GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS or THE
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thesis entitled

GROWTH ChARACTEBISTICS OF TEE NORTHERN REDBELLY

DACE CHRCSOMUS EOS (COPE) IN EXPEETITm-JTAL PONDS

presented by IN NCRTHERN MICHIGAN

Robert B. Chapoton

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

M. s. , Fisheries and Wildlife
___degree 1n__.___

ago 1%

Major professor

Date May 26. 1955

 

 

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GROWTH CdARACTERISTICS OF THE NCRTHERN
REDBELLY DACE CHROSCKUS FOS (COPE)
IN EXPERILENTAL FUNDS IN

NORTHERN MICHIGAN

by

Robert Bruce Chapoton

AN ABSTRACT

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of
Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied
Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

1955

Aoproved

 

1115.3”:

The Object of this problem was to determine the rate of
growth of the Northern Redbelly Dace Chrosomug eos in small,
farm-type fish ponds in Northern lower Michigan.

A total of 2,258 Northern Redbelly Dace was collected at
nine to ten day intervals from four ponds and a larger reservoir
during the summer, 1953. The ponds are located at the Lake City
EXperiment Station, Missaukee County, Michigan. The fish were
collected by glass minnow traps, hand nets, and draining Pond B
in the fall. Commercial inorganic fertilizer (6-12-6) was applied
to Ponds B, E, and F at the rate of 100 pounds per acre of water
surface.

The total lengths of all fish included in this study were
measured to the nearest millimeter. The weights of approximately
half of the total number of fish were determined to the nearest
0.01 gram. -

A statistical comparison was made of the lengths of fish
taken by glass traps on September 20, 1953 from Pond B with those
removed from the pond by draining on October 24, 1953. The "t"
test indicated no significant difference in lengths existed
between these samples.

An analysis of variance of the fish in all samples from
Pond E indicated significant differences between collections.
A regression of length on time indicated a positive growth rate
of 0.19 millimeter per day.

A decrease in the average total length of the fish, evident
during the early summer, resulted from decreased proportion of
the older and larger fish in the collections. After early July,
these fish.made an average daily increase of approximately 0.11
to 0.19 millimeter in length per day in all five bodies of water.
Collections of young-of-the-year dace taken in the fall of their
first year of life were approximately 30 millimeters in total
length. No relationship to fertilization was evident from these
data 0

The lengthaweight relationship of the fish from each body
of water was similar.

Based upon the findings of other workers, and on the data
presented here, it was concluded that the Northern Redbelly Dace
appears to be suited, biologically, for commercial bait production
in Northern lower Michigan

GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORTHERN
REDBELLY DACE CHROSOMUS E08 (COPE)
IN EXPERIMENTAL PONDS IN
NORTHERN MICHIGAN

by

Robert Bruce Chapoton

A THESIS
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of
Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied
Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
1955

(7.\_

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to acknowledge with sincere
appreciation the guidance of Dr. Peter I. Tack,
under whose direction this research program was
carried out. Appreciation is also expressed to
Dr. Don W. Hayne, for his assistance in the statis-
tical aspects of this problem, and to Dr. Robert
C. Ball, for making his library facilities avail-

able at all times.

354789

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .................................. .. 1
Description of Ponds and Reservoir ... ..... ... 2
Description of Northern Redbelly Dace ........ 6

7

Range and Habitat of Northern Redbelly Dace ...

METHODS AND MATERIAIS ......................... ..13
COllQCtinF fish 0 e co eeeeeee e oooooooooooooooo 0.13
Fish lengths and weights ........... ...... ....14

Fertilizer applications ......................15

Suface water and air temperatures ............15

RESULTS .........................................18
Comparison of trapping methods ...............18
Seasonal changes of fish captured by trapping .19
Seasonal changes of fish captured by netting ..24

Length-Weight relationships ... ........... ....27

DISCUSSION . ..... .. ..... .... ................. ....43

SUIUII'IARY OO..........OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....OOOOOOOOOO46

REFERENCES CITED ...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0000......48

Introduction

In recent years, there have been numerous fruit-
ful studies of growth rates of the game and panfishes.
Much of this information forms the basis of many
current management practices. There is, however, an
apparent absence of information dealing with the
growth rates, food habits, age, and similar funda-
mental facts about those fishes which comprise an
important part of the food items of many of the
economically important fishes. Hubbs and COOper
(1936) pointed out that the successful production
of game species in our inland waters and in the Great
Lakes may be attributed in a large degree to the
abundance of the minnows which these fishes eat.
According to Cooper (1936) the most important of
the forage species are the daces, shiners, chubs,
and minnows of the family Cyprinidae.

'In conjunction with the indirect value of the
forage fishes as food, is the direct economic im-
portance as bait for the greatly increased fishing
pOpulation. The sale of bait minnows, most of which
are true minnows, constitutes an appreciable business

in Michigan. During 1935. there were 886 bait dealers

in Michigan.‘ As of May 20, 1954, the number of
licensed retail bait dealers in the state has since
risen to 1,726.

Despite this relatively large number of commer-
cial bait dealers, the majority of which collect from
natural sources, and the large numbers of minnows
taken by fishermen, the demand is still greater than
the supply, and a scarcity exists (Shull, 1952).
This same problem is found in Minnesota, Ohio, and
Illinois (Shull, 99. 213.).

- This scarcity has stimulated experiments on
the culturing and harvesting of important bait min-
nows as a means 0f supplementing the natural supply
(Shull, 92, g;§., Ball and Ford, 1953., Hedges,
1951., and Cooper, 1936.).

Although much has been done along these lines,
information dealing with growth rates of many of the
important bait species is either inadequate or totally
lacking.

It is the object of this problem to determine
the rate of growth of the Northern Redbelly Dace in
small, farm-type fish ponds in the northern half

of the lower peninsula of Michigan.

Description of Ponds and Reservoir

The experimental ponds are located at the Lake
City Experiment Station, Missaukee County, Michigan.
Six ponds were constructed during 1944 immediately

downstream from an already existing 6.6 acre shallow

3
reservoir (Figure 1). Two of the four larger ponds are
connected to the reservoir by short channels. Water
flow is regulated by gates. The other two ponds
receive water through underground pipes from the
long pond. The long pond is in turn connected to
the reservoir by an underground pipe. The flow of
water through these pipes is regulated by control
boxes.

The ponds are shallow, with maximum depths of
six feet. The surface area of the largest pond
included in this study is approximately 0.4 acre,
that of the smallest pond about 0.3 acre. The banks
of each pond are steep and have been stabilized by
riprapping. The inlet and outlet structures are of
poured concrete with adjustable gates which permit
both control of the water depth and complete draining.

Water loss due to evaporation, outlet leakage,
and basin seepage was only slight, and the water in
each pond was kept at a nearly constant level for the
entire summer.

The reservoir had been formed by damning the
upper basin of the Mbsquito Creek. The maximum
measured depth of the reservoir was approximately
seven feet. The bottom is composed mostly of pulpy
peat of variable thickness. In the shallow water
there remain numerous tree stumps and trunks which

were flooded when this impoundment was formed. Ex-

 

 

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tensive beds of Potamggeton natang_and ghggg exist.
Along the edge of the reservoir grow white cedar and
alder (Plate 1,2,3, and 4).

The soil type of the drainage area is mostly
sandy loam with a forest cover of beech, hemlock,
elm, and white pine (Veatch, 1953.). It was esti-
mated that approximately twenty percent of the drainage
area is forested, the remaining area being either under

cultivation or in pasture.

Description of Northern Redbelly Dace

Hubbs and COOper (1936) have described the
Northern Redbelly Dace (Chrosomus 225) as being...
”one of the smaller minnows of the state, for it
rarely exceeds two and one-half inches in length.
Its color is olive to dusky above and white below,
with two broad, black bands extending along each
side of the body. The very small scales, more than
75 along the side, are discerned only by close ob-
servation.

"In breeding males, the abdomen is a brilliant
red, and the fins are highly colored with red and
yellow. These colors produce a breeding fish whose
splendor surpasses that of most, if not all, of our
other native minnows." (Plate 5)

This species, together with the fine-scaled

dace, Pfrille neogaea (Cope), has been called

7

"leatherback” by sportsmen and minnow dealers.

Range and Habitat

The range of the Northern Redbelly Dace in-
cludes all of the northeastern and north-central
United States. It occurs in Canada from northern
British Columbia and the Hudson Bay drainage of
Canada east to Nova Scotia (Hubbs and Lagler,1949).

These minnows are commonly found in bog ponds,
pot hole lakes, and sluggish creeks. In Minnesota
it seems to prefer acid bog lakes (Dobie, Meehean,
and Washburn, 1948). In Michigan, in addition to
showing the same preference as is reported for Minne-
sota, it has also been reported abundant in small
ponds where there was a heavy growth of thgg and

a rapid deposition of marl (Hubbs and Cooper, 1936).

PLATE 1. Pond A, showing triangular shape of pond
and outlet structure at far end. Photo-
graph taken August, 1953.

PLATE 2. Pond B, showing outlet structure at far
end. This pond has the largest surface
area of the four ponds. Photograph
taken August, 1953.

 

 

 

PLATE 4.

IO

Pond F, showing concrete outlet struc-
ture and high growth of Reed canary
grass around edge of ponds. In the
lower right is shown a part of Pond E.
Photograph taken August, 1953.

The Reservoir, showing stumps, logs,
and some of the emergent vegetation.
Photograph shows only a part of this
body of water, remainder lies to the
left. Photograph taken August, 1953.

 

 

 

 

11

Plate 5. Northern Redbelly Dace Chrosomus eos.
Adult males, about 2-K natural size

13

Methods and Materials

Samples of Northern Redbelly Dace, Chrosomus
323” were collected at intervals oanine or ten days
from four of the five bodies of water during the study
period. There were no collections from Pond F before
July 27. The numbers of dace collected by all methods
during the study period, and included in this report
are as follows: Pond A, 138; Pond B, 617; Pond E,
551; Pond F, 329; and the Reservoir, 623; for a
total of 2258.

Most of the collecting was done by glass minnow
traps and seines. When Pond B was drained in the
fall, 137 dace were preserved for this study.

The glass minnow traps were placed at various
water depths and in different locations in the ponds.
The number of glass traps used in a pond varied from
one to as many as six. Usually, only one or two
hours of fishing by each trap were required to ob-
tain a suitable number (10 or more) fish. The traps
were set during the early morning or late afternoon
hours, because of convenience of operation.

Definite collection stations were not estab-

lished in any of the ponds. The traps were moved

14
after each setting, regardless of the degree of
success at a particular location in order to sample
widely in a pond.

A four by eight foot minnow seine and a fif—
teen inch scap net were also used to collect speci-
mens. These nets were not as productive as the min—
now traps as judged by the number of fish caught.
The weekly numbers of dace collected from each pond
varied widely (Table 3). Immediately after capture,
the fish were placed in jars containing fin) percent
formalin. The pond, date and hour, and method of
capture were recorded. '

To explore the possibility of weight and length
changes during storage in formalin, 25 fish were
measured and weighed, and placed individually in
vials containing 10 percent formalin on August 15,
1953. ,On October 20, 1954 ( one year and 66 days
later) these fish were again examined. Total length
measurements were found to bethe same (to the
nearest millimeter) while weights of 21 fish were
unchanged. Four fish had each gained 0.01 gram. It
was concluded that changes in storage were not im-

portant.

Fish Lengths and Weights
The total length was measured to the nearest

millimeter for all of the fish included in this

15

study. In weighing, the fish were first placed on
dry absorbent paper toweling for a minute or two,
the excess moisture blotted off with toweling, and

the weight recorded to the nearest 0.01 gram.

Fertilizer Applications

Commercial inorganic fertilizer was applied to
Ponds B, E, and F four times, first on June 12 and
then at three week intervals thereafter. The ferti-
lizer was applied at the rate of one-hundred pounds
per acre of water surface. The fertilizer had a
formulation of six-l2-six. Fertilizer was thrown
into the ponds by an operator standing on the bank.
Little was lost by wind action since it was granular
in nature.
Surface Water and Air Temperature

Figure 2 shows the surface water temperatures
and air temperatures for the period from June 28,
1953 to September 9, 1953. These temperatures were
recorded for all but two of the 74 days. The av-
erage surface water temperature was 230 and the

average air temperature was 240 C.

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Results

When Pond B was drained on October 24, 1953,
a sample of the fish captured was preserved. Al-
though it is suspected that a number of the smaller
fry escaped through the screening at draining, the
sample captured revealed the size composition of
the rest of the population. This furnished a stan-
dard to which certain glass-trap samples were com-
pared (Table 1). It may be noted that the sample
at draining averaged practically the same length
(difference not statistically significant) and the

standard deviations were similar. Thus, there is

some justification for viewing the fish taken in

glass traps as representing the fish in the pond.

TABLE 1.
Standard deviation of Dace
captured by glass traps and by
by draining
Pond B, 1953

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method Date Number Mean Pooled Mean Degrees Mean
of of of T.L. d T.L. of square
‘_capture capture fish mm sample mm freedom
51a%$ap Sept.15 2 54.5
glass glass '
trgp Sept.20 21 53.1 traps 52.3 37 53.76
glass
trap 881313.20 15 50,9
pond
drained 00t- 24 137 52.8 52.8 136 53.18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard deviation (pooled glass traps) 53.76: 7.33

Standard deviation (drained)=\/53.18=7.29
tT=O.l3‘

 

 

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19

Figure 3 shows the seasonal changes of fish
taken in glass traps from the five ponds during
the summer of 1953. The points determining the
curves in Figure 3 represent average lengths, usual-
ly for several samples pooled when not far apart in
time. The data for each sample taken are shown in
Table 2 , where brackets designate those samples
which were pooled.

The average length of fish captured actually
decreased during the early part of the season
(Figure 3). Since we may exclude shrinkage of in-
dividual fish, causes of this phenomenon may include,
aside from actual faulty sampling:

1. Rapid recruitment from classes of
fish too small to be taken in traps.
2. Mortality of larger fish.

Examination of the frequency distributions of
all samples suggests that both effects were Oper-
ating during the early summer, resulting in the ob-
served decrease in average length. For example,
larger fish were taken early in the season, but not
again in numbers until the smaller fish grew natural-
ly into these sizes. .

After this early period of decrease in aver-
age length, there was a gradual increase in length
in all ponds. The differences in average size of

fish in different samples could hardly have been due

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22

TABLE 2

Record of Northern Redbelly Dace
collections according to date, method of capture
and pond, 1953

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pond A
—=3Sample Date of Method Nugger TMEEH P001ed
. . mm. mean
_ no. capture caggure fish T.Li mm
1 July 2 glass 4 49.
2 July 15 "trap 11 477“‘\ 48.
3 July 16 " 7 48Lg,/’
4 July 27 " 12 45T‘\‘~ 45.
5 Aug. 1 " 4 48.
6 Aug. 23 " 8 537“\~ 51.
7 Aug. 25 " 12 49.
8 Aug. 25 " 21 5114//’
9 Aug. 28 " 17 51.
10 Sept. 1 " 13 51.
Sub total=109
1 Aug. 10 netted l 20. \x 22.
2 Aug. 12 " 10 224_,/’
2 Aug. 27 x 8 25;_\\\
Sept. 1 7 27.
5 Sept. 2 l: l 30. 27o
6 Sept. 2 l 23. /’
Total ’1: 138
Pond B
1 June 29 $1 88 106 48.
2 June 29 grep 93 49. 49.
3 June 29 " l7 4 .
4 July 10 " 24 46.
5 July 22 " 3 45-
6 Aug, 5 " 8 46.
7 Aug. 29 " 32 51.
8 Aug. 31 " 48 51. 51.
9 Sept. 1 " 62 5o.
10 Sept.15 . " 15 5 . .
1% Sept.20 3 2 54. 53.
I Sent.20 21 53. ,/
13 Oct. 24 " 13? 53.
Sub tota 568
1 July 21 netted 18 20. 'N 20
2 July 22 u l l§;_/// '
3 Aug. 4 ” l4 2 .
4 Aug. 29 " 12 3§T—\\\ 32.
5 Aug. 31 " 4 33. ,z’
Total 8- 617

 

 

 

 

 

Iiliiililill.

 

23

TABLE 2 continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pond E
Sample Date of Method Number Mean Pooled
no. capture of capt. rYSh T.L. mm. ILmegg
2 glass .

g 413:3: 1‘1? “trap ii) 229‘?“ \ 41

3 Aug. 12 " 75 41. .

4 Aug. 22 " 121 4 .

H

2 £32: 32 . ii 22; 44-

7 Aug. 27 " 41 43.

8 Sept. 1 " 41 4 .

9 Sept. 2 " 4 43. 46
10 Sept. 4 " 18 46. °
11 Sept. 5 " 38 46.

12 Sept. 7 " 48 47,
Total: 551
Pond F

1 July 1 " 10 48.

2 July 14 " 2 4o.

3 Aug. 6 t 1; 2%.

4 Aug. 25 ' .

5 Sept. 1 " 41 42.

6 Sept. 4 " 111 55.

7 Sept. 5 " 123 53. 55.

8 Sept. 7 " 10 __, 55. ,/

Total = 329
Reservoir

% fluiy % glaiiap i? 23‘ 53~

_ u y .

3 July 13 L 18 :3. 48

4 July 13 u - w

2 July 15 .. 4g .fiagdx’

JUly 27 u 9. \

7 Aug. 1 .. 7 52. 52.

8 Aug. 14 N 4 5 .

9 Aug. 24 .. 24 5 .

10 Aug. 24 u 29 53.
11 Aug. 24 u 3% 55. 56.
12 Aug. 25 n 5 56.
13 Aug. 27 n 49 54-
14 Aug. 28 .. 27 57,
15 Aug. 31 n 62 2g
16 Sept. 1 u l0 e
. Sub total = 457 -

5 fiug. 5 netted i :1. 23.

ug.

3 Aug. 15 " 24 26. <

4 Aug. 15 2 so 26. 27.

I:

a 235' $3 .. 33 Shay“

83. u ° 29,

7 Aug. 27 10 28, ,

otal == 623

24

simply to chance of sampling, to judge from an
analysis of variance of the measurements of fish
taken in Pond E (Table 3). This analysis shows
highly significant differences in length to exist
among samples.

TABLE 3

Analysis of Variance of Length Measure-
ments of Dace Collected from Pond E

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean Square
Variation Freedom Squares

Bissau... 11 3.3.2.. 302-9
wigIlgctions 539 7’041°2 13'06
Total 550 10,374.o ----

 

 

 

 

Standard deviation =VI3.06 = 3.61 mm.

The increase in length of those fish captured
in seines and hand nets is shown in Figure 4. Ap-
parently only young-of-the-year of certain sizes
are taken by this means. Only in Ponds A, B and
the Reservoir were there samples of reasonable size.
The increase in average length apparent in Figure‘4
is here, as previously, only a crude measurement of
rate of growth, especially since summer-long re-
cruitment to these sizes may be expected. This

species spawns from May to August (COOper, 1936).

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27
Approximate estimates of rate of growth, from Fig-

ure 4 are:

Pond A - 0.28 millimeter per day

Pond B - 0.27 millimeter per day

Reservoir I 0.23 millimeter per day.

The length-weight relationship for fish from
each of the five bodies of water is shown graphical-
ly as a log-log plot in Figures 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and 9 .
Each point shows the weight and length of an indiv-
idual fish. A subsample of the fish collected was
weighed for this comparison. These fish were sel-
ected from the collection summary sheets after the
total lengths of all the fish included in this study

were~determined. Fish were selected which would
include the range of sizes collected from each pond.

The length-weight relationships in all ponds
were similar, to judge by visual comparison. Had
all the data been plotted on the same sheet, the
five lines would have fallen so nearly in the same
place as to be indistinguishable.

The rate of fish growth apparent in these
ponds after the earlier decrease in average length
is a population characteristic, and represents the
growth rate of the individual fish, decreased first
by the effect of disproportionate mortality among
the larger fish, and decreased by recruitment from

smaller fish. The apparent rate of growth evident

I I II ....1 I ll All l
-I T l. '1’ 1 Ill ll. ‘11. Ill‘rll ‘ . I III

28

Figure 5. length-weight relationship of 'flS
Northern Redbelly Dace collected
from Pond A, both sexes.

29

Weight
in
grams

4.0-

1:..0d

0.9‘
0.84

0.7‘
0.6n

0.5‘

0.41

0.34

 

0.1

 

 

ITT
.20 30 45 5b 6b 708090
Total length mm.

30

Figure 6. Length-weight relationship of 68
Northern Redbelly Dace collected
from Pond B, both sexes.

Wei
in

grams

ght

3.0“

2.04

001‘

.OBd

 

31

 

 

2b 30

Total length

40 55 ab To'ao

mm.

32

Figure 7. Length-weight relationship of 61
Northern Redbelly Dace collected
from Pond E, both sexes.

33

Weight
in
grams
4.04

 

0.2-4

 

 

I T I I
20 3'0 40 50 6077080
Total length mm.

Figure 8. Length—weight relationship of 79
Northern Redbelly Dace collected
from Pond F, both sexes.

Weight
in

grams

1
1'.

:u
.9

0.2‘

 

 

0.1

 

10 26 30 45 56 éoToso
Total length mm.

Figure 9. Length-weight relationship of 65
Northern Redbelly Dace collected
from the Reservoir, both sexes.

37

Weight

grams

1,04
0.9—
0.84

0.7“
0.6T

0.5T

0.4T

0.34

0.24

    

 

 

20 is 40 56 60?0380
Total length, mm.

38
from Figure 3 is then a minimum rate, probably
well below the true rate. Comparisons of rates
between ponds require an assumption of similar ef-
fects of mortality and recruitment in those ponds
compared. This assumption is not entirely reason-
able, especially considering the differences bet-
ween the more artificial conditions in the four
ponds proper, contrasted with the more natural
conditions in the reservoir.

Nevertheless, inspection of Figure 3 shows
that apparent rates of growth did not differ
markedly in these ponds. Crude estimates of rate
growth were made by fitting a line by eye to the
trend of the growth in each pond after late July,
and calculating the slope of the line. These

approximate estimates of rate of growth are:

Pond A (not fertilized) = 0.14 millimeter

per day
Pond B (fertilized) = 0.11 millimeter per day
Pond E (fertilized) = 0.20 millimeter per day
Pond F (fertilized) - 0.15 millimeter per day

Reservoir (not fertilized) = 0.15 millimeter
‘ per day

No relationship to fertilization can be seen, but,
of course, many other important factors, such as
population density, cannot be taken into account
here.

The rate of growth seems somewhat greater

in Pond E than in the other bodies of water. Although

39

no test has been made of this difference, it may
be pointed out that the Pond E fish were smaller and
might, under equivalent conditions, be expected to
exhibit greater relative growth, and at certain
stages, greater absolute growth.

A more precise determination of the apparent
rate of growth in Pond E was made by an analysis of

variance technique (Table4 ).

Using the Formulae

SXY - SX SY

 

Slone- n
‘ P’ ‘ 8x2 _ (fix) T
n

where
3x2 - S(ncX02) ,
SK 8 S(ncXc) ,
SKY = S(XCSCY) ,
and
X - time covered by all collections
in days
Xe - time of the individual collec-
tions in days
Y = total length of fish in each
collection
n = number of fish in all collections
nc = number of fish in each collec-

tion
the slope of the line, representing regression on
time was calculated and indicated an increase in
total length of 0.19 millimeter per day over the

41 days, and this trend could scarcely be a matter

40

of chance (F3 22.80“*, see Table1+). The analysis
also showed that fitting a linear regression on
time did not eXplain all differences among the
collections, but that some significant non—linear
effect remained. The approximate nature of the ’

apparent rate of growth made further analysis seem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

futile.
TABLEI+
Analysis of Variance of the Total
Lengths of Northern Redbelly Dace, Pond E

Source of Degrees of) Sum of Mean Square
Variation Freedom Squares
Due to l

regression 1 2,978.3 2.978.3
About ----
regression 549 7’395°7
Collection -
means about 10 354.5 34.45
regression
About collec-
tion means 539 7’041‘2 13'06
Among collec- 11 3,332.8 ----
tion means
Total 550 10,374.0 ----

 

 

 

 

F: 2 8 I 22.80**
22731110
*
Fr- 4 =2.71*
22—5110

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. Fflwm #mfiwfia. — hHDh
m m we mm mm 1 ma om m a on ma

 

v0

. mm
..mm
..o¢
THIN
Tm:

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1+3

 

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43

Discussion

The effects of the four applications of ferti-
lizer could not be detected in these data. The very
important factor of pepulation density is here an
unknown. No important difference in rate of growth
could be detected. The fish in Pond E (fertilized)
were noticeably smaller than those in other ferti-
lized and unfertilized ponds. The method of estim-
ating growth rates was not capable of showing differ—
ences between ponds unless the mortality and recruit-
ment relationships were identical.

Water samples were taken for quantitative
plankton evaluation. The results are not presented
here, but it may be mentioned that phytoplankton
was present in Pond A and B this summer with approx-
imately twice as much plankton in Pond B (ferti-
lized) as in Pond A (not fertilized) over the en-
tire summer.

To judge by the collections of young-of-the-
year dace, these fish reach a total length of ap-
proximately‘30 millimeters near the end of their
first summer of life. Because growth during the

winter is probably slight, the young-of-the—year

44
fish may be expected to start the next season at

approximately this same size.

The collections made during the first two or
three weeks of sampling contained a large number of
large dace. The fish were probably entering their
third growing season. They soon disappeared, to be
replaced by the young of the year before. The im-
portant production (growth) of minnows took place
in this class which showed a more-or-less uniform
rate of increase in size for the remainder of the
summer (Figure 3 ).

The feasibility of commercially propagating
bait minnows probably depends upon three major bio-
logical factors: reproductive success, presence
of suitable habitat, and rate of growth. Regarding
reproduction, COOper (1935) observed in experiments
conducted near Grand Rapids, Michigan, that a brood
stock of 2,700 Northern Redbelly Dace per acre pro-
duced over 125,000 young, or a total weight of fish
produced of approximately 240 pounds per acre. The
question of waters suitable for propagation of the
Northern Redbelly Dace should not be a limiting
factor, especially in northern Michigan, because
of the tolerance of this fish for acid bog lakes,
slow creeks, and small ponds. Thirdly, the growth
rate of this species in question should be such as

to yield a suitable number of bait-sized minnows_

45
in a relatively short time. The collections made
during the course of this study and those at the
time of draining the ponds contained a high per-
centage of fish measuring between 29 and 55 milli-
meters (15 - 22 inches) in total length. According
to Ball and Ford (1953) with the Golden shiner and
the fathead minnow, all minnows over li-inches were
salable size.

The Northern Redbelly Dace is of suitable size
for sale as bait for panfishes and the smaller game
fishes. From the data presented in this study, the
fish making up the 1% to 2% inch class would be
age class I, II, and perhaps older. It would,
therefore, seem likely that the reproductive poten-
tial, environmental requirements and growth rates
of the Northern Redbelly Dace satisfy the require—

ments for bait production on a commercial scale.

of

Summary

A total of 2,258 Northern Redbelly Dace

was collected from four ponds and a lar-
ger reservoir during the summer of 1953.

The total length was determined for each
fish. Approximately one-half of the total
number of fish were weighed.

In total length, most of the fish were
between 45. and 55. mm., with a range of
from 15. to 72. mm.

A decrease in the mean length of fish was
evident during the early summer, caused by
a decreased preportion of older and larger
fish in the collections. After early July
there was an apparent gradual increase of
about 0.14 to 0.19 millimeter per day in

all five bodies of water.

Statistical analyses of the collections from
Pond E indicate positive growth of the popu-
lation of fish during the summer.

The length-weight relationship of the fish

from each body of water was similar.

47

6. Young-of—the-year fish reached a total length
of approximately 30 millimeters by the end
of the first growing season.

7. A small percentage of the fish were of
salable size at the end of their first
growing season, and the remainder reached
this size during their second summer.

8. The Northern Redbelly Dace appears suited,
biologically, for commercial bait production

in Northern lower Michigan.

48

REFERENCES CITED

Ball, Robert B., and John R. Ford

1953. Production of food-fish and minnows in Michi-
gan ponds. Mich. Ag. Exp. Sta. Quart. Bull.,
Vol. 359 pp. 384’3910

_. Cooper, Gerald P.
1935. Some results of forage fish investigations
in Michigan
Trans. Am. Fish. Soc., Vol. 65, pp. 132-142.

1936. Importance of forage fish.
Pro. N. Am. Wild. Conf., Vol. 1, pp. 305-310.

”Dobie, J. R., 0. L. Meehean, and G. N. Washburn
1948. Propagation minnows and other bait species.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Cir. 12,
113 pp. ’

Hedges, Sheldon Bertram

1951. Harvesting and production of bait fishes in
ponds. (Unpublished Masters thesis, Mich.
State College). ‘

Hubbs, Carl L., and Gerald P. COOper
1936. Minnows of Michigan.
Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bull. No. 8,

95 pp 0

Hubbs, Carl L., and Karl F. Lagler

1949. Fishes of the Great Lakes Region.
Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bull. No. 26,
186 pp.

Ransbottom, Jack A.

1951. Food studies of three fishes from northern
Michigan ponds; Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus),
brassy minnow (Hybognathus hankinsoni), and
northern blacknose shiner (Notropis hetero-
1epis). (Unpublished Masters thesis, Mich.
State College).

Shull, David Lear

1952. Experimental propagation and production of
bait fishes in Michigan ponds. (Unpublished
Masters thesis, Mich.State College).

Snedecor, George W.
1946. Statistical Methods.
Iowa State College Press, Ames, Iowa, 458 pp.

49

Veatch, J. 0.
1953. Soils and land of Michigan
Michigan State College Press. 241 pp.

acts USE ONLY

SW

 

 

 

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