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<br /> <br />.,"~ <br /> <br />,.::,.;.....,,'~,-; <br />1 <br />-.:1 <br />~-; .\;:~ <br /> <br />ll'~~ <br />~ :~~l <br />, ..'t <br />_,_~' ~ i <br /> <br />~:~'. ,~,-~, ~1 <br /> <br />":.'7;-:Ji:I:--- ~. :::1 ., <br />,.~~1':1 <br /> <br /> <br />-~~~:w~~.r~~~~. :..~~7,?';".~' ~~ -:;'";J-'.'? <br /> <br />166 <br /> <br />CALIFORNIA. "FISH A.'\-rl GAME <br /> <br />sets in waters of the Alamo River a few miles above the Salton Sea on <br />October 29, 1942, took only 23 mullet, ranging from 10.0 to 19 imhes in <br />length, All of these were sexually immature. Only two were o....er 16,5 <br />inches in length; these were males 18and 19 inches long which had been <br />stranded for some time in a cut-off pool above the Northend Dam, anu <br />were in an emaciated condition. <br />The commercial gear (5-inch stretched mesh) used in the Sea aff')rds <br />but little opportunity for taking mnUet less than 18 inches in lenlrth. <br />_ None of the experimental netting in the Sea (in February, :JIay, and <br />October, 1942) produced mullet less tban9,4inches in length. We have <br />no direct knowledge, therefore, of the early life history of the mullet <br />there. <br /> <br />Food. Mr. Chester Woodhull (ms., 1942) examined the stomach contents <br />of 33 mullet (8.8 to 18.7 inches in len~h) taken from the Salton Sea and <br />lower Alamo River on February 24, 1942. Those from the Sea (23) were <br />empty. The predominant food organisms found in the Alamo Rim' <br />samples were: diatoms; unicellular green algae (mainly desmids) : blue- <br />green algae; protozoa. A few rotifers and cladocerans were also found, <br />Since the stomachs contained large quantities of sand and silt in addition <br />to the food organisms it might be concluded that the fish do not select any <br />particular food items. A gross examination of the stomach contents <br />makes it clear why fishermen say, "They live on mud. " <br />Mullet are frequently seen taking bits of material floating down on <br />the surface of the canals. Much of this material is composed of masses <br />of blue-green algae. The fish will lie in schools ranging from side to side <br />to pick off bits of the scum as it floats towards them. <br />Thompson and Bryant (1920) reported that they fed on a" gra;;.;<' , ill <br />the Salton Sea, and Coleman (1929) has a photograph (his Fig. 74 cap- <br />tioned "~laO'dalena e:rass, food of the famous Salton Sea mullet." ~ <br />Such statem~nts are inco~patible with the observations made by uther <br />authors on the feeding babits of mullet. <br /> <br />Place in the Fishery, Its subsistence on the smalle:;,t plants and allimll:' <br />(especially tbose of the bottom) does not place the mullet in direct C0:,'" <br />petition for food with most of the otber fishes of the river, In turn, 'Dl' <br />smaller ones are probably utilized as food by otber fishes. Since they ,E" <br />also able to exist in the otherwise rather unproductive waters of the .\laDl" <br />and New rivers and in the Salton Sea, they appear to be a valuable parI <br />of the fauna. . <br />It Ciin not be said tbat t.he potential value of mullet either leI' f(")oJ <br />or sport is entirely realized, however. They are a well-known fo,d thr: <br />although their flavor is not savored by all Californians who haY" tnd <br />them, It is a ratber common belief that they caunot be caught with hcw" <br />and line, and comparatively few people angle for them along the Colorad,.) <br />However, adherenee to rather specialized methods (with either balt o,~ <br />_ fly) can result in their capture, and when taken on a flyrod, evensmaJ. <br />mullet make a strong spirited fight. More eommon methods of .. spur. <br />fishing" include: clubbing, spearing or netting. . <br />No commercial fisberv for mullet exists in the river. It was carrl"'" <br />on from 1915 until 1921 in the Salton Sea, and then abandoned -",lun- <br /> <br />.. This "grasS". whose identity is unknown, is reported by reeid~nts tel ~"l Ie J;s' <br />o"n<>RT..d In about 1931. <br /> <br /> <br />._-.~_._- ' . <br />--"- ------ --- ---.- <br /> <br />TIm FISHERY, OF THE LOWER CQlJ)R.ADO RIVER <br /> <br />to the scarcityo.f fish and the difficulty of taking them.,::}: <br />:tn:pson and Bryant, 1920; Janssen, 1937.) -In 1931 it was pro..c,~.~. <br />,ltnv. By 1942 the supply of mullet had again increased in the <br />May ,of that year the commercial fishery was reestablished on <br />'ental basis under permits issued by the California Division of <br />Game. The success of the fishery and the regulations concerning <br />,hediscussed here as they do not directly concern the fishery of <br />3~doRiver itself. <br /> <br />}o; fCentrarchidae. Sunftshes and Black Basses <br /> <br />ers or this', f;~ijy irethe-on1Ytililies'foilifalt1-tbelowerri"er~ ..., - .,,- <br />:y~t.horacic ventral fins (inserted close to the pectorals). They- -- ._-,--- <br />'$i:I1g1e dorsal fin with spinous and soft-rayed portions closely <br />e'pt in the largemouth bass), . <br /> <br />, . Crappie; croppie; calico bass. <br /> <br />.:~(JTtaracters. The crappies may be distinwshed from the <br />~(lhids of the river by the following characters: anal fin base <br />}nlength to dorsal fin base; anal fin with 5 to 7 spines; dorsal <br />'.." h 6 to 8 spines. ' <br /> <br />.,.pIe below shows the distinctive differences between the two <br />of crappies. <br /> <br />Black crappie White crappie <br />Typically 7 or 8 (rarely 6. Typically 6 (rarely 5 or 7) <br />9. or 10) <br /> <br />About equal to distance Much less than distance <br />from forward end of dor- from forward end of dor- <br />sal fin to eye suI fin to eye <br /> <br />Typically mottled TypicallY form rings on <br />sides <br /> <br />~i~n; Abundance. Neither of the crappies is native to the <br />o..and both appear to be comparative newcomers to the lower <br />:f~wof the residents (except near Yuma) are at all familiar <br />!=w.;', and report their occurrence only within the last few years. <br />. ,est record of the occurrence of Pomoxis in tbis area which has <br />~eattention of the author is that furnished by Mr. J. W. <br />j'!ho saw "crappies" in Haughtelin Lake in 1934. (Letter to <br />,i,dated Feb. 14, 1943.) A few crappies were caugbt in Lake <br />: 'the spring of 1940 and 1941, and one taken in the river below <br />[ein 1941, according to reports by California wardens. The <br />,~e species is not known in any of these cases. <br />~the reports of residents it appears that Pomoxis is more <br />...the vicinity of Yuma than farther upstream. At Needles <br />,~rmen told me of "the" one crappie caught in 1941. The <br />~e by the survey were too small to afford comments on <br />~:In 1942 black crappie were collected: in the Colorado River <br />=~:..:..:~- <br />---.;-_. <br /> <br />1. <br /> <br />rf <br />I i <br />t - ~ <br />. . <br />J ; <br />1 <br />j <br />, <br />, <br />