This history of the salmon in the Great Lakes describes the decline and extinction of the Atlantic salmon in Lake Ontario in the 1800's; the failure to establish, by salmon culture, permanent or sizable populations of Atlantic or Pacific salmon in any of the Great Lakes in 1867-1965; and the success of plantings of coho and chinook salmon in the Great Lakes, 1966-1970 -- particularly in Lake Michigan.
Stomachs of 1,064 alewives, 1,103 yellow perch, 246 spottail shiners, 288 trout-perch, 454 slimy sculpins, and 562 fourhorn sculpins from Lake Michigan were examined for food contents. Fish were sampled primarily from March to November and nearly all were caught at the bottom in the southeastern part of the lake near Saugatuck, Michigan. Pontoporeia was the most commonly reprented food item in the stomach contents of the fish examined, with immature midges, Mysis (a type of freshwater shrimp), copepods, cladocerans, fingernail clams and crayfish also being represented. Different species consumed different proportions of foods. Zooplankton was the principle food of alewives and spottail shiners, but was also consumed in small quantities by yellow perch and trout perch. Mysis was important to fourhorn sculpins, in addition to Pontoporeia. Immature midges were a major portion of spottail shiners and trout perch, also being consumed by alewives. Fish were often the most important food of yellow perch in the largest size category. Crayfish were a sizable portion of the diet of yellow perch on rocky bottoms, but sparingly on smooth bottoms. Spottail shiners also ate substantial numbers of fingernail clams.
Two formulations of the herbicide 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) - the butyl ester (BE) and the propylene glycol butyl ether ester (PGBEE) -- had 96-h LC50's to cutthroat trout and lake trout ranging from 490 to 1,200 microgram/liter in static tests. A third formulation -- the isooctyl ester (IE) -- was not toxic to cutthroat trout or lake trout at concentrations below 60.000 microgram/liter. The butyl ester (2,4-D BE) was slightly more toxic than 2,4-D PGBEE, and the toxicity of both esters increased as water temperature decreased.
The percentage body weight contributed by the ovaries and frequency distributions of ovarian egg diameters were reliable indicators of the spawning season of largemouth bass, in West Point Reservoir in 1977.
