavated mud being deposited on
the outer side of the cut to form the embankment. The lower por-
tions were built with a scraper at a time when the river was especially
low, at which periods the pond can be practically drained of water.
During rainy seasons springs kept the water well up to the desired

628

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

level, but during drier times these were not sufficient, and it became
necessary to pump water in from outside. This was done for a season
or so by means of an " elevator" in a wooden trough or chute in which
run endless-chain belts with closely fitting boards forming a series
of buckets as they move upward through the trough. (See fig. 2,
pi. hi.) The motive power at first was a span of horses, but later a
7-horsepower gasoline engine was installed, which does the "pumping"
or elevating much more expeditiously. The amount of pumping
required to keep the water at the proper height and sufficiently fresh

Hirer

■a >y •*

• • _ 4

Jt *
* ■» ^

* *• » * .*

„ +.+*^ru. +>*„ i

.. .* • *■ -Sf-T ' """"-'"" ■'''"'iiMliM'iiilnimmiiml I i |i.ii°iminiiiiMmli»i.iiwiii»,iii;i!im h \rZ j ff'r

k- * •* -if ■' ' - • - - « q Sfv V ' >'

Diagrammatic plan of carp pond near Port Clinton, Oliio: o, embankment; 5, dam; c, engine-house;
d, water elevator; e, chute through which fish are slid into pond; /, chute through which fresh
water enters pond; g, dredge-cut; h, outlet. The figures indicate depth of water.

depends very closely upon the weather conditions and to some extent
upon the number of fish in the pond. It is seldom that so much as
two or three hours a day is required.

The water in the dredge cut is about 12 feet deep, but in other
portions of the pond there are few places more than 5 or 6 feet in
depth, and much of the water is considerably shallower. In all the
shallower parts is a rank growth of aquatic vegetation (sweet flag, cat-
tails, deer's tongue, wild rice, bulrushes, burr reed, etc.) which sup-
plies so much natural food that the fish are seldom or never fed arti-
ficially. With the maintenance of the water level, thus avoiding the
rushing of the water in and out through a grating, the fish remain dis-
tributed most of the time throughout the marshy parts of the pond

Report U. S. B. F. 1904.

Plate III.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES.

629

where food is abundant. An exception to this is when a stream of
water is pumped in steadily for a time; then the fish begin to come
from distant parts of the pond to the place of the incoming stream, as
has already been described (p. 560). This tendency of the carp to
gather around the place where the fresh water comes in is taken
advantage of when it is desired to seine them out, the net being hauled
in the dredge cut when the fish have congregated there.

Another pond, near the Raisin River, below Monroe, Mich., and but
a short distance from Lake Erie, differs in some ways in method of

■»•/: Akh

"■* *•- » w,. »■ „.. • .... / ' • ■» **" ■<- •W" ^ » ■<-.,,. - 1 - -*• ■

*' „. .v. «■"- "•. *•- «. - ■""■■■ „ *> '"*- ••"•■■ "*■ .u **" j» ""'• "■' '«»> '0I*- "*•

** " ' .'- ... ' *^ "^ **■■ • -•*""'■ * - -■ *• «- ' ,,U""' .,„. .u*.. .y. --

Diagrammatic plan of carp pond near Monroe, Mich.: o, outer embankment; b, dam; c, engine
house; d, d', water elevators; e, inner embankment; /, chute arranged for carrying water either into
dredge cut (g) or into central area (fc); g, circular dredge cut; h, outlets; i, dredge cut from river;
j, outside dredge cut; k, central area (water 1 to 2 feet deep); I, marsh (barely covered with water).

construction from the one just described, and for this reason seems
worthy of mention. (See fig. above.) This pond is smaller than the
other, and is of interest as showing how a pond can easily be built in
the middle of an extensive flat marsh. This was done by starting with
a dredge at the river and cutting a channel straight into the marsh for
a short distance. A large circle was then made, the greater part of the
mud brought up being placed on the outer side of the cut, thus form-
ing a high embankment, while on the inner side a smaller one was
built up, in which, however, several breaks were left. After it had
completed the circle the dredge was taken back outside and a shortcut
was made on the outside and parallel to the outer embankment. When
a dam had now been built at the only opening, it was possible to raise

630 KEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

the water in the interior to a height of 2 or 3 feet above that in the
surrounding marsh. This was here accomplished in the same way as
at Port Clinton, except that steam power was used for the purpose
instead of gasoline engines.

The pond then consists of a ditch 7 to 10 feet deep around the entire
circumference, the water over the central area having a rather uniform
depth of 1 to 2 or 3 feet. The fresh water that was pumped in was
originally turned immediately into the circumferential ditch, or could
be carried by a wooden flume over into the central area. The first
year the pond was used there was found to be great mortality among
the fish, a condition probably due to the large amount of freshly
exposed soil with which the water came in contact, so that it became
charged with humic acid and other products of organic decay until it
was unfit for the fish. This condition continued in spite of the fact
that fresh water was continually pumped in, especially during the
warmer weather, and it was found later that the water at the bottom of
the ditch was very foul and with a bad odor. In the succeeding year
flumes were arranged so that the fresh water was carried at once to
the bottom of the ditch, and the conditions were found to be much
improved. There would probably have been less danger in any case
during the second year, as the soil had undoubtedly by that time
become very well leached out.

Here, as in the pond previously described, it was found that the fish
gathered around the stream of incoming water, and here also advan-
tage was taken of this fact in capturing them. The pond could be
drained, if necessary, by changing the elevator over to the inner side
of the embankment and discharging the water from the pond back into
the surrounding marsh.

There is one other style of pond in use in this region that should be
mentioned, in order to make the present account complete. These
have been constructed especially by the farmers along the southern
shore of Sandusky Bay. They are situated on higher ground than
those ponds which have just been described, ground that is usuall}^ at
least a few feet above the mean level of the bay, and are formed simply
by scraping the soil out of an area covering usually not over one- fourth
to one-half acre, the soil that is removed being used to build the
embankments. The water is supplied by windmills or, in a number of
cases, by artesian wells. This water would seem not to be well adapted
to carp ponds, being cold and strongly mineral, with a very decided
sulphurous taste; and yet the carp are said to do very well in it. As
the ponds contain practically no natural food supply, the fish have to
be fed regularly to keep them from falling away greatly in weight.
For this purpose a variety of things are used, but shelled corn is prob-
ably employed more than anything else. In one such pond, which
contained about U) tons of fish, the carp were said to have been fed

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 631

very largely upon sowed corn, which was cut when about 1 to 2 feet
high and thrown into the pond. The proprietors claimed that the fish
would dispose of a load — supposedly a wagonload — of this in four or
live da}^s. At this same place the first }^ear the pond was used the fish
were not fed at all, and when marketed there was only half the weight
of tish that had been put in.

THE VALUE OF CAIH' PONDS.

It is safe to say that under existing conditions, where at certain sea-
sons of the year three or four men with a seine can obtain adult carp
in almost limitless numbers with comparative^ little trouble, carp
culture in the ordinary sense would not be profitable. At least this is
true in regions such as Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, where carp are
so abundant. That regular culture ponds, in which the fish are reared
from the Qgg until of a saleable size, could not be conducted with profit
in proximity to some of the large cities which constitute the principal
markets for carp is not so certain. Undoubtedly, as the demand for
carp grows, as it surely must, such will be the case.

On the other hand, there is no doubt of the great gain to be made
by taking carp in the spring and early summer, when they come into
the shallows and marshes in such great numbers, and holding them
over to fall or winter, when the market price has sometimes multiplied
fully tenfold. Let us take, for example, a suppositious case, based,
however, on actual conditions. A moderate sized pond could readily
accommodate, let us say, 50 tons of carp, and these could be obtained
with comparative ease during the spring. At this season, when the
fish are most plentiful, the price is often as low as 30 cents per hun-
dred pounds, so that the market value of the whole 50 tons would be
but $300, even if they could be disposed of at all at that time; for it
often happens that when the fish are so plentiful many more are
brought in than can be used, and great numbers bring the fisherman
almost nothing, being only sent to be made into fertilizer. Now let us
suppose that instead of disposing of these fish at such an unsatisfactory
figure the fisherman pens, or otherwise holds them over the summer.
Under at all favorable circumstances the loss in that time surely ought
not reasonably to be greater than 10 per cent of the total number of
fish impounded, even allowing for the damage to fish by handling.

Indeed, in a properly conducted pond, there should be no loss in
weight at all. The growth of the living carp, if properly fed and
cared for, should adequately oti'set the loss of individuals. For the
sake of fairness, however, we shall assume a loss amounting to 10 per
cent of the weight, and that the total weight of fish recovered from
the pond in the fall amounted to one-tenth less than that put in — in
other words, to 45 tons. Now, in the late summer, fall, and winter
months it is not at all unusual for the price of carp to go to 2, 2i, or

632 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

even 3 cents per pound, a price ten times as great as that of the spring.
Many of the owners of carp in ponds and pens wait only for the market
to reach 2 cents per pound, and then fish their ponds and sell the fish.
If we market our 45 tons at this moderate price, they now bring
us the sum of $1,800, in comparison with which their original value
was insignificant.

It is needless to say that not all who make this venture are so suc-
cessful. From inexperience or ignorance of the conditions required
some of the ponds are very unfit for carp, and the mortality is much
greater than we have estimated above. Or in some cases, especiall}r in
the pens, the fish have no natural food, and they can be maintained in
good condition only by feeding them artificially. The cost of this
must, of course, be deducted from the profits, and may amount to a
considerable item. Furthermore, the initial cost of constructing a
pond may constitute a relatively large investment, and account must
be made also of the necessary labor to maintain it and to care for the
fish. All these items vary greatly with local conditions, for whereas
a pond may be constructed and operated very economically in one
locality, in another place it may prove very expensive. Certain it is,
however, that small ponds are each year proving an acceptable source
of 'subsidiary income to many farmers whose land is favorably located,
while individual fishermen and fishing companies are yearly going into
this business of holding over carp on a more and more extensive scale.

CONCLUSIONS.

As was stated in the introductory remarks at the beginning of this
report, the main purpose of the investigation was to determine, if
possible, whether the introduction of the carp into the United States
had proved a benefit to the country or whether the fish had turned out
to be so detrimental to the fisheries and other interests that it must be
considered as a nuisance. In other words, have the twenty- five years
or more that the carp has lived in our waters, and in which it has
increased to such a surprising extent, justified the belief of those who
were instrumental in its introduction that it would fill a place in the
economics of our fisheries that could not be taken by any of our native
fish; that it could, with little trouble and at small expense, be artifi-
cially raised in ponds and other small bodies of water unsuitable for
the culture of any equally desirable native species, thus affording a
cheap and ready supply of fresh fish to many who would otherwise be
unable to have any fish at all; and finally that it would populate such
of our lakes and streams as were unfavorable for inhabitation by finer
species, and contained only buffalo, suckers, and the like?"

«The good qualities claimed for the carp, which led to its introduction, will be found enumerated
on page 54-4.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 633

As regards the culture of the carp in this country, we find that,
although there was for a few }Tears an enormous demand for the young
fish — hundreds of thousands of which were yearly distributed free by
the United States Fish Commission and b}T many of the state com-
missions— their culture was soon abandoned in nearly all cases and
the fish allowed to escape into the open waters of the vicinity. There
are a number of reasons to account for this. People were expecting-
too much. They rushed into carp culture in entire ignorance of the
conditions requisite for its successful operation, and, such being the
case, it is no wonder that they were disappointed in the results and
that their attempts were failures. In the second place, there was also
a general disappointment in the qualities of the carp as a table fish.
Undoubtedly, as in the case of its culture, too much had been
expected, though perhaps not without some justification. Still, the
bulletins that had been published and distributed made frequent men-
tion of the muddy flavor of the carp when grown under unfavorable
conditions, and emphasized the necessity of keeping such fish for a
time in clear water before killing them. Then, too, the fish were
often eaten at the wrong season, during the spring and summer
months, when their flesh is admittedly poorer in quality than in the
fall and winter. This is true of most fish that live in rather shallow
and sluggish waters, and even black bass are seldom caught and eaten
at these seasons. Perhaps even more important was the matter of
cooking. As has been mentioned in the body of the report, it is gen-
erally conceded that carp should be cooked in special ways, and the
Germans especially have many elaborate dishes which the}- prepare
from its flesh. Most of those who tried the fish here cooked it as
they were accustomed to cook our native fishes, and decided that it did
not compare favorably with these, though, according to the statements
published by Smiley (1886), many appeared to be very enthusiastic
about it. Finally, another important factor which probably led to the
abandonment of pond culture in many cases was the increasing abun-
dance of carp in the rivers and other open waters. It was found that
what fish were wanted could be obtained with less trouble from the
open waters than they could be raised.

The whole question was admirably summed up in the Report of the
Michigan Fish Commissioners for 1884-1886 (Michigan, 1887, pp. 41,
42). This report not onty contained much cool-headed advice to those
who were contemplating launching into carp culture, but was almost a
prophecy of the outcome of the introduction of carp into the country.
After insisting that the carp will not be a success unless properly cared
for, the report continues:

From the fact that carp could be successfully grown in warm and muddy waters, it
was inferred that they would be just the fish to plant in our comparatively shallow
lakes throughout the State, and from the published accounts of their amazing fertil-

634 KEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

ity, and rapid growth, it was confidently expected that in a very short time a large
food supply would be furnished.

While we believe that the carp will eventually prove a valuable addition to our
food fishes, and especially fill a want amongst the rural population, still we would cau-
tion those desiring to engage in this industry to go slow, to test its value for food in
comparison with our native varieties; to see whether they like carp to eat before they
spend any considerable sums of money in the construction of ponds, etc.

Nothing so much injures any enterprise as overestimating its importance. Esti-
mates are still wanting as to the cost per pound for raising carp, and the fact that
they can be so readily procured must in a short time make them so plentiful in the
markets as to bring the price below the cost of production, if one-half of those design-
ing to engage in their culture should realize their expectations.

There can be no doubt that the carp is a nutritious and healthy food fish, but there
is a doubt whether they will please the taste of the general public who have been
accustomed to the taste of our native fish. In the trial made by the Commission and
their friends, when direct comparison has been made with our native fish by cook-
ing them in the same manner and at the same time, the decision was that they seemed
inferior to the fish with which they were compared, namely, the black bass and the
wall-eyed pike. But in the regions where fish, even poor ones, are a luxury they
will provide a great boon. In a State so exceptionally well supplied, however, with
the finest fresh-water fish in the world, as our State is, it is doubtful if the carp will
become either a favorite food or a source of profit for many years to come.

Although the carp did not fulfil] expectations in the matter of pond
culture, it has more than done so in the way it has adapted itself to
conditions found in this country and the rapidity with which it has
multiplied in our waters; and we find now that, instead of being gen-
erally used throughout the country and especially in those sections
where it was thought it would be most appreciated on account of the
poverty of the streams or the poor quality of their inhabitants, it is
being sold almost entirely to the poorer classes of people in our large
cities. The Illinois River, together with the other rivers of the Mis-
sissippi drainage system, is one of those localities in which it was
thought that carp would be a most valuable accession, and such has
turned out to be the case, though not in the exact way originally
expected. Although practically not used at all for home consumption,
it has nevertheless added very appreciably to the resources of the
region.

With our constant immigration of foreigners and the formation and
growth in our large cities of great foreign settlements, the problem of
supplying these multitudes with cheap yet wholesome food becomes
very great, and anything which helps to meet this demand is of great
value to the country. From this point of view there is no doubt of
the value of the carp and the benefit to be derived from its introduc-
tion. To pervert a common saying, in those places to which it is best
suited it has made two fish to grow where but one grew before.

But now come the sportsman and the commercial fisherman, who
maintain that, while all that has been stated ina}7 be true, the presence
of the carp is entirely supplanting the fish which was there before,

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 635

and that that one fish was of more value than the two carp which have
taken its place. This is especially true of such waters as the Great
Lakes, and others that were well supplied with good native fish.
Furthermore, the sportsmen and others claim that in various ways the
carp does more than enough damage to offset its value in other respects.
By these persons it is made responsible especially for the great
decrease of water-fowl in recent years. These and other charges
have been considered in the body of the report, and need not be dis-
cussed in detail here. In most cases the reported damage has been either
greatly exaggerated or is entirely unfounded. Thus it was found
that carp probably have little or no share in causing the decrease of
the native fishes commonly taken for sport or for food; and that in
the case of the black bass, at least, there is evidence indicating just
the opposite — that the bass have actually increased in numbers in
some places from having the young carp to feed upon. In the matter
of uprooting vegetation, making the water continually roily, and
injuring — possibly even completely destroying in some cases — the
regular feeding grounds of the migrating ducks — in these cases the
evidence goes very largely against the carp, though its effects have
undoubtedly, in many instances, been greatly exaggerated, and more
has been charged against the fish than it rightfully deserves. In cer-
tain places, such as reservoirs and lakes supplying water to cities, etc,
there is no doubt that the carp is an unmitigated nuisance, and that
its presence is undesirable. Nor can it be considered suitable for the
cold, clear lakes of the north, such as are found in northern Wiscon-
sin and in Canada; and fortunately the conditions in these are so
unfavorable that it will probabty never become so abundant in them
as to cause much damage by destroying vegetation and roiling the
waters.

Against these charges as to its detrimental influence must be set the
things in its favor. Chief among these is that already mentioned—
the value of the carp as a source of revenue to the fishermen in the
regions where it occurs, and as a cheap food for the poorer class of peo-
ple who can not afford a better fish. It is impossible to express in
dollars and cents the beneficial results and the damage done and thus
to compare them directly. The value of the carp fisheries of Lake
Erie and the Illinois River region for 1901 was estimated at $342,000
(p. 619, footnote); but there were no data for the rest of the United
States. And no monetary value at all can be fixed for the damage
done. It seems quite safe to say, however, that if the question were
to be considered in this manner the benefits would far surpass the
damage. Two other claims in the carp's behalf, which may prove to be
of considerable importance, ought also to be mentioned. These are its
destruction of the fluke- worm {Fasctola hepatica), and of the larva? of
noxious insects, especially mosquitoes. It is possible also that in

636 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

rivers, below cities, it may do important service as a scavenger,
destroying the germs of certain human diseases, as it does the larval
and encysted stages of the liver fluke.

Even were it possible to estimate the money value of the damage
done, such a basis would not be an entirely fair one for comparison.
Should the carp help to hasten the extermination of any of our water-
fowl, or if it destroys the beauty of lakes, as is claimed, this is a harm
which can not be reckoned in dollar and cents. As has been pointed
out elsewhere, however, there are other and more influential factors
at work in the destruction of the water-fowl; and in the other case
special measures of prevention and protection must be employed.

And when we have decided whether the carp does more harm than
good, we still have the real question before us. The essential problem
is this: The carp is here, and here to stay; what are we going to do
with it? How can we make the most of its good qualities and prevent
it from doing damage? Even were such a course desirable, the
extermination of the carp in our waters is out of the question. Mr.
Townsend, in some remarks before the American Fisheries Society
(Transactions of Thirtieth Annual Meeting, 1901, p. 123) stated the
case well when he said:

We hear a great deal from sportsmen's clubs and from other sources as to how the
carp can be exterminated. It can not be exterminated. It is like the English spar-
row, it is here to stay. At a meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union
a while ago, one of our foremost ornithologists stated that the European sparrow
could not be exterminated in this country. I think it is the same with the carp. It
is here to stay and we can not exterminate it any more than we can exterminate
the green grass of the fields. I do not wish to pose as an advocate of the carp — I
prefer other fish for myself— but I maintain that the carp has a place in good and
regular standing in our big eastern markets, and I do not think that our great repub-
lic with its rapidly increasing population, can afford to sneer at even so cheap a
source of food.

In the course of my investigations and inquiries I met frequent
propositions that the government, or the respective state governments,
should offer a bounty on carp. Nothing could be more futile than this,
as has been abundantly illustrated in the case of the English sparrow.
The best bounty that can be offered is an increasing market — a grow-
ing demand that will make fishing for carp a profitable business. The
case in Lake St. Clair is a good illustration. While there I heard the
bounty proposition frequently advocated by sportsmen who came to
the flats to fish and hunt. But a shrewd resident said, let the state
amend the laws so as to allow the taking of carp in nets, and there
will soon be enough people fishing for them to reduce their numbers.
Since then the laws have been changed so as to allow seining in the
lake, and if the removal of enormous quantities of the fish (see p. 611)
will do anything toward permanently reducing their numbers, such
certainly ought to be the result there now. The lines along which it

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 637

seems that the market for carp ma}7 in the future be further developed
have been pointed out and discussed in the section dealing- with its
food value and uses.

In another place was mentioned the possible amusement and recrea-
tion to be had in taking carp with hook and line. I am aware that
the American sportsman will scoff at the very idea, and would regard
the pastime with disdain. I wish merely to quote in its defense a para-
graph from Goode's American Fishes (Goode, 1888, p. 412), in which
he treats of the strenuousness of the average American angler:

There is a kind of pleasure known to English anglers which is cultivated by but
few of those who are called by the same name in America — the quiet, peaceful delight
of brook-fishing in the midst of the restful scenery of the woods and the meadows.
It is difficult to imagine a thorough disciple of Walton chumming for striped-bass in
the surf at Newport or trolling for Muskellunge among the Thousand Islands, drail-
ing for Blue-fish in the Vineyard Sound, or tugging at a tarpum-line in the Gulf of
Mexico. The muscular exertion, the excitement, the flurry and noise, make such
sports more akin to the fiercer pursuits of hunting than to the contemplative man's
recreation. The wisest, best and gentlest of anglers, those who have made the lit-
erature of angling akin to poetry, have not, as a rule, preferred to make a violent
exercise of their fishing.

Nothing has been said in the present report about protection for the
carp in open waters, since, whatever maybe the opinion as to the fish's
desirability, protection for it does not seem to be needed. I am of
the opinion, however, that the phenomenal increase of the carp in
those waters where it has been longest will soon reach its maximum,
if it has not already done so, and that as the various factors become
adjusted a more stable balance will be reached. It is conceivable that
then persistent fishing may greatly reduce its numbers.

And now, should I attempt to sum up the principal results of the
investigation in a single paragraph, I should say that, whereas the carp
undoubtedly does considerable damage, from the evidence at hand it
seems reasonable to conclude that this is fully offset by its value as a
food fish and in other ways; that it can not be exterminated, and that
the problem is how to use it to the best advantage — suggestions for
which have been offered. Efforts should be directed to encourage
utilization of the fish in all ways possible, since it appears to be a
resource as yet comparatively undeveloped.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following list contains very few titles besides those referred to in the report.
References to papers dealing with carp which have been published in the Reports
and Bulletins of the United States Fish Commission up to February, 1896, in the
publications of the National Museum to 1883, and in the Tenth Census will be found
in the lists given by Smiley (1883) and Scudder (1896).

Anonymous (1877). Carp for our waters. Forest and Stream, vol. 7, p. 341.

(1880). The carp-fisheries in the Peitz Lakes. Report TJ. S. Fish Com-
mission for 1878, pp. 675-678. (Die Karpl'enfischerei in den Peitzer Teichen.
From a Berlin daily paper. Translated by H. Jacobson. )

638 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

Bartlett, S. P. (1903). Angling for carp, and some hints as to best mode of cook-
ing. Transactions American Fisheries Society, 32d Annual Meeting, 1903, pp.
47-50.

Bean, Tarlton H. (1903). Catalogue of the fishes of New York. New York State
Museum Bulletin 60, Zoology 9, 784 pp. (Carp, pp. 167-169.)

Bigelow, Henry B. (1904). The sense of hearing in the goldfish, Carassius auratus L.
American Naturalist, vol. 38, no. 448, pp. 275-284.

Broca, P. de (1876). On the oyster industries of the United States. Reports U. S.
Fish Commission for 1873-74 and 1874-75, pp. 271-319. (Translation. )

Brakeley, John H. (1889). Rapid growth of carp due to abundance of food. Bul-
letin U. S. Fish Commission for 1887, vol. vn, p. 20.

(1889«). [Carp sold in New York markets.] Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission

for 1887, vol. vn, p. 43.

Burr, Higford (1874). [How to distinguish the sex of carp.] Forest and Stream,

vol. 2, p. 325.
Chambers, E. T. 73. (1904). [The destructiveness of carp.] Forest and Stream, vol.

52, pp. 462, 463.
Clark, A. Howard (1887). Historical references to the fisheries of New England.

Fishery industries of the United States, sec. 2, A geographical review, etc., for

1880, pp. 675-737.
Cobb, John N. (1902). Commercial fisheries of the Hawaiian Islands. Report U. S.

Fish Commission for 1901, pp. 381-499.
Day, Francis (1865). The fishes of Malabar. London. 4°. xxxii + 293 pp., 20 pis.

(1880-1884). The fishes of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 1, cxii + 336

pp., pis. 1-93; vol. 2, 388 pp., pis. 94-179. London. 4°. (Carp, vol. 2, pp.
158-163, pi. cxxix, figs. 2, 2a, 26. )

De Kay, James E. (1842) . Zoology of New York, or the New York fauna; compris-
ing detailed descriptions of all the animals hitherto observed within the State of
New York, with brief notices of those occasionally found near its borders, and
accompanied by appropriate illustrations. Part I, Zoology, part 4, Fishes,
xvi + 415 pp., 79 pis. Albany. 4°.

Dimmock, George (1887). Belostomidse and some other fish-destroying bugs.
Report of the Fish and Game Commissioners of Massachusetts, for the year
ending December 31, 1886, pp. 67-74.

Finsch, O. (1882). Report on the transportation of a collection of living carp from
Germany. Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1879, pp. 667-670.

(1882a). Report on a trip to Germany to secure carp for the United States

Fish Commission. Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission for 1881, vol. i, pp. 220-225.

Garman, H. (1888). Preliminary report on the animals of the Mississippi bottoms
near Quincy, Illinois, in August, 1888. Part 1, Report (Board of Illinois State
Fish Commissioners) to Governor of Illinois, pp. 62-113.

Gasch, Adolf (1883). Pond cultivation on the Kaniow estate (district of Biala,
Galicia), the property of His Imperial Highness, Archduke Albrecht, of Austria.
Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1880, pp. 533-543.

Gill, Theodore (1905). The family of cyprinids and the carp as its type. Smith-
sonian Miscellaneous Collections (Quarterly Issue), vol. 48, part 2, no. 1591,
pp. 195-217, pis. 45-58.

Goode, G. Brown (1888). American Fishes. A popular treatise upon the game and
food fishes of North America, with especial reference to habits and methods of
capture. New York. 8°. xvi 4- 496 pp.

Gunther, Albert (1868). Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Vol. 7,
xx + 512 pp. (Carp, pp. 25-28.)

Gurney, J. H. (1860). Note on the piscivorous propensities of the common carp.
Zoologist, vol. 18, p. 7052.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 639

Herrick, C. Judson (1903). The organ and sense of taste in fishes. Bulletin U. S.
Fish Commission for 1902, vol. xxn, pp. 237-272.

Hessel, Rudolph (1878). The carp, and its culture in rivers and lakes; and its intro-
duction into America. Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1875-76, pp. 865-900.

(1881). (Separate reprint of Hessel, 1878, with the same pagination.)

(1881a). (Reprint of Hessel, 1878.) Report [Massachusetts] Commissioners

on Inland Fisheries for the Year ending September 30, 1880, pp. 39-68.

(1884). The carp — Cyprinus carpio. Fishery industries of the United

States, sec. 1, Natural history of useful aquatic animals, pp. 618-627. (A reprint
of Hessel, 1878. )

Hofer, Bruno (1896). Die sogenannte Pockenkrankheit der Karpfen. Allgemeine
Fischerei-Zeitung, 21. Jahrg., No. 1, p. 2, 3.

(1896r<). Die Infektion der Fische mit Myxosporidien. Allgemeine Fisch-
erei-Zeitung, 21. Jahrg., No. 3, p. 38, 39.

(18966). Zur Pockenkrankheit der Karpfen. Allgemeine Fischerei-Zeitung,

21. Jahrg., No. 11, p. 186, 187.

(1904). Handbuch der Fischkrankheiten. Munchen. 8°. 359 p., 18 Tab.,

222 Fig.
Houghton, W. (1879). British fresh-water fishes. London. 4°. Part 1, xxvi-f

92 pp., part 2, pp. 93-204. Numerous colored plates. (Carp, pt. 1, pp. 15-118,

plate. )
Howard, L. O. (1901). Mosquitoes. How they live; how they carry disease; how

they are classified; how they may be destroyed. New York. 8°. xr-j-241 pp.
Illinois (1884). Report of the Illinois State Fish Commission to the governor of

Illinois [for 1883]. 127 pp. (Republished in Reports to the general assembly

of Illinois, 1885, vol. 2, K. )
Knauthe, Karl (1896). Zur Biologie der Si'isswasserfische. Biologisches Central-

blatt, Bd. 16, p. 410-416.
(1898). Zur Kenntniss des Sto'ffwechsels der Fische. Archiv fur gesammte

Physiologie-(Pfluger), Bd. 73, p. 490-500.

(1901). Die Karpfenzucht. Neudamm. 8°. 389 p. (Review by L. Plate

in Biologisches Centralblatt, Bd. 21, p. 31!), 320.)

Kreidl, A. (1896). Ein weiterer Yersuch iiber das angebliche Horen eines Glocken-
zeichens durch die Fische. Archiv fur gesammte Physiologie (Pfluger), Bd. 63,
p. 581-586.

Lyon, E. P. (1904). On rheotropism. I. Rheotropism in fishes. American Journal
Physiology, vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 149-161.

McDonald, Marshall (1882). Experiments in the transportation of the German
carp in a limited supply of water. Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission for 1881,
vol. i, pp. 215-218.

( 1887) . The fisheries of Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Fishery indus-
tries of the United States, sec. 5, History and methods of the fisheries, text, vol.
1, pp. 637-654.

Malmgren, A. J. (1883). Memorial addressed to the Bureau of Agriculture of the
Imperial Senate for Finland, January 20, 1883, in regard to the advisability of
introducing artificial fish-culture in Finland. Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission
for 1883, vol. in, pp. 363-381. [An die Ackerbau-Expedition im kaiserlichen
Senat fur Finnland von dem Inspector der Fischereien den 20. Januar abgegebene
Gutachten, in wiefern es geeignet wiire in Finnland Riinstliche Fischzucht ein-
zufuhren. Helsingfors, 1883. Translated by Herman Jacobson.]

Michigan (1887). Seventh biennial report of the State Board of Fish Commissioners.
From December 1, 1884, to December 1, 1886, 130 pp. (Joel C. Parker, John H.
Bissell, Herschel Whitaker, Commissioners.)

640 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES.

Nicklas, Carl (1884). The artificial feeding of carp. Report U. S. Fish Commission
for 1882, pp. 1009-1031. [Kiinstliche Fattening der Karpfen. Vom Giiter-
Inspector Carl Nicklas. From Deutsche Fischerei-Zeitung, Bd. 5, No. 36, 38,
40, 43, 45, Stettin, Sept. 5 and 19, Oct. 3 and 24, and Nov. 7, 1882. Translated
by Herman Jacobson.]

(1886). Pond culture. Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1884, pp. 467-655.

(Carp-culture, pp. 520-595.) [Die Teichwirthschaft. From Lehrbuch der
Teichwirthschaft. Translated by Herman Jacobson.]

Ohio (1882). Sixth annual report of the Ohio Fish Commission, made to the gov-
ernor of the State of Ohio, for the year 1881. Executive documents, Annual
Reports for 1881 . . . State of Ohio, pt. 2, pp. 1425-1443.

Parker, 0. H. (1903). Hearing and allied senses in fishes. Bulletin U. S. Fish
Commission for 1902, vol. xxn, pp. 45-64, pi. 9.

Parker, Joel C. (1887). Suggestions on carp culture, for those engaged in, or who
contemplate, raising carp for market or private use. 7th biennial report [Mich.]
State Board of Fish Commissioners, December 1, 1884, to December 1, 1886,
appendix, pp. 83-88.

Peyrer, Carl (1876). Fisheries and fishery laws in Austria and of the world in gen-
eral. Report [J. S. Fish Commission for 1873-74 and 1874-75, pp. 571-679.
(Translation.)

Phillips, Barnet (1883). Holland carp put in Hudson River about 1830. Bulletin
U. S. Fish Commission for 1882, vol. n, p. 25.

Poppe, Robert A. (1880). The introduction and culture of the carp in California.
Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1878, pp. 661-666.

Prince, Edward E. (1897). The place of carp in fish culture. Supplement No. 1 to
the 29th Annual Report, Department of Marine and Fisheries [Canada], fish-
eries branch, 1896, pp. 29-35.

"R." (1874). [First carp and gold-fish brought to America.] Forest and Stream,
vol. 2, p. 162.

Reighard, Jacob (1904). Further observations on the breeding habits and on the
function of the pearl organs in several species of Eventognathi. Science, n. s.,
vol. xix, pp. 211-212.

Scudder, Charles W. (1896). List of publications of the United States Commission
of Fish and Fisheries from its establishment in February, 1871, to February,
1896. Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1894, pp. 617-706. (Papers on carp
may be found by referring to "Carp" in the index, p. 692.)

Seeley, H. G. (1886). The fresh-water fishes of Europe. A history of their genera,
species, and distribution. London. 8°. x+444 pp.

Shears, E. E. (1882). Carp in the Hudson River. Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission
for 1881, vol. i, pp. 54, 55.

Smiley, Chas. W. (1883). List of papers relating to the work of the United States
Fish Commission from its organization in 1872 to July 1, 1883, and which have
been published under the direction of the United States Fish Commission, the
National Museum, and the Tenth Census, together with a topical synopsis of
the titles. Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission for 1883, vol. in, pp. 1-84. (For
references to carp, see p. 84. )

(1884). Notes on the edible qualities of German carp and hints about cooking

them. 18th Annual Report [Mass.] Commissioners of Inland Fisheries, for the
year ending December 31, 1883, pp. 56-83.

(1884«). The German carp and its introduction into the United States. 18th

Annual Report [Mass.] Commissioners of Inland Fisheries, for the year ending
December 31, 1883, pp. 83-87.

(18846). Report on the distribution of carp to July 1, 1881, from young

reared in 1879 and 1880. Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1882, pp. 943-988.

THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. G41

Smiley, Chas. W. (18S8). Some results of carp culture in the United States. Report
U. S. Fish Commission for 1884, pp. 657-890.

(1886a). Carp and carp ponds: Answers to 118 questions relative to German-
carp. 20th Annual Report [Mass.] Commissioners of Inland Fisheries, for the
year ending December 31, 1885, pp. 40— K

Smith, Hugh M. (1896). Areview of the hist iry and results of the attempts to accli-
matize fish and other water animals in the Pacific States. Bulletin U. S. Fish Com-
mission for 1895, vol. xv, pp. 379-472, pis. 73-83. (Carp, pp. 393-403, pi. 75.)

■ (1898). Statistics of the fisheries of the interior waters of the United States.

Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1896, pp. 489-574.

(1902). Report oil the inquiry respecting food-fishes and the fishing-grounds.

Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1901, pp. 111-140.
Stevenson, Charles H. (1903). Aquatic products in arts and industries. Fish oils,

fats, and waxes. Fertilizers from aquatic products. Report U. S. Fish Com-
mission for 1902, pp. 177-279, pis. 10-25.
Stiles, Ch. Wardell ( 1902). Frogs, toads, and carp ( ( k/prinus ■ arpio) as eradicators

of fluke disease. U. S. Department of Agriculture, 18th Annual Report Bureau

of Animal Industry ( 1901), pp. 220-222.
Surface, H. A. (1898). The lampreys of central Xew York. Bulletin U. S. Fish

Commission, 1897, vol. xvn, pp. 209-21.1, pis. 10, 11.
Susta, Josef (18S8). Die Ernahrung des Karpfen und seiner Teichgenossen. Stettin.

8°. 252 p.
Titcomb, Jno. W. (1902). President's report, Vermont Fish and Game League,

1902. 50 pp.
To'.vxsend, C. II. (1901). Report of the division of statistics and methods of the

fisheries. Report V. S. Fish Commission for 1900, pp. 163-184.
(1902). Report of the division of statistics and methods of the fisheries.

Report U. S. Fisli Commission for 1901, pp. 141-166.
(1902.-,'). Statistics of the fisheries of the < treat Lakes. Report U. S. Fish

Commission for 1901, pp. 575-657.

(19026). Statistics of the fisheries of the Mississippi River and tributaries.

Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1901, pp. 659-740.
United States Fish Commission (1874). Report of the Commissioner for 1872 and

1873. (Carp, pp. lxxvi, Ixxvii.)
(1876). Report of the Commissioner foi 1873-74 and 1774T75. (Carp, pp.

xvii, xxxii-xxxvii. )

(1879). Report of the < lommissioner for 1877. (Carp, pp. *40-*44. I

Veckenstedt, Edw. (1880). On the carp ponds of nether Lusatia. Report U. S.

Fi h Commission for 1878, pp. 671-674. [An den Karpfenteichen der Nieder-

lausitz. " Die Gartenlaube," No. 45, 1877. Translation.]
Walton, Izaak (190J i '< I. The compleat angler & the lives of Donne, Wotton,

Hooker, Berl i. Macmillan and Co. , London. Library of !

lish Clas : , :-i 497 pp., edited by Alfred W. Pollard. (The "Compleat

Angler" is from the 1676 edition, the last during Walton's life-time.)
Weddige (18*82). Castrating fish. Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission for 1881, vol. it

pp. 59, 60. [Kastrirung von Fischen. Deutsche Fischerei-Zeitung, Bd. 4, No.

1, Stettin, Jan. 4, 1881. Translated by Herman Jaeobson.]
WiGG, George (1882). On the insensibility of the German carp to freezing. Bulle-
tin U. S. Fish Commission for 1881, vol. i, p. 402.
Yarrell, William (1836). A history of British fishes. London. 2 vols. 8°. (Vol.

1, xxxviii+408 pp., includes the carp.)
Zentz, F. (1882). On the races or varieties of carp. Denying the existence of blue

carp and gold carp. Bulletin U. S. Fish < lommission for 1881, vol. i, pp. 387-389.

Zimmerman, John W. (1904). About the carp. Forest and Stream, vol. 02, no. 23,

p. 403.

F. C. 1904—41

2044

139

" *. *

S W*

«* .V

I M

*'

&* -

: ■ - "*■

«

*

■'

-

.

m*M

If

«"^^%°

■