Experiments in the transportation of the German carp in a limited supply of water

BULLETIN OP THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

215

May

3, 1878.

—

_{Cxeorge Spaugler, Madison, lud.,} aunounces the _cap- ture ofaboutadozen shadthisseason

; soldfora highprice.

Two

were caught ^histyear 20 milesbelow Madison.

May

^{21, 1878.}

—

_George F. Akers, Nashville, Tenn., says:

"During

present

month

quite a

number

ofshad were taken near Nashville

and

sold inmarket."

May, ^1874.

—

Col. Marshall

McDonald,

^fish commissionerof Virginia (reportof 1878),speaks^of

marked

increaseofshadinthe

Rappahannock

Eiver,and _saysit is the general^{belief of} the people^{that thisis} dueto theplanting^of

young

^fishby^theUnitedStatesFishCommissionin1875.

Aiwil 15,1870.

—

Ilev.T. INI. Thorpe ^{sentto the National}

Museum

an adult female shad, which

was

_caught near

Hot

_{Springs, Ark.,} inthe

Washita

River.

6.

Carp

_{Cyprinuscarpio, Linn.).

1880.

Decemher_10,1880.

—

Mr.J. B. Rogers,^ofDuval,Travis County, Texas, sent to theUnited StatesNational

Museum,

through oneof the messen- gers^ofthe United States FishCommission, ^{Mr.J. F.Ellis,a freshcarp} reared fromalotintroduced

by

^{theCommissioneleven}

months

_previous

tothe abovedate. In this short _time, under the favorable conditions foundin its

new

_home,thiscarp (fromabout_{4 inches)} reached theaston- ishinglength^of20^inches,

and

_weighed4pounds and ^{11 ounces.}

The

fish was brought by ^{Mr. Ellis in a}fresh state; acastof it (No. 963) ^is preserved,

and

thespecimen

may now

^{beseen in the}

Museum.

(Cata- loguenumber, 2GG29.)

7. Cat-fish [Amiurus^catus [L.] Gill).

, 1877.

—

Received a cat-fisli from Sacramento _River, caught two _{years ago.}

(Museum

cataloguenumber,2084G, entered

December

1, 1877.) It

came

with ashad from SacramentoRiver.

EXPERIItlElVTS IIV

THE

TRAIVSB»0RTATI01V

OF THE

OERmiAIV

CARP

IN

A

til.TTlITED

srPrtiV OF WATER.

By MARi^HALL McDOMALD.

^•

The

extreme hardihood of the

German

_carp,

and

_{the greattenacity}

of lifeexhibited under adverse circumstances, ^{led to} the institutionof experiments todetermine whether

we

could not with safety greatly de- crease the

amount

of water employed^{in their} transportation

and

thus reduce thecostof their distribution.

A common

covered tin bucket, capacity6 quarts,

was

_procured,

and

several holes

made

inthe cover toallow free access ofair.

The

bucket

216 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

was

thenfillednearly^halffullofwater

and

initwere_{placed 22carp,}from 2to 3 inches_long. This

was

at 4_p. m, on the 15th of ^November; they remainedin thiswateruntil 9 a. _ni., 10th.

The

water

was

then poured entirelyoff,

and

the bucket filled about ^{half full}of fresh water.

The

fish remainedwithoutfurtherchange^ofwateror attentionuntil4_{}). m.,}

when

an entire change

was

_made,

and

the bucketof fish shipped

by

express ^to

Eugene

]>lackford, Fulton Market.

A

card of instructions attached

was

as follows:

" Professor Baird wishestoascertainifthese carp^willgo^{toj!!^ew}

York

and returnto

Washington

^without changeof water, or otherattention than to keep as cool as practicable. Will Mr. Blackford examine the fish immediately upon ^arrival

and

verify their condition, and return thein

by

^firstexpress^to Washington, D. ^{C. Don't}

make

_{any change}of water before reshipping, unless the condition of the fish seems to be bad."

The

fish arrived _{safely in}

New York

at 9 a. m.on the 17th. Mr.

Blackford telegraphed^:

" Fish arrived in good ^{order. Kettle} one_quarter^full of water; ^will returnby eveningtrain."

At

the

same

timehe wrote:

"Kettle of carp arrived ^{at 9a.} m. Fish all alive

and

_looking well.

Kettle only one-quarter^{full of}water

;eitherleakedoiTtorslopped over from careless handling. ^I have sent

them

back onthe Express ^that leaves_to-night. Ihave _{not added,} orchanged the water;ⁱⁿfact, done nothing but attach a tag ^to the kettle and send it back. I have no doubt _they willreachyou ^all rightⁱⁿthe morning."

The

fish returnedtothe Smithsonian,^{at 11a.}m. onthe _18th, alllook- ing strong

and

_well,

and

but little

more

than a _pintof water in the bucket. In this they remained, without change,^{until 9 a.} m. the_20th,

when

_theywereallalivebut_apparentlyweak.

A

_changetofresh water immediatelyrevived them,

and

_{they were} soon asstrong

and

_vigorous

as ever.

Thesefish

had now

been in less than 4pounds^ofwaterfor89 hours,

and had

_gone to

New York and

returned to Washington, ^{sul^iect to} the rough handling whichexpress packages usually encounter, no _pre- cautionshaving been taken^{to secure}unusual care or attentionintrans- mission.

The

resultof the experiment

was

so encouraging ^{that it}

was

deter-

mined

_{to try} ashipment ^{of 750fish inbuckets.}

The

detailsofthisex- periment were ^{intrusted to}

W.

F. Page, ^a messenger ^of intelligence,

judgment,

and

_longexperience.

The

result of the experiment he ^thus

re})orts^:

"

The

_{carpwere put}

up

ⁱⁿ twelve C-quartpails,50 carp ^toeach _pail,

and

the_pailspacked^{in acrate}measuring^20"

x

^30"

x

18". Ialso

had

an extra 4-(piart pail, whichI will here state received the

same

atten- tion (that ^is, noattention) as the 0-quart pails

and

_gave the

same

re-

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

217

suit.

The

fishwere put

up

^{about 4}p. m. onthe 25th _iustaut,but at 4a.m. the_26th, the nighthaving been unusuallycold,

many

^{fish were}

eitherdeador torpidfrom_freezing;thesewere emptied^out

and

_replaced with freshfish before starting^forthe 0.30a. m. train. In thedark

and

hurry, as ^I afterwards discovered, quite a

number

of fish larger than are usually sentoutincyliudercanshadbeen given me.

Eeached

Rich-

moud

at 11.30a. _ni., and laidover until 11.25 _p. m. Itadthe fishcarted

up

^{to the Saint}

James

_Hotel, forthe double _purposeof placing the^ex- perimentunderalltheconditions likely to ariseonan _{ordinarytrip,}

and

thatthey might^{be seen.}

"Leaving

Eichmond

at 11.25 on the _26th, reached Danvilleat 7.30 a. m. on 27th.

At

Danville

had

thelastbucket weighed ^atCoon's drug

store. This bucket

was

an _especial experiment,

made

at the instance of Professor Baird. It

had

fromthe start just as ^littlewateras would cover thefish

; in_fixct,several

had

theirbacksabovewater.

The

_weight

ofbucket, water,

and

fish

was

4

pounds

^{7 ounces} (65 ounces); ofthe bucket and _{water, 2} pounds ^{13 ounces} (45 ounces), leaving the weight offish 20ounces.

The

_weightofwater

by

^measure

was

_{20 ounces,}from which I conclude that one _{pint of} water will carryone

pound

^{of fish}

(carj)) without attention for at least30 hours.

Whether

this relation will holdtrue with _largerfish remaiustobedetermined.

"In

conclusion Iwouldstatethat thewater

was

so lowinthe buckets as to occasionno _{slop in}the car. In _fact, on the routefrom

Eichmond

to _I^anville,the crate

was

atthe _toi) of ahighpileofbaggage,

and

the baggage

was

_dry

and

in goodorder the following morniug."

Itseems_hardlycrediblethata

number

ofcarp could^liveforanylength oftime in hardly

more

than their

own

_weight ofwater. Experiment has, however, demonstrated the _fact,

and

the explanation ^is probably this:

What

the fishrequire ^isnot water but_air, waterbeing the necessary

medium

through which they appropriate^air.

The

air ina small quan- tityofwater would bevery quickly exhausted,

and

if there

was

no ad- equate provision ^forrenewal ofsupjdy the^fish would _quickly die.

In the case ofthe fish in the small _pails the free air surface of the water is verylarge in proportion ^to volume. It is kept ^{in continual} agitation

by

^thejostlingof the_cars,or

when

at_rest,

by

^the

movements

of thefish. Consequently, although the oxygen^{in the} waterisrapidly andcontinucmsly exhausted,^itis,also,rapidly

and

continuously renewed, and the fish remain in good healthy^{condition. It follows} from these experiments ^that 25 or 50 carp ⁱⁿ ahalf gallon of water in a shallow pail are really under better conditions for healthy^existence than the

same number

offishin the ordinary8-gallon shipping^can.

The

limits ofdistanceand temperature within which this

method

ofshipment

may

be _resortedtocan only besettled

by

^furtherexperiments.

Washington,

^Kovemher29, 1881.

218 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

Since the conclusionofthe experiments^detailed above, thefeasibility of shippin*>- carp ⁱⁿ crates'and_i)ails has been_{pretty thoroughly} tested inthe operations^oftheUnited States FishCommission,^{with thefollow-} ing^results: Single shipmentsin pailshave been

made

from

Washington

into

Xew York and

Pennsylvania,

and

to Ohio, North _Carolina,

and

Tennessee.

Some

losses have been _reported, but comparatively few, the usual report being^that the fish arereceivedin good ^{condition. In} the case of a shipment to Reedville, N.

C,

^{the fish were} eight days

eii, route

and

werereceivedin good ^condition.

Crates containing ¹⁰ buckets

and

320 fish

have

been sent

by

^ex- pressfrom

Washington

^toChattanooga and

Grand

_{Junction,Tenn.,}

and

Jackson

and

_{Meridian, Miss.,}

and

distributed from these _j^oints by Ex- press to parties within a radius of 100 or 150 _miles, without

more

than the casualties incident totransportation

by

^the

methods

heretofore pur- sued. In conclusion,

we may

safely say that

where

_{the point}of desti- nationis notdistantfrom _{the point}of departure

more

tlian 24 _hours, 25 or30 carp

may

^be safelyshippedⁱⁿ an ordinary covered 4-quart ^tin pail.

WHiere the temperature ^is kept below 60^ Fah.,

and

_freezing is

avoided,^{it is}probable that^{tlie fish}

may

^{be 6 or 7} days^{en routewithout}

loss or injury.

Some

modification of the _{pail to} prevent ^{loss of} water

by

slopping over^isdesirable,

and

itistobe

presumed

^thatthe ingenuity ofourfish-culturists willquickly supi^lythewant.

Washington,

^December25, 1881.

IIVTRODUCTaOIV OF THE

AtiAIVO

OR ORFE INTO

EIVGliAIVD.

[From TheField,March28,1875, 299.]

One

of the few fresh-water fisheswhich have a wide range ^{over the} continent of Europe, but ^{are not} found in the British Islands, ^is the

"aland'' or "nerlliug" ^of the Germans, ^the"id" of the Swedes,

named

Leuciscus idus or melanotns

by

ichthyologists. ^It

may

^be shortly char- acterized as a chub with smaller _scales; forwhilstthe chub _{has, at} the most, forty-six scales along the ^lateral line, the aland has never less

than _fifty-six,

and

sometimes as

many

as sixty; in ^itshabitsalsoit

much

resembles the chub, but prefers large ^to small streams,

and

inhabits lakes as well asrivers. Its usual size isabout twelve _inches, butit is

known

to haveattained to a length^of eighteen

and

_{twenty inches,}

and

a weightof six i)ounds.

Normally^{this fish has the}

same

coloration as the chub, being some-

what

darkeron the back; and, consequently, thetwo _specieshave been constantlyconfounded with each _other,

and

described underthe

same

names, even ^{to within} a very recent ])eriod. However,^for

more

than

two

centuries a singular variety,with bright ^colorslikethose of,a_gold-

fish, has been cultivated inlakes

and

_pondsof Bavaria,^especially near