1

The Fishes of the Vicinity of Rochester, New York

Albert Hazen Wright 2

Preface

Professor Albert Hazen Wright submitted this manuscript for publication to the

New York State Museum in the mid 1920s. It was subsequently readied for printing, but was never actually published. The preceding article details the history of the manuscript and the importance of the information included here.

I have tried to keep the flavor of the original manuscript, although it might best be described as rough. In general, I corrected spelling and typographic errors, but left colloquialisms, original phasing, which seems odd at times, and made no changes to style. I did not correct words that were consistently misspelled; I assume that the spelling was standard at the time. Wright entered tabular information into the text throughout the article; I removed that information from the text, reformatted it into tables, and direct the reader to the table in the text. Wright provided no figure captions so I wrote the captions.

He also referred to the figures as charts; in this printing, if Wright used this term, I preserved it in the text as well. I retained the scientific and common names used by

Wright. He occasionally used one name in one part of the paper and another in the list.

Fish nomenclature is updated in Appendix A. Plant, crayfish, reptile and amphibian nomenclature is updated in Appendix B. I did not add information to the text, most is self-explanatory. However, for those unfamiliar with the area, R.W. and O.R.R. refers to the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, a set of initials that was so obvious in the early half of the twentieth century that Wright apparently never felt the need to supply the actual name in the document. Nor did any of the reviewers or editors require the name. I had to google the initials. I also include the complete citations; in Wright’s original manuscript, information was incomplete. 3

In the 1920s, NYSM Bulletins were octavos. Pages measured 14.5 X 23 cm and the print on the page would have measured 10.5 X 18.5 cm. The article would have been printed in one column. Most of Wright’s plates would have been printed as foldouts, the standard way to print larger figures during that period. The cover of the bulletin would have been card stock, off-white and printed with a masthead, the title of the article, and the table of contents. The obverse of the cover would have had a list of the Regents of the

University of the State of New York, the governing body of the State Museum. The list of

Regents would have been followed by a list of the hierarchy of the State Education

Department and the State Museum. There would have been no additional front matter and the article would have begun on page 1. Although included in the edited manuscript, I have omitted these lists and the table of contents from this publication.

Although there are several minor inconsistencies in the manuscript, and areas where Wright’s information is suspect or dated, I did not alter text or add information that was collected more recently. I believe that some of his identifications are wrong, but I did not change them. However, one discussion needs comment. Wright assessed habitat use among the three species of Ameiurus that he collected. He reported collecting black bullhead (A. melas) at several sites within the study area; in fact, he collected this species at four of the study streams. He then concluded that habitat was partitioned based on substrate and water velocity (see Figure 15). In examining specimens from the study at

Cornell University, it appears that he misidentified the species. The specimens, CU72185 and CU2096, are brown bullhead. In fact, black bullhead are extremely rare in New York and most of the extant populations are the result of stocking efforts. In this light, Wright’s analysis is curious because it seems unlikely that he was actually observing black 4 bullhead. Perhaps, in making his identifications, he focused on color, which may have been influenced by habitat use. Another possible factor is that the characteristics of the two species were not well defined at the time, making a definitive identification difficult.

The general thesis is that fish occur in certain, identifiable habitats. But this manuscript is an olio. Wright included information on habitat use and distribution within the watershed and within individual streams. In addition, he included meristic and morphometric information, behavioral information, information on feeding, fecundity, and spawning runs. He discusses stocking reports, catch records, commercial value, and anecdotal reports on abundance. The species list holds a wealth of information that is valuable to today’s workers and provides insights to current questions on fish distribution and biodiversity. At times, the style makes the information difficult to extract in an orderly fashion; however, it is worth the time to plod through it if a history of streams and fish distribution is needed.

Charles Sheviak, Curator of Botany, NYSM, reviewed plant names and provided probable identities for some of the plants listed by their common names. Paul Sheeran,

T.J. Sheeran Printers, Inc., Troy, NY, was able to reprint the figures 1 and 3 to 13 using a vintage printing press. The plate for figure 2, the map, was too large to fit into the press, so the original figure was scanned and reproduced here.

Robert A. Daniels

Albany, New York

14 February 2005 5

Introduction

Immediately after the publication in 1902 of “Notes on Fishes of Lake Ontario”, by Drs. Barton W. Evermann and William C. Kendall, the present writer proposed to undertake a study of the fishes in the streams of northern Monroe Co., N.Y. During the following summer, a few collections and observations were made. Considerable work was done in the two succeeding summers. Incorporated with the above, are personal notes gathered from twenty years of previous residence in the region, the records obtained by the U.S. Fish Commission parties of 1894, and the record of fish distribution to Monroe waters by pisciculturists.

For many years we have visited these streams; in recent years with university classes in ichthyology. We find them to be amongst the finest collecting spots in the study of fishes. Very few other places in N.Y. State offer such a variety of species in such abundance.

We have used the class, ordinal and family names of Dr. Jordan’s recent

Classification of Fishes (Jordan 1923, pp. 1-243, I-X). The names of the fish in the blocks and order of the groups have the Jordan Manual order. We employed as well Hubbs’s recent “Check list of the Fishes of the Great Lakes”, Dymond’s “Fishes of Nipigon” and

Weed’s recent suggestions in Copeia concerning Esox. The last gentleman, a classmate of the author, lived in the adjoining county of Wayne, and helped me with several suggestions in the earlier stages of this work. Our acknowledgements are also due to

Profs. B.G. Wilder, H.D. Reed, and B.W. Evermann for encouragement, advice and assistance. Thanks are also due Drs. C.C. Adams, S.C. Bishop, J.G. Needham and C.C.

Embody. 6

Distribution Diagrams

It is some years since ornithologists saw the advantages of a graphic means of representing complex bird waves and their coincident relation to physical conditions. In ichthyology, a schematic method whereby fish distribution and environment can be correlated is not less valuable.

The study of a stream and its fishes involves the consideration of factors so numerous and diverse, and accumulates such a mass of data, that one is impelled to adopt some graphic method to make results appear quickly and clearly.

The chart to be described presently (Figure 1) is of a hypothetical stream, including a variety of possible conditions. The first continuous vertical line to the right of the list of species represents the mouth of the stream, and the corresponding vertical on the right of the chart is its source. The dotted verticals numbered below (1 to 8) mark mile points. Beneath the “Misc. Data” space, these mile lines are not dotted but continuous.

The heavy horizontal opposite each species indicates the range of that species in the stream. Wherever the horizontal is broken, it indicated the occasional occurrence of the species. Whenever a species gains entrance to a stream from two or more points an arrow tip at the end of each of its range lines indicates the direction of its migration; e.g., in our hypothetic stream the carp, Cyprinus carpio enters from the mouth and from canal overflows.

The continuous horizontal above the first species in the list represents the surface of the water. The bottom is shown by the curved line labeled “Bottom of Stream”. The 7 average depth at any given point is, therefore, the vertical between these two lines, read from the scale at the extreme right of the chart.

The continuous horizontal immediately below the last species enumerated, represents the altitude of the mouth above sea level. The profile line indicates the drop in the stream. The approximate altitude of any given point along the stream is shown by the vertical between the two above-mentioned lines, and read from the scale at the right.

The continuous horizontal in “Valley Cross Sections” represents the stream, on either side of which is shown a section of the country for one and a quarter miles. In these cross sections at every mile point, the geologic formation can be indicated.

The current, width and bottom data are self-explanatory. In the “Miscellaneous

Data”, bridges, marshy regions, dams, etc., are represented, so far as possible, by the conventional signs employed by the U.S. Geological Survey (Table 1).

Taking the common bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus, as the example, one is able to read from the chart, concerning its distribution, etc., the following: it is common in the lower two miles of the stream, gradually decreasing in abundance at the end of the second mile. Throughout the middle course where rock or gravel bottoms and swift water or rapids occur, this species is absent. In the upper course where the current and bottom are influenced by the dam, located five and a half miles from the mouth, it reappears. In the latter instance, its presence so near the headwaters is due to canal overflows at the seven and one-half mile pint. It seldom frequents water less than 4 feet deep. In both ranges, the drop in the stream is slight, so that the current is just perceptible at the mouth, and imperceptible at the dam. At these two points, the stream’s width is respectively 27 and 8

32 feet. In both places, the bottom is muddy. In the lower course the stream lies on a delta formation while in the upper course the underlying stratum is glacial drift.

The Johnny darter, Boleosoma nigrum, occurs at the source of the creek, due to a contribution at flood time from another stream across the divide, the two sources being on the same level and continuous at some seasons. The falls on either side of the 4-mile point would preclude its reaching the source from the mouth.

The Map

The map of Monroe County (Figure 2) is made from the U.S. Geological Survey sheets. Bridge abbreviations are listed in Table 2. In one or two instances, the hydrography is changed. The number accompanying some of the village names are benchmarks of actual determinations of the U.S. Geological Survey. The Erie Canal,

Ridge Road, and R.W. and O.R.R. are shown because they are so frequently referred to as landmarks, etc. Other roads, railroads, and canals are omitted.

Physical Characteristics of Northern Monroe County

The area under consideration is that part of Monroe County directly draining into

Lake Ontario. The length, east and west, of this region is thirty-two miles; its breadth at the western end is 15 miles, at the eastern end eight and a half miles. The surface contained in this strip is three hundred and sixty square miles. But the portion to which my attention was especially given is between the Genesee River on the east and the

Monroe and Orleans county line on the west. This includes about two hundred and twenty square miles of land surface (Fairchild 1896, p. 29).

“The northern part of the area (Monroe County) is a comparatively smooth plain directly drained into Lake Ontario by many small streams, which near the lake have cut 9 into the Iroquois lake deposits and subjacent ice drift. The continuity of the plain is entirely broken by the recently excavated ravine of the Genesee, 200 feet deep, and by the preglacial valley of Irondequoit Bay.”

Beneath the Iroquois silts above referred to, we have the Medina sandstone strata and in almost every one of the ten streams studied I found just north of the “Ridge Road”

(Lake Iroquois beach) a sandstone bottom.

These streams rise in territory 500 to 640 feet above sea level, having on the average about 20 feet fall per mile. They are in the Upper Austral life zone, which has as an extension from the west an arm along the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The general direction of these creeks is northeastward, and except for Sandy Creek, they all empty into deep bayous or indentations from the lake. This series of bays extends from Manitou

Point to Charlotte and comprises the following bodies of water: Braddock’s Bay,

Cranberry Pond, Long Pond, Buck’s Pond, and Round Pond. The second and third are connected with each other. In addition, the outlets into the lake are sometimes completely cut off for part of the year, being reopened during high water and turbulent seasons. The lakeshore from Manitou to Troutburg is quite an even beach with occasional bowldery intervals. Eastward beyond the high shores of Irondequoit bay the beach resumes the general level and is gravelly but for a few bowldery points.

Present Conditions in the Streams

Buttonwood Creek (Figure 3)

This stream was examined from Burritt Road Bridge to Hunts Corners Bridge, on

July 7, 1904; Burritt Road Bridge to Parma and Greece Line Bridge, July 8; Hunts

Corners Bridge to source, July 11; Parma and Greece Line Bridge to mouth, Aug. 10. 10

It rises one mile directly west of Spencerport just north of the Erie Canal. It is tributary to Braddock’s Bay, entering it one-half mile east of Salmon Creek. Its source is

500 feet above sea level; its mouth, 246 feet, or 23 feet per mile. From its source to Hunts

Corners Bridge, its trend is northern. From this point onward to its mouth, it has a northeastern direction. There are no obstructions, natural or artificial, in the stream.

Just below the source (north of Parma and Ogden Bridge), the creek is lost in a swampy area from which it does not emerge until the next ridge is reached (a distance of

0.125 of a mile). One other swampy tract is connected with this stream. It is situated midway between Burritt Road Bridge and the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge. The bushy form most prevalent here is the buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).

The bottom of the creek at Hinkleyville is very stony. Halfway to the Ridge it becomes weedy and muddy. The extent of the latter is slight, for at Catville the gravelly bed is resumed. From this point onward to Parma Center (north) Bridge, gravel predominates, with stones interspersed in places. For the next mile, the bottom is gravelly with weed and mud interspaces, and occasional riffles. The remaining four miles are entirely muddy.

The current is quite pronounced in its upper course. From the Burritt Road Bridge to the mouth, it is scarcely perceptible. In width, it averages at the source 1 to 2 feet; at

Hinkleyville, 3 to 4 feet. Downstream, to the beginning of the muddy bottom below

Burritt Road Bridge it remains 4 to 5 feet wide with a few places 6 to 10 feet. At the mouth, it is much wider. At the source, the depth is from 4 to 6 inches; at Hinkleyville, 6 inches to 1 foot; at Hunts Corners, 1.5 feet. Some pools below Hunts Corners are 4 to 5 11 feet deep. But not until Slade’s Flats (beginning of muddy bottom) is reached, does the stream average 4 feet in depth. In the lower course, the depth is from 8 to 10 feet.

Below Hinkleyville (east) Bridge, Acer saccharinum, Tilia americana, Juglans cinerea, and Ulmus americana may be found growing on the banks. Farther down, the stream skirts a woodland mainly of hickory, some oak, beech, and white maple, with an interspersion of the forms recorded at Hinkleyville. Above Catville the creek is covered by a long row of willows. Prunella vulgaris, Salix sp., Cornus stolonifera, and Meliotus officinalis were the principal weeds and bushes on the banks. Half a mile farther down a dense row of willows uniformly 10 feet high completely covers the stream for a continuous stretch of 50 rods or more, no open spots intervening. An occasional

Plantanus occidentalis is found by the creek’s bank, but not so frequently as one would conclude from the name of the creek. All along the stream willows fringe the creek’s edge, and in many places overhanging willows furnished suitable rendezvous for the fishes of the immediate vicinity.

At Burritt Road Bridge, Solidago, Oxalis stricta, Mentha spicata, Ranunculus acris, Trifolium pratense, T. hybridum, Achillea millefolium, Anemone canadensis,

Convolvulus sepium, and Asclepias incarnata are on the banks; in the stream arrow-heads and some grass occur, the former often extending entirely across the stream’s course. On

Slade’s Flats the above-noted herbaceous vegetation disappears and is replaced by a distinctly marshy flora. When the creek issues from this area it is almost completely filled with vegetation, Typha, Saurus cernuus, Nasturtium officinalis, and Sagittaria latifolia being most plentiful. Isolated patches of pickerel-weed appear. Whenever the zones are pronounced, we find water-cress or pickerel-weed nearest the center of the stream, 12 lizard’s-tail next, and Typha and Iris near the bank. In places, the creek is covered entirely with Decodon. The first Potamogeton noticed was just above the R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge.

Crawfish are common inhabitants of Buttonwood Creek. Chrysemys marginata was found from Slade’s Flats to the mouth and in the same extent a few Chelydra serpentina. In Stuart’s Swamp Mr. John Archer secured for me two specimens of

Clemmys guttata. Rana pipiens is common in meadows about the stream. Rana clamitans is not very common above Burritt Road Bridge. In Stuart’s Swamp, Rana catesbeiana abounds. At Hunts Corners (west) Bridge and at Ridge Bridge Natrix sipedon fasciata was seen.

Some of the material was secured June 24, 30, and July 4, 1903, between Burritt

Road Bridge and the R.W. and O.R.R. bridge. The stream when investigated was higher than normal because of excessive rains.

North Creek (Figure 4)

Mouth to Smith’s Bridge, July 26, 1904; Smith’s Bridge to Blossom Cemetery

Bridge, July 30; Blossom Cemetery Bridge to Hamlin (south) Bridge, August 2; Hamlin

(south) Bridge to source, August 25.

In the atlas maps of the county, this stream is called Little Salmon Creek and

West Creek, the latter name also appearing in the U.S. Geological Survey sheets, but locally it is seldom so designated. This stream rises southwest of Brockport, 660 feet above sea level. It drops 414 feet in the 18 miles of its extent, or 23 feet per mile. In summer, however, the first four miles of its course dry up, and it properly begins at the canal. To East Hamlin, the stream flows in a northeasterly direction; beyond this point, it 13 assumes an easterly course to its junction with Salmon Creek. There are no obstructions, natural or otherwise, to interfere with the movement of fishes.

In the vicinity of the canal the creek is more or less marshy. The nature of the bottom from the 14-mile bridge onward is shown clearly on the chart. From the mouth to the Ridge, this stream is sluggish. Throughout the remainder of the course, there is a slight current.

The north fork dries up in the summer and its course is filled with lizard’s-tail, two species of Polygonum, and similar marsh-inhabiting plants.

From the mouth to the R.W. and O.R.R. bridge the creek is an alternation of deep wide stretches and of narrow shallow intervals. The former are usually margined by pickerel-weed, the latter covered with lizard’s-tail. Beyond this area the same arrangement continues, but in this extension the narrow places are almost always without water and very stony. Besides, the deep pools are surrounded by lizard’s-tail, this replacing pickerel-weed above the R.W. and O.R.R. bridge. Wherever plant zones are present about the deeper places, there are usually three. The regime, common from the mouth to the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, is lake-cress (Roripa aquatica) nearest the center of the stream, pickerel-weed (Pontederia cordata) next, and lizards-tail by the bank.

The mouth is marshy. From the mouth to the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge Pontederia is the most common plant. Nymphaea advena, Castalia odorata, Decodon, and

Potamogeton are common as far as Smith’s Bridge. In places, the creek is entirely covered with lizard’s-tail, water-cress, and two species of Polygonum. Lake-cress extends nearly to the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge. Algae are quite common on the bottom of 14 the stream. From the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge to the Ridge, lizard’s-tail is the water plant par excellence.

The plants observed on the banks were Steironema, Mimulus, cardinal flower, water dock, Joe Pye, blue vervain, swamp milkweed, Onoclea, wild bean, buttonbush, round cornel, some Samolus, Solidago, and Aster. The trees bordering the stream are mainly willows. The only woodland the creek touches is Hazen’s Woods east of Hilton

(north) Bridge. These are mixed, consisting of hemlock, beech, maple, birch, ash, basswood, etc.

Above the Ridge, the creek is from 6 inches to 1 foot deep on the average. At the junction of the two forks, it is 3 feet. Below the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, the deeper holes average 2 to 3 feet. Nowhere, except at the north, does the creek exceed 4 feet in depth.

In width, the creek averages 2 feet above the Ridge; below to the Hamlin (south)

Bridge to the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, 6 or 7 feet; from the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge to

Hilton (north) Bridge, 8 to 10 feet; at Hilton (north) Bridge, 30 or 40 feet wide; and below it averages from 12 to 15 feet.

Besides the material collected in 1904, a few species were taken June 26, 1903, from Hilton (north) Bridge to Hendy’s Bridge one mile east.

Larkin Creek (Figure 5)

North Greece (east) Bridge to Ridge, July 20, 1904; Ridge to source, August 5;

North Greece (east) Bridge to mouth, August 10.

This stream is seven and one-half miles long, rising just southwest of the intersection of the Parma, Ogden, and Greece town lines. At this point, it is 460 feet 15 above sea level, dropping 214 feet in the seven and one-half miles of its extent, or 28 feet per mile.

The two tributaries represented as branching from Larkin Creek near its mouth are of no importance and were not examined. The same is true of the larger tributary, which flows just east of North Greece. In summer, all three of these are dry throughout most of their extent. Above the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, it is ordinarily 2 or 3 feet wide and 4 to

6 inches deep. Often in its lower course, there are intervals without water. Occasionally the stream becomes 6 to 8 feet wide, but such places are generally cattle-trodden areas.

South of North Greece Bridge, the average width is about 3 to 4 feet; the average depth is

6 to 10 inches. The stream sometimes narrows to 1 foot and at several places is merely a shallow brook. North of the Ridge, one half of a mile, the depth is 2 or 3 feet.

There are no obstructions, and the greatest abrupt drop is one of only 2 feet in an old stone quarry, just north of the Ridge. This is distinctly a cyprinid stream, 6 of the 10 species occurring therein being minnows.

Below North Greece (east) Bridge, the adjacent fields are mainly pasture lands, and little vegetation occurs along the banks. Above this bridge to the Ridge there is found in abundance, Mentha piperata, Eupatorium purpureum and E. perfoliatum, Onoclea,

Carum, Prunella, Solidago, Convolvulus sepium, and Apios tuberosa. Towards the Ridge, there were added Steironema and wild parsley.

The woody forms were mainly willows, though in certain localities, shadbushes, witch-hazels, and stray buttonbushes replaced these. On the higher banks were numerous beeches, elms, maples, and hickories. In the stream in the lower course some algae appeared on the bottom and above North Greece (east) Bridge, lizard’s-tail is the most 16 common plant. Upon nearing the Ridge Sagittaria latifolia and Roripa nasturtium aquatinicum replaced lizard’s-tail, the Roripa being very abundant south of the Ridge.

Main Branch of the Northrup Creek (Figure 6)

Mouth to junction with its west tributary, August 10, 1904; junction to first bridge north of the Ridge, July 15; first bridge north of the Ridge to Erie Canal, July 18.

This stream is the sole tributary of Long Pond. In extent, it is ten and one-half miles, and rises east of Ogden Center in territory 600 feet above the sea level. The fall in its whole course is 254 feet, or 24 feet per mile. It flows in a northern direction into Long

Pond. For the first two and one-half miles above its mouth, it has banks 4 to 8 feet high.

In the rest of the course, the banks are low.

The bottom is composed largely of gravel. Within the first five miles above the mouth are numerous stone riffles. These riffles for the first mile north of the Ridge are very pretty and continuous. Above the Ridge considerable sand is interspersed with the gravel. In three places are rock outcrops, one south, 0.4 of a mile, from Bridgeman’s

Bridge, another just north of the Ridge, and the third above the Ridge about 0.5 of a mile.

At the last outcrop, there is a succession of small cascades of which are 2 to 3 feet high.

For a mile just north of the Ridge the stream’s edge is flanked with large boulders (Lake

Iroquois boulders), many of which are in the stream itself. The current is swift, undoubtedly accelerated by the constant supply of water from the canal. The creek at the time of this examination was much higher than usual.

From the Erie Canal to Northrup (north) Bridge, the creek keeps about 8 to 10 feet wide. Below this bridge, it is 10 to 15 feet. South of the canal, it narrows somewhat. In 17 depth, it averages 1 foot; in deeper places being 2 to 4 feet. At the Ridge dam it is 7 or 8 feet deep; at the mouth, 4 to 6 feet or more.

In its lower course, the main branch, as in the case of its west tributary, is well supplied with spiny-rayed fishes. Not until one approaches the ridge do the minnows appear in any numbers. By the Ridge is a millpond and above its dam, the fish are more numerous both in individuals and in species. Through the agency of the canal there have been added to the upper course species 6 lower course forms. They are: Ameiurus nebulosus, Cyprinus carpio, Perca flavescens, Eupomotis gibbosus, Anguilla chrysypa,

Notropis hudsonius.

The stream is quite clear. In the lower course, there is considerable Potamogeton.

Algae for its whole extent are on the bottom, but the current is too strong to allow it to accumulate on the water’s surface. Sagittaria is frequently found on the stream’s edge.

North of the Ridge water-cress appears by the side of the stream. From a little north of the Ridge to the Erie Canal, Dianthera americana occurs in abundance. It may be about the boulders or other objects in the stream, or a patch of this may, on a riffly rock bottom, completely cover the width of the stream. Above the ridge dam is a swampy area with characteristic vegetation. From the dam upwards, algae, Potamogeton, water-cress, and water-willow occur. The following plants were found on the banks: Helianthus,

Ranunculus acris, Solidago, Aster, Asclepias syriaca and A. incarnata, Verbena hastata,

Petroselium hortense, Meliotus alba and M. officinalis, Convolvulus sepium, Eupatorium purpureum, Cicuta maculata, Mentha piperata, and Achillea millefolium. Willows continue along the stream for its whole length. Immediately north of North Greece, the 18 following arboreal forms were found by the creek’s bank: buttonwood, red oak, sugar maple, elm, black ash, hickory (shagbark), and basswood.

Crawfish are common inhabitants of the creek. Chrysemys marginata was taken 3 miles from the mouth. Rana pipiens was the most abundant amphibian, Rana clamitans being next in abundance.

West Tributary of the Northrup Creek (Figure 7)

Junction with main branch to R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, July 13, 1904; R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge to east source, July 14.

The east source begins one mile directly north of Parma. It joins the main branch of Northrup Creek one and one-quarter miles above its entrance into Long Pond. The source is 380 feet above sea level; the junction with Northrup Creek proper, 260 feet, thus giving in its five mile course a 120 feet fall, or 24 feet per mile. Its trend is northeastward.

From the junction with Northrup Creek proper to R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, the creek’s bottom is mainly gravel with numerous wide mud intervals. From the R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge to above the Parma and Greece line bridge, it is gravelly and stony.

Thereafter to the source, it is not stony, gravel predominates, more clayey mud appears, and an occasional sandy stretch occurs. Throughout the whole five miles of its course, the bottom of the stream is covered with algae.

The first three miles of the lower course averages 3 to 5 feet in width, but in all this extent there are at irregular intervals, wide muddy places 10 to 12 feet wide. Beyond

Parma Center (east) Bridge the creek narrows to 2 to 3 feet. The average depth in the 19 lower course is 1 foot, the wider places being from 2 to 3 feet. One half mile above

Parma Center (east) bridge, the creek becomes shallow.

At the junction with the main branch, sweet clover, swamp milkweed, willows, and mustard are found on the banks. In the stream are some Potamogeton and grasses.

The woods by the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge are largely of beech and maple. Here lizard’s- tail first occurs and is continued for some distance up the creek. On either side of the

R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, we find Chara in the stream. Above this bridge, Polygonum hydropiper appears in the water, Mentha, Trifolium hybridum, Asclepias syriaca and

Carex spp. on the bank. Above Holden’s Bridge, black ashes and red osiers with the willows border the stream. Added to the common plants of the banks, are blue vervain and Anemone canadensis. Lizard’s-tail is still in abundance. Above Parma Center (east)

Bridge, Samolus, Achillea, Eupatorium (Joe Pye), Onoclea, Iris, and Typha grow near and in the stream. Northeast of Hunts Corners the stream enters a woodland consisting of basswood, white elm, beech, ash, and an occasional oak.

It is a sluggish stream, and is rich neither in number of individuals nor of species.

Of the 16 species found in this stream, the soft-rayed forms are in the minority. In the lower half of the course, the spiny-rayed forms are about the sole occupants. Scarcely a minnow was captured below Parma and Greece Line Bridge. Minnows began to be more frequent above Butcher’s Bridge.

Crawfish are abundant. Rana pipiens is very common in the meadows near by;

Rana clamitans, common in the stream; and Rana catesbeiana not uncommon up to

Butcher’s Bridge. The larvae of the first two had transformed by July 4, and I found very 20 few with tails when the creek was examined. Chrysemys marginata was recorded as far up at Butcher’s Bridge.

Round Pond Tributary (Figure 8)

Mouth to Ridge Road, July 29, 1904; Ridge to source, August 5.

It is the only tributary of Round Pond. It is nine and one-half miles long, rises 560 feet above the sea level, thus giving a drop of 314 feet, or 33 feet per mile. The portion south of the canal and a half-mile stretch north of it becomes dry during the summer.

At the first bridge, it is 10 feet wide and 6 to 8 inches deep. Between this bridge and the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, there are some deep turbid places 2.5 to 3 feet deep. At this latter bridge, the stream averages 6 to 10 inches in depth. Above the third bridge, the creek is 4 feet wide or less, occasionally 15 feet in width. It is shallow ordinarily, but some places are found 3 feet deep. Between the 4th and 5th bridges, the width sometimes reaches 8 or 10 feet and the depth 1 foot. Above the Ridge, in one spot it is 3 feet deep.

There are numerous stretches 1.5 to 2 feet deep. The first mile above the Ridge averages

4 feet in width. Thereafter, to the source it is 2 or 3 feet wide.

Throughout the stream, there is little current. In the lower course below the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, the water is roily. Above this point, it is fairly clear. The stream abounds in minnows, particularly above the Ridge.

In addition to the common plants that skirt the streams in this region, there was found, above the fourth bridge, Potentilla anserina; above the fifth bridge, Apocynum.

Algae were present in the entire length of the stream. From the third bridge up to the

Ridge, more or less Chara was found growing along the stream’s course. At the 7th bridge is an old dam, evidently long in disuse, and at this point the flora is strongly 21 marshy in character. Here Decodon first appears, and it continues along the stream to the canal. Above the Ridge, Roripa nasturtium aquaticum and Sagittaria latifolia are very common. The customary willows, Cornus stolonifera and C. circinata, with an occasional elm, black ash, and elder, fringe the stream.

Crawfish are common. Rana pipiens and R. clamitans are rather common along the stream, and fresh eggs of the latter were recorded in a cut-off Chara pond near North

Greece (east) Bridge July 20, 1904.

There is no place where the stream falls abruptly more than 2 feet. At the Ridge and about one-half mile below are the remains of two old millponds.

Main Branch of Salmon Creek (Figure 9)

R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge to Hilton Bridge July 23 and 25, 1904; Hilton bridge to

Forks, July 26; Forks to Hunts Corners (west) Bridge, July 27; Canal to source, August

24; Hunts Corners (west) Bridge to Canal, November 7; below the R.W. and O.R.R.

Bridge at various times.

Its source is represented as being in Clarendon just over the Monroe and Orleans county line. In freshet times, this is doubtless true, but, when examined, the stream was practically dry above Sweden (south) Bridge. As given on the U.S. Geological Survey sheets, Salmon Creek is about nineteen miles long. Its source is 640 feet above sea level; its mouth, 250 feet. It thus has 390 feet drop in its entire extent, or twenty-one and one- half feet per mile. It is the largest tributary of Braddock’s Bay. There are three millponds, all situated between the Ridge and the Canal. Prior to 1902, there was another at Parma

Center (west) Bridge. 22

There are only two woodlands that this creek traverses or touches, one a mixed woodland (Bagley’s) near the mouth, the other the swampy woods between the east and south bridges in Sweden. From north of the canal to the mouth there are scattered along the stream’s course several high wooded banks. These generally have beech, maple, elm, two species of poplars, sumac, shagbark hickory, and an occasional oak. The most noteworthy of these banks is above the Parma Center (west) Bridge.

The vegetation on the banks is similar to that recorded for the other streams.

Below the canal Typha and Alisma appear scattered along the edge of the creek, with

Potamogeton the main plant in the stream. Above the canal where there is little or no current, plants are much in evidence. Lizard’s-tail, Typha, and Carex spp. are quite abundant. At the fourth bridge above the canal Polygonum hydropiper is very common.

In the swampy woods east of Sweden (south) Bridge and west, is a pronounced marshy flora. Below this swampy area, willows and Crataegus fringe the stream.

In width, the stream averages 2 or 3 feet at Sweden (south) Bridge; south of the canal it is 3 or 4 feet, though occasionally 10 to 15 feet; at Hunts Corners (west) Bridge it becomes 25 to 30 feet wide; at Hill’s Bridge, 30 to 35 feet. At the Hilton Bridge it is 35 to

45 feet, and this width it maintains to the mouth.

It is shallow above the canal, in places, however, being 2 or 3 feet deep; below the canal it averages 3 or 4 feet and at the mouth, it attains a depth of 6 or 7 feet.

Chrysemys marginata, Chelydra serpentina and Natrix sipedon fasciatus are the most common reptiles in the stream. One Clemmys guttata was recorded. Rana pipiens,

R. clamitans, and R. catesbeiana occur in and near the stream, and the most common salamander in the stream is Necturus maculosus. 23

West Tributary of the Main Fork of Salmon Creek (Figure 10)

Mouth to Ridge, August 11, 1904. It begins at the canal, midway between

Brockport and Adams Basin, 500 feet above the sea level, is five and one-half miles long, and empties into the Main Branch of Salmon Creek at the level of 300 feet above the sea level. This gives a drop of 200 feet, or 36 feet per mile. It branches just north of the

Ridge, and the U.S. Geological Survey sheet (Brockport) represents the west branch as extending to the canal whereas it is the east branch that reaches the canal, the west branch ceasing just south of the Ridge. The east branch is continually fed by the canal and as a consequence has a decided current.

The creek in the first two miles of its course is a series of isolated pools with intervening dry areas. The next three quarters of a mile, where the four Parma and

Clarkson bridges occur, is entirely dry in summer. For the succeeding one half mile, it is a mere grassy brook. The remainder has no dry areas.

At the mouth, it averages 2 or 3 feet in width, occasionally 10 feet, and no place is over 2 feet deep. From the mouth to the four Parma and Clarkson bridges, it is often only

1 or 2 feet wide. This width prevails in the grassy portion. About one mile north of the

Ridge it becomes again 2 or 3 feet wide, and so remains almost to the canal. Above the

Parma and Clarkson bridges, it is very shallow.

At the mouth, Potamogeton occurs in the large pools, also considerable lizard’s tail and Sagittaria skirting them. On the bank, buttonbush, red osier, Crataegus, and willow fringe the stream’s edge. Above the four Parma and Clarkson bridges, there is little vegetation in the stream except in the grassy portion above mentioned. 24

Prunella, Bidens, Coreopsis, blue vervain, and white sweet clover are the most common plants on the banks. Rana pipiens is common from the source to a point one mile north of the Ridge. Below this point, Rana clamitans and R. catesbeiana are the common frogs. Crawfish are common.

West Fork of the Salmon Creek (Figure 11)

Mouth to Parma and Hamlin Line Bridge, August 12, 1904; Parma and Hamlin

Line Bridge to source, August 15, 1904.

The West Fork rises south of Brockport, 610 feet above sea level, is twelve miles long, and joins the Main Branch of Salmon Creek one mile west of the Hilton Bridge. In its entire length it drops 330 feet, or 27 feet per mile, if it be considered twelve miles long. In summer, however, the upper two and one-half mile portion south of the canal dries up and the creek actually begins at the canal.

For the source to Clarkson Forks, the creek is 2 to 3 feet wide. Below this point it becomes 10 to 15 feet, and as the mouth is approached it reaches 20 feet in width. North of the Clarkson Forks, the stream averages 1 to 1.5 feet in depth, occasionally 2 or 3 feet, or even 4 feet. South of this same place, it becomes one-half foot less.

The plants noted on the banks were blue vervain, yellow sweet clover, bindweed, and wild cucumber. Willows fringe the stream. On the high banks, maples, beeches, quaking aspens, and large toothed poplars were recorded. In the lower course, Chara and

Potamogeton were the most common plants in the stream. Here, beside the stream for some distance, occurred water-cress. Farther up, Sagittaria replaces the water-cress, but above the ridge the latter is the common plant. 25

Just north of the ridge are the Clarkson Forks. These are formed by the stream just described and by a small branch, which rises in Brockport. This little tributary has a swift current, caused primarily by the fact that the canal feeds it constantly. In this tributary, the upper dam indicated on the U.S. Geological Survey sheet ceased to be about 1902. At present only the lower one at Clarkson remains. Just below Clarkson Forks are the remains of another dam.

East Tributary of the West Fork of the Salmon Creek (Figure 12)

Mouth to source, August 16, 1904.

It rises southeast of Brockport at a level of 580 feet above the sea, thus having in its six and one-half miles a drop of 43 feet per mile. The first two miles of its course presents an alternation of dried-up areas and deep pools. In the subsequent one and one- half miles of the sluggish portion of the stream, this arrangement is not so marked. The remaining three and one-half miles to the source has a current, is 2 or 3 feet wide, and 2 or 3 inches deep. Below Irish Settlement Bridge, the stream traverses two pieces of woods. These are mainly of beech, maple, and elm. In the lower three and one-half miles lizard’s-tail is the most important water plant. The vegetation of the banks is of the same characteristic forms recorded of the other streams.

A Comparison of the Fish succession of Monroe, Ontario (province), Cayuga Lake and Upper Susquehanna Watercourses

These ten Monroe streams are quite ideal for the study of fish succession, because they are in the old bed of Lake Iroquois and have come into being since its beach (Ridge

Road on map) retreated to the present shore of Lake Ontario. They are then postglacial in origin and comparatively recent. For comparison, we have employed Meek’s (1899, pp. 26

307-311) and Meek’s and Clark’s (1902, pp. 131-140) results in the highlands of Ontario.

They began at Hawkstone and Orilla on Lake Simcoe and followed the Grand Trunk

Railroad to Trout Creek or farther north. All the while this railroad bears away from

Georgian Bay and the stations they successively came to were successively farther away from it in barriers, etc. Added to their results are the experiences of the writer from the

Lake of Bays to Fletcher Lakes below Algonquin National Park. The northern end of

Cayuga Lake is quite comparable to Monroe streams, and the Cayuga fish inhabitants bear out the contention. Many forms are common to the two but absent at the south end of Cayuga Lake. The upper reaches of the streams at Ithaca, where barriers exist near the lake, are more comparable to Otter Lake or Trout Creek of Ontario. Added to the results are the comparisons from some of the Susquehanna head streams, 8 to 12 miles south of

Ithaca.

In a diminutive rivulet or a developing small creek where the current is moderate and the bottom clayey, gravelly, or varied, the first occupants are almost sure to be the sucker (C. commersonii), and horned dace (S. atromaculatus), and quite likely the black- nosed dace (R. atronasus). The second seems to be the original and oldest carnivore of a typical eastern stream in its first development. Thus, in central N.Y., in most of the hanging valleys that empty into the Finger Lakes, suckers, horned dace, and black-nosed dace are about the original occupants above the high falls and toward the sources, unless the brook trout be present. In our ten Monroe streams, we did not find the red-bellied minnow (C. erythrogaster), but Evermann and Kendall (1902, p. 210) recorded it in Salt

Brook of Webster and in Long Pond. In many streams and lakes of the province of

Ontario, it is one of the first to enter and might follow close after the above three species. 27

This may explain its presence in the Cayuga Lake basin, only in the headwaters of Fall

Creek (Reed and Wright 1909, p. 394) where barriers intervene between its habitat and

Cayuga Lake. Another form that was taken in a little side stream of the West Fork of

Salmon Creek is the fathead minnow (P. promelas). At Ithaca, the sole record for it occurs in the upper waters of one of our oldest streams, namely, Fall Creek (Meek 1889, p. 303) and above the barriers near Cayuga Lake; in some of the most inaccessible lakes

(Great Lakes’ drainage) of Ontario, it is present, as it is in the headwaters of the

Susquehanna. In some streams or headwaters, a representative of a very pretty group

(Leuciscus) of minnows may possibly be associated with the last two species. It is either the red-sided minnow (L. elongatus), L. margarita or Leuciscus neogaeus [or

Clinostomus elongatus (Kirtland), Margariscus margarita (Cope) and Pfrille neogaeus

(Cope) see Jordan 1924, pp.70-71]. In the headwaters of the Susquehanna the first two are very abundant, and Everman and Kendall (1902, p. 211) had it from several small streams at the east end of Lake Ontario; while the latter form (L. neogaeus) occurs in some of the highland lakelets of Ontario (Meek and Clark 1902, p. 135). In the Monroe

County tributaries of Lake Ontario two minnows are amongst the species to follow after the original three as given above. These two forms are the blunt-nosed minnow (P. notatus) [or Hyborhynchus notatus (Rafinesque)] and the common shiner (N. cornutus).

In the beginning, therefore, our small streams have in fish content a decidedly soft-rayed element. As the stream develops in width, length, and diversity, these forms either become our most adaptable forms and range throughout the length of the stream, or else betake themselves to the sources. 28

The next incomers are usually the first of the spiny-rayed fish and are amongst the most diminutive, namely, the brook stickleback (E. inconstans) and the fan-tailed darter

(C. flabellaris). In some waters it would seem that almost concomitant with these comes the miller’s thumb (C. bairdii). Of this, we are not so positive. In the smaller streams, the stickleback is usually near the source, and the darter may be at the source, in mid-course, or near the mouth. They are present, however, in almost every one of the Monroe County streams, irrespective of subsequent developments of the lower course, whether deep, muddy and marshy, or river-like, swift, broad, and gravelly. Following close on the heels of these spiny-rayed forms comes the river chub (H. kentuckiensis) [or Nocomis biguttatus (Kirtland) see Hubbs 1926, p. 28], which we have recorded in all of our ten streams (small to large streams) and usually sparingly in mid-course or near the mouth.

Another form that invades the new stream at about the same stage as the river chub is the stone-roller minnow (C. anomalum), an upper course form if the lower course is muddy or a lower course form as well if the bottom is gravelly, rocky, or diversified. At this stage, our hypothetical stream in its fish inhabitants virtually has its duplicate in Larkin

Creek, or even better in a small tributary (1/2 mile west of Hilton) of Salmon Creek. Or this distribution of the fish forms of Larkin Creek (river chub and stone-roller minnow not represented) is beautifully illustrated in the headwaters of Cayuga Lake Inlet. This stream is the only stream near Ithaca without obstructions or decided glaciation barriers.

The second carnivore and depredator to enter is the pike (E. lucius) closely associated with its smaller relative, the grass pike (E. vermiculatus). The former occurs in all ten streams, and it alone appears in Larkin Creek, while the grass pike occurs in seven streams. Where both are recorded, the pike’s range is usually greater and it remains 29 longest in the oldest portions of a growing stream. This is illustrated in the Salmon Creek and in West Fork of Salmon Creek, two stretches of the oldest stream courses under consideration. Here, the pike alone remains but in the more recent tributaries of each of these older streams, both pike and grass pike occur and the former with the greater range.

About the time of the ingress of the pike, the lower course may possibly begin to deepen, the current become slower and the bottom muddy. Amongst the very first forms to appear along with such conditions is the common bullhead (A. nebulosus). This form is the most widespread in its distribution and most versatile in its adaptations of any of the three species of Ameiurus we have. Following the bullhead come the first centrarchid, the common sunfish (E. gibbosus). At this juncture our fish content compares favorably with the inhabitants of the upper reaches of Fall Creek above the falls. The forms are: sucker, horned dace, black-nosed dace, fall-fish, red-bellied minnow, fathead minnow, brook stickleback, miller’s thumb, brook trout, pike, reticulated pickerel, bullhead, and sunfish.

Or Otter Lake above Lake of Bays (Ontario) may be comparable, with its sucker, horned dace, red-bellied dace, fathead, Leuciscus neogaeus, blunt-head, shiner, brook trout, bullhead, and sunfish. Or Trout Creek, a small tributary of Lake Nipissing, may represent the same point with the following forms: sucker, horned dace, red-bellied dace, fathead minnow, blunthead, shiner, brook trout, brook stickleback, and sunfish. Or the very headwaters of the Susquehanna near Ithaca have a very similar fish fauna, to wit: sucker, horned dace, black-nosed dace, shiner, fathead, red-sided minnow, pearly minnow, brook trout, miller’s thumb, pike, pickerel, bullhead, and sunfish.

The golden shiner (N. cryso-leucas) is the next form to appear in quantity, followed by a few perch (P. flavescens) and the rock bass (A. rupestris). This summation 30 or analysis of our ten streams has brought us unwittingly to the second youngest stream of the ten, namely, the West Tributary of the Main Fork of Salmon Creek. This tributary has only most of the forms recounted to this point.

The large-mouthed black bass leads the way in the next associate group and occurs in eight streams. In four of the five main systems, the black bullhead (A. melas) frequents the lower three or four miles of the stream. A close companion of the black bullhead is the tadpole cat (S. gyrinus), which is recorded in five of the ten streams and the mud minnow (U. limi) has much the same range and time of entrance. These four forms are almost synchronous in migration into the stream, or the above order of the four may possibly show the succession. The first has, if anything, a longer range in the stream than the second, the second more than the third, and the third more than the fourth, if both occur in the same stream. We have now reached the third stage in our Monroe watercourses, the state of affairs in the East Tributary of the West Fork of Salmon Creek.

About this same period the Johnny darter (B. nigrum) appears. It occurs in six of our streams or in five different systems, toward the gravelly, stony, or clayey sources of two streams with muddy lower courses or in the mid-course of the other four more gravelly streams. In some streams, the common killifish (F. diaphanus) may enter soon after the previous forms or be associated with them. This development brings the succession to

Round Pond Tributary.

A form that comes into consideration at this point is the chub sucker (E. s. oblongus). It was scarce in the West Tributary of Northrup Creek, rare in the lower part of Salmon Creek, and quite regular in the lower eight miles of North Creek, our most advanced muddy stream. Disregarding the lone bluegill record (L. incisor), the West 31

Tributary of Northrup Creek represents this stage. A common minnow preferring a muddy sluggish course enters. It is the bridled minnow (N. bifrenatus), and appears in the lower four miles of Buttonwood and North Creeks. The bowfin (A. calvus) is associated with the three bullheads (A. nebulosus, A. melas, and A. natalis) in the lower part of two of the muddiest streams and occurs sparingly at the mouth of Salmon Creek. Requiring about the same conditions, the yellow cat (A. natalis) appears in a similar range. In one creek at one point, we have the progress carried further with the introduction of the pirate perch (A. sayanus). This leaves us at the Buttonwood Creek stage. The pirate perch appeared more frequently in the more advanced muddy creek, namely, North Creek, and the succession in this stream goes even farther to the introduction of the mud darter (P. exilis). Upon the entrance of the small-mouthed black bass (M. dolomieu) at the mouth of

North Creek on a few stony stretches, we close this stream’s development.

Thus, we have from the beginning of muddy conditions the successive appearances of the common bullhead, common sunfish, golden shiner, perch, rock bass, large-mouthed black bass, black bullhead, tadpole cat, mud minnow, Johnny darter, common killifish, chub sucker, bridled minnow, bowfin, yellow cat, pirate perch, mud darter, and small-mouthed black bass. As the stream widens its valley, and cuts back into the country, these forms push up to favorable habitats above or remain at the mouth or with increasing age of the stream – swifter current and more gravelly, stony, rocky condition – may enter a tributary to recapitulate the succession beyond the first forms.

For example, at Ithaca, we have this Monroe succession being enacted in Fall Creek. It is naturally a wide, swift, gravelly stream from source almost to the mouth, and there are no decided muddy intervals except as produced by artificial milldams. From its source to the 32

Cornell University Campus (20 miles or more), we have the fish associates from sucker to the common sunfish. Through the campus comes a deep rocky ravine with a series of high falls, the last one (Ithaca Falls) being only a short distance from Cayuga Lake. The run from the Ithaca Falls to the lake is short and takes the water mass of the upper twenty miles or more. As a consequence, it is gravelly or stony, very swift and very short. There are, therefore, from source to Cornell University Campus no attainable muddy stretches, because the postglacial falls bar entrance to the muddy associates of the mouth. Near the mouth of Fall Creek is a small tributary or bayou, and in it we have the following: common bullhead, common sunfish, golden shiner, perch, rock bass, large-mouthed black bass, Johnny darter, tadpole cat, common killifish, bridled minnow, in abundance according to the order of the list, i.e., the first three being the most common. Just outside and slightly above the mouth of this bayou is the swift water of Fall Creek where the small-mouthed black bass is the most frequent large fish present. Then follows the succession of the swift gravelly group to be discussed later. Thus, we have in the source of Fall Creek the first comers to the streams; then, the second muddy group can not follow after them, but rather go off into a side stream near the mouth or remain in the mouth; over the backs of the muddy associates or past the mouth of the home of these, enters sparingly the third assemblage to occupy only the one-eighth mile stretch of gravelly bottom below the falls. As a consequence, the succession is not carried as far as in the long well-developed lower course of Salmon Creek. The mouth of the West Fork of Salmon Creek is about intermediate between the lower courses of Fall and Salmon

Creeks, in its fish content. 33

Some might feel that the Johnny darter should be thought of as entering the succession after or near the small-mouthed black bass, but this species is not so restricted to a gravelly bottom and swift current as many of the other darters are. Hence, its place with the previous forms. In the mouth or course of the West Fork of Salmon Creek we have left yet unmentioned in the succession, silver-sided minnow (N. atherinoides), log perch (P. caprodes zebra), spot-tail minnow (N. hudsonius), and hog-nosed sucker (H. nigricans). Another place quite comparable is Lake Simcoe or Moon River just below

Muskoka Lake (Bala). In the former Meek and Clark (1902) secured silvery-sided minnow, log perch, spot-tail minnow, silvery minnow (H. nuchalis), trout perch (P. omiscomaycus), and long-nosed dace (R. cataractae); in the latter locality they secured log perch, spot-tail minnow, and silvery minnow. In the lower course of Fall Creek we have the silverside minnow, log perch, silvery minnow, spot-tail minnow, trout perch, satin fin minnow (N. whipplii) and eel (A. rostrata). In the spring the lampreys and the calico bass (P. sparoides) and a stray gar (L. osseus) may enter it. In Salmon Creek the succession has gone much farther. Besides the forms of Fall Creek, we have in Salmon

Creek the following: hog-nosed sucker, stone cat (N. flavus), green-sided darter (E. blennioides), straw-colored minnow (N. deliciosus), and the barred mad tom (S. miurus).

Not infrequently, a mullet (M. aureolum) or a bluegill (L. incisor) may just enter the lower reaches of the stream. Rarely a sheepshead (A. grunniens) or wall-eyed pike (S. vitreum) wanders into the mouth. Just at present, the latest arrival in the lower reaches of the Salmon Creek seems to be the marine two spined stickleback (G. bispinosus). The forms above are the newest species of an older stream whose course becomes more gravelly or stony of bottom, swift of current, and more diversified in general. Salmon 34

Creek has a much broader valley and longer course than any of the Monroe watercourses previously considered.

The Effect of the Erie Canal on Distribution (Figure 13)

At certain seasons, the volume of 5 of the 10 streams studied is affected by overflows of the Erie Canal. That this is a disturbing factor in the upper courses is seen by an examination of the charts of Salmon and Northrup Creeks. In each are milldams above the Ridge and in each, the fish contributions from the canal are found between the canal and the Ridge dams, with the exception of two species which also occur in the middle courses of these streams. The forms from the canal are: Ameiurus nebulosus,

Cyprinus carpio, Anguilla rostrata, Ambloplites rupestris, Eupomotis gibbosus, Perca flavescens, Notropis hudsonius, and Notropis whipplii.

In this connection, it is noteworthy that, at Adams Basin in Salmon Creek, the canal overflow is on the south side, and for a distance of three tenths of a mile south of the canal, several scattering specimens of Notropis wipplii were taken—this being the only locality in which it was recorded. This species is more of a lower course fish, and the evidence seems to indicate that it has found its way into this stream from the canal.

More certain is it that all of Notropis hudsonius in the upper courses of Northrup

Creek and the West Fork of Salmon Creek are due to the same agency. In the West Fork of Salmon Creek a single individual was taken and one-half miles north of the canal. In

Northrup Creek, however, I obtained stray specimens of this species from the Ridge to the canal. Just where the canal feeds the stream, 15 individuals of this species were secured at one haul of the seine. These data, coupled with the fact that this is not a species 35 of small streams or of the upper courses of large streams, make its occurrence in the above streams presumably attributable to the canal.

None of the species enumerated would we naturally expect so near the headwaters of a stream if uninfluenced by a canal. Some of these are doubtless Lake Erie forms. Had facilities and time been at hand it would have been interesting during this investigation to determine what species of fish were in the canal, particularly within Monroe County limits.

Distribution of Adult Fish from the Western Wide-waters of the Erie Canal

In addition to this increment due to continual overflows each year there must be considered the occasional stocking of our streams by human agency. No doubt in former autumns when the water is drawn out of the Erie Canal, fish and game wardens have stocked our streams with the stranded fish.

Apropos this possibility, the writer has discovered that the New York

Commissioners of Fisheries in 1872 began to net the wide-waters of the Erie Canal just west of Rochester for the purpose of distributing adult fish to the various lakes, ponds, and streams of this state. In 1874 (N.Y. Commissioners Report, 1874, p. 12), they reported as captures “black, Oswego and white bass, pike, perch of the lakes, yellow perch, bullheads and a few other varieties.”

At the initiation of this method of distribution the N.Y. Commissioners (1872, p.9) write as follows:

“Although no means of hatching black bass and hundreds of other species, has yet been discovered, another method was found for reaching substantially the same end.

Every year large numbers of various kinds of bass and other freshwater fish, pass into the 36

Erie Canal from Lake Erie, and eastward as far as Rochester. These fish vary in size from four inches to fifteen in length. They congregate in the deeper places in the canal when the waters are drawn off in the fall, and are easily taken in nets in winter. As the spring opens and the water becomes warm, these fish die if they are not removed. The annual withdrawal of the water is necessarily fatal to such fish as remain.”

“Heretofore, when the water was drawn in the fall, the larger fish were taken from the holes and indentations in the bottom by the fishermen, with their nets, and sent to market; while the smaller fry were left to perish on the shore, or when the holes dried up, to be frozen to death by the increasing severity of the weather. Instead of permitting this terrible waste of material, the commissioners made arrangements for saving a greater part of these little fish and for distributing them throughout the waters of this state whenever they are needed or can be used to advantage.”

After some 8 or 10 years of such distribution, they (N.Y. Commissioners Report

1881-82, pp. 6-7) again write that: “The distribution of black and Oswego bass has been from the first an important element in the commission’s work….”

“From this source, also, has come the general diffusion of bullheads in our inland waters.”

The species and number of individuals, which the N.Y. Commission thus distributed, occur in Table 3 compiled from the Reports of the N.Y. Commissioners of

Fisheries for 1872 to 1888.

Distribution of Percidae in Salmon Creek (Figure 14)

No one feature of this stream seems more interesting than the distribution of

Percidae in it. For the first twelve miles of its course, within which all of the Percidae 37 occur, it has a gravelly or rock bottom, swift current, numerous shallows and clear water, though made muddy occasionally by canal overflows. In Salmon Creek there are 6 species of Percidae: Stizostedion vitreum, Perca flavescens, Percina caprodes zebra,

Etheostoma blennioides, Catonotus flabellaris, and Boleosoma nigrum olmstedi.

They are found distributed in the stream according to size, the largest species being in the lower course, those intermediate in size in the middle course, and the smallest forms in the upper course. Upon detailed examination, this arrangement obtains with one apparent exception.

Stizostedion vitreum in April at its spawning season may be fairly common in

Braddock’s Bay, but rarely enters Salmon Creek. Its range extends to the R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge one and one-half miles from the mouth.

Perca flavescens does not take kindly to this stream, though not uncommonly found below the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge. Above this point in Salmon Creek proper it is seldom captured, except above the ridge where the canal may be the explanation. Thus, eliminating the canal form, Perca flavescens has a range of two and one-half miles in the lower course, in the last mile of which it is uncommon.

Percina caprodes zebra is abundant below the three-mile mark. Above this point for one and one-half miles, three specimens were secured.

Etheostoma blennioides attains nearly the three-mile mark, and at the upper limit of its range is still abundant. This coincides with the upper point of Percina’s abundant range, and if on the shallows the creek continued weedy at all, which it does not, E. blennioides would probably appear as far upstream, if not farther, than does Percina. 38

Catonotus flabellaris occurs throughout the first nine miles of the stream. Below the four-mile mark, it is rather uncommon; in the middle course, it is the only Percid present.

Boleosoma nigrum olmstedi is slightly smaller in this stream than C. flabellaris. It is abundant for a mile south and one-half of a mile north of the canal. In the middle course none was taken; in the lower course a very few were taken on either side of the

Hilton Bridge.

The explanation for this distribution of Percidae is not difficult if the food relations of the group be considered. Of the six species noted, the smaller the species, the greater the percentage of insect food, and vice versa. To find, therefore, strictly insectivorous species farthest upstream is not strange at all, for there the abundant forms, the Cyprinids, are largely vegetarian and on the upper shallows the smaller darters have not Schilbeodes miurus, Noturus flavus, Hypentelium nigricans, the larger Percidae and the young of other families, e.g., Centrarchidae, with which to compete.

Jesuit and Pioneer Ichthyologic Records

That the fish of this region were a main factor in the sustenance of its previous occupants and in the pioneer settlements is easily seen. Then, “streams of water on an average were twice as large as they are now; and they were more durable, where they are now low or dry a part of the year. Large tracts of low land, now cultivated to grass and grain, originally was (sic) marsh, too wet even to grow trees,” (Thomas 1871, pp. 31-32) and many a present day marsh was an open pond, conditions very favorable for fish and their increase. “These … were a great help to the pioneer settlers; not only a substitute for food which it was difficult to obtain, but enabled them often to drive a brisk trade, an 39 exchange or barter, with the new settlers who were farther removed from the fishing grounds” (Turner 1849, p. 558). In some places, fish were so important that “In the absence of that resource (fish) for food, many must have abandoned their new homes in the woods” (Turner 1849, p. 477). In fact, in An account of the Genesee Tract the writer

(Imlay 1797, p. 460; also see O’Callaghan 1849, p. 1112) mentioned as one of the peculiar considerations for prospective settlers, “the uncommon abundance of very fine fish, with which the lakes and rivers abound; among which are to be found excellent salmon of two different kinds, salmon trout of a very large size, white and yellow perch, sheep-heads, pike, succors and eels of a very large size, with a variety of other fish in their different seasons.”

Robert Munro (1804, p. 9; also see O’Callaghan 1849, p. 1175) reported “fish are abundant in Lake Ontario and other lakes and in the rivers.” A letter writer in 1799

(O’Callaghan 1849, pp.1154-55) emphasized the importance of fish in this way. “The lakes and rivers supply us abundantly with fish, the woods with venison, the maple tree with sugar and our industry with abundance of grain.”

This region with its immediate environs was the hunting and fishing ground of the

Senecas and long after the white settlements began, they often returned for short encampments to former favorite localities such as Braddock’s Bay, the mouth of the

Genesee and Irondequoit Bay. The Senecas were the least tractable and most warlike of the Five Nations and were among the last to receive the Jesuits into their midst. These missionaries were the first to give us any account of the natural history of the Iroquois country. Their relations, however, deal primarily with the results of their labors, and only incidentally do they mention the abundance of fish, e.g., in 1644-45 they note that “Our 40 country is well stocked with fish” (Thwaites 1898, p. 261) or later, in 1664-65, “For the most part this region is fertile and covered with fine woods … interspersed with lakes and rivers, very rich in fish” (Thwaites 1898, p. 259). In one instance only do they give details. Their relations for 1656 to 1657 state that: “One must not be astonished at the fertility of this country, for it is everywhere watered by lakes, rivers and springs, which are found even on the highest mountains. But, if these waters make the earth fertile, they themselves are nonetheless fruitful in what pertains to them. The fish most commonly found in them are eels and salmon, which are caught there from the spring to the end of autumn. Our savages construct their dams and sluices so well, that they catch at the same time the eels, that descend, and the salmon, that always ascent.”

More specific are the reminiscences of some of the pioneers and their sons who write of Monroe or its borders in the approximate period of 1785 to 1820. Then, “Fish were plenty in the streams and came up from Lake Ontario in great numbers” (Thomas

1871, p. 29). “Fish were abundant and a great help to the early settlers. A structure similar to an eel wire (sic) was placed in the Irondequoit, below the falls. That rack was made of tamarack poles. I have known ten barrels of fine fat salmon taken here in one night. The river afforded a plenty of black and striped bass, and the Bay, pickerel and pike. I never knew of the salmon ascending the Genesee River, but one season. Allan’s

Creek in Brighton afforded an abundance of trout” (Turner 1851, p. 425). One pioneer,

Peter Schaeffer of Scottsville says the “Trout were so plenty in Allan’s Creek that a string of an hundred and an hundred and fifty, could be taken without changing ground”

(Turner 1851, p.409). 41

Of conditions in the Genesee River above the Falls one observes that “The

Ontagua or Horse Shoe Pond, a mile and a half below Avon village, abounded in fine fish, especially large black bass, in an early day … speckled trout were plenty in the river, and in all the tributary streams. There was not pickerel or pike above the Genesee

Falls, until 1810 when William Wadsworth and some others caught pickerel in Lake

Ontario, and other Lake fish, and put them into Conesus Lake …. As pickerel came down from the Lake into the Genesee River, the trout disappeared” (Turner 1851, p. 375).

A portion of this special trout area Mr. John M’Kay of Caledonia describes more in detail. “I came to Caledonia in 1803. When I first came to the springs (Caledonia), trout were abundant in it; and it will surprise trout fishers of the present day—and would perhaps old Isaac Walton himself, if he were living—to learn that they were comparatively tame. When we wanted them, we used frequently to catch them with our hands, as they lay under the roots of the cedar trees that grew along the banks. There would be occasionally one weighing as high as three pounds. It is the habit of the speckled trout to breed in none but running water, consequently they would never breed in the spring, but resorted to its outlet. There were never any other fish in the spring; they have been gradually diminishing, not only in numbers but in size” (Turner 1849, p. 382).

Turner, in commenting on the above, writes in 1849 that “This last resort, almost, of the speckled trout in all the northern portion of Western New York, has within a few years, been threatened with entire desertion or extinction. There is now a law in operation limited to three years duration, which makes fishing in the spring or its outlet, a penal offense. The trout, as if ready to cooperate in the attempt to protect them in this their seeming ‘Reservation’ are now rapidly increasing in numbers and size.” 42

Mr. Seth Green and His Work

This bit of early Caledonia history just recited is but the forerunner of the important work, which only twenty years later began to be of national importance. Here at his Mumford-Caledonia ponds Mr. Seth Green commenced his fish-cultural labors as

N.Y. Superintendent of Fisheries. From this place as a center, under the N.Y.

Commissioners of Fisheries (1868 to 1895) and subsequently under the N.Y. fish, Forest and Game Commission (1895 - ) he and his successors sought to reestablish in our waters several native species as bullheads, eels, whitefish, salmon, lake herring, lake trout, brook trout, pike, rock bass, sunfish, black bass, Oswego bass, pike-perch and yellow perch. In addition, they introduced (before 1900) to the ichthyologic fauna of

Monroe County the following forms, some of which established themselves while others disappeared. They are (contemporaneous synonymy more or less retained in this case): carp (Cyrpinus carpio), goldfish (Carassius auratus), shad (Alosa sapidissima),

California salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), land- locked salmon (Salmo salar sebago), red-throated trout (Salmo mykiss), brown trout

(Salmo fario), rainbow trout (Salmo irideus), muskallonge (Esox masquinongy), white bass (Roccus chrysops), and striped bass (Roccus lineatus).

U.S. Fish Commission Work from 1885 to 1894

Their first work, which in any way threats of Monroe County forms, was done in

1885. In the section from the western county line to Braddock’s Bay, they record (Smith,

Snell and Collins 1891, p. 309) “The kinds of fish caught” as “sturgeon, herring, whitefish, bass, bull-heads, trout, pickerel, and perch.” There was also a species allied to the whitefish, a little larger than the herring, which is local, and is known by the 43 fishermen as the siscowet or silver whitefish; the same fish is found in numbers at

Oswego, among other places, but is not identical with the siscowet of Lake Superior, which is a variety of trout (Salvelinus). From Braddock’s Bay to Charlotte, they (Smith,

Snell and Collins 1891, p. 310) report: “The species caught in this section of the lake” to be “principally herring, bull-heads, bass, pickerel, white-fish, perch, sunfish, and eels.

Several fishermen expressed the belief that whitefish were becoming more abundant. The average weight of the specimens caught was about 6 pounds, although numbers of fish weighing 12 or 13 pounds were secured off Long Point.” And at Irondequoit Bay, they say (Smith, Snell and Collins 1891, p. 311) “The state fish commissioners have spent much time and money in stocking Irondequoit Bay, and have made it one of the largest and finest localities for pleasure fishing in the world. The water teems with fine bass and pickerel, large perch and bull-heads, and other minor varieties, and it is estimated that twenty-five thousand sportsmen and anglers visit the bay annually. Live bait is used almost exclusively, and quite a business in minnows has been established on the bay: there are twelve dealers who claim to sell $200 worth of minnows each during some seasons, this sum representing over one million minnows.”

In 1892, Dr. H.M. Smith (1892, pp. 177-215) wrote an extended report on the fisheries of Lake Ontario but he considers mainly the statistics of the commercial fisheries of each county.

Finally, in 1894 came the investigations of Messrs. Evermann and Kendall (1902, pp. 209-216), the first to consider the fishes of Lake Ontario primarily from the faunal standpoint. This list gives 42 species secured within Monroe County from the following 44 localities: Four-mile Creek at Nine-mile Point; Nine-mile Point, lake shore; Salt Brook near Nine-mile Point; Long Pond; Sandy Creek at North Hamlin, N.Y.

Seven of the 74 species mentioned in Evermann and Kendall’s list for the Lake

Ontario basin were taken with Monroe County limits only. They are: Noturus flavus,

Schilbeodes miurus, Hybopsis storerianus, Pomoxis sparoides, Diplesion blennioides,

Triglopsis thompsoni, Lota maculosa.

The Present List of Species

The present catalogue augments that of Evermann and Kendal by 27 forms for

Monroe County, and adds 5 species to the lake basin. Those not previously (before 1904) reported for Lake Ontario are: Petromyzon marinus, Ameiurus natalis, Aphredoderus sayanus, Hypentelium nigricans, and Rhinichthys cataractae.

One the other hand, Everman and Kendall’s list includes a number of forms, any one of which, from its occurrence in the Lake Ontario basin, might be expected within the limits of Monroe County but has not yet been taken. They are: Ictalurus punctatus,

Moxostoma anisurum, Leuciscus elongatus (Clinostomus elongatus), Leuciscus margarita (Margariscus margarita nachtriebi), Exoglossum maxillingua, Lucius reticulatus (Esox niger), Hadropterus aspro (H. maculatus), and Cottus ictalops (C. bairdii). (Strange to say every one of these except the first two species were taken by the

Genesee River Survey party of 1926 in the upper waters of that river.) The following catalogue contains 71 native species or subspecies, representing 25 families and 53 genera. The list also contains 10 exotic forms, which have been introduced to our fauna.

The families represented by 5 or more native species are: Siluridae, 6 species; 45

Catostomidae, 5 species; Cyprinidae, 19 species; Salmonidae, 6 species; Centrarchidae, 6 species; Percidae, 9 species.

Catalogue of Species

Class Marsipobranchii

Order Hyperoartia

Family Petromyzonidae. The lampreys.

1. Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus (Petromyzon m. unicolor (De Kay) in chart). Lake

lamprey, lamprey eel.

It is known from the lake at Willow and Hilton Beaches, and is frequently taken

every spring in Salmon Creek. The specimen at hand was secured at the R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge on April 1, 1903, by Mr. John C. Archer, of Hilton, N.Y. This species

ascends Salmon Creek about April 1, or before. So far as I can ascertain, its range in

Salmon Creek reaches to the Burritt Road (west) Bridge. The fish most attacked is

Catostomus commersonii. During the springs of 1903 and 1904, while the suckers were

on their way to the spawning ground, individuals were examined for “lamprey scars”. A

great number bearing such marks were found, and in most cases, the scar was in the

region of the dorsal fin, the second choice being behind the pectoral fins. Evermann and

Kendall in their “Notes on the Fishes of Lake Ontario” do not mention this form.

Professor S.H. Gage in 1904 informed me that he was not aware of any record of this

species from the Lake Ontario basin but he, like the author, has heard of the recent

records of in at Toronto. On May 29, 1926, we secured a fine specimen in Salmon Creek

at Hilton Bridge in swift water where formerly a riffle existed in 1905. 46

It ascends Salmon and Sandy Creeks in spring, spawning where the water is shallow, the bottom pebbly or stony, and just above the swift current of the riffles.

Class Pisces

Order Glaniostomi

Family Acipenseridae. The sturgeons.

2. Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque Le Sueur. Lake sturgeon, rock sturgeon.

Not uncommon along the lakeshore. In July and August of 1904, several were taken at Willow Beach by fishermen. The largest specimen taken by them weighed 110 pounds. Most of these were secured about half a mile out from the shore. During the same season your (rock) sturgeon are frequently taken on night-lines. In summer the adults are ordinarily caught outside the mile zone, while the rock sturgeons occur mainly inshore.

Order Holostei

Family Lepistosteidae. The gar pikes.

3. Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus). Bill-fish, gar pike.

Not uncommon in the ponds along the lake shore between Charlotte and Manitou

Beach. Seldom recorded from Sandy and Salmon Creeks. In the latter, one specimen was recorded at Hilton Bridge, June 28, 1904. We not infrequently find them dead along the lake shore at Hilton Beach.

In northern Monroe County, whenever it is taken from the streams, it is in the deep channels of the lower courses.

Order Halecomorphi

Family Amiidae. The bowfins. 47

4. Amia calva Linnaeus. “Dogfish”, bowfin.

Quite common in the marshy areas about the series of ponds west of Charlotte. In

Buttonwood Creek it is frequently caught in the “bullhead holes”. It does not ascend this

stream above the Burritt Road Bridge. In Stuart’s Swamp, they spawn, and here they

may often be seen escorting their young. In North Creek, I took only 1 male specimen

just west of Hendy’s Bridge, July 26, 1904. Doubtless, its upper limit in this stream

should be placed at the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge.

It occurs in the lake and the larger streams; in the latter, it prefers a muddy bottom

and a sluggish current. In early summer at the spawning time, it searches out the marshy

localities.

Order Nematognathi

Family Ameiuridae. The channel cats, horned pouts.

5. Ameiurus natalis (Le Sueur). Yellow cat.

Not as common as the two following members of this genus. In the summer of

1903 it was among the species of catfishes most commonly taken in North and

Buttonwood Creeks, but in 1904 very few specimens were secured. In North Creek, a specimen was taken June 26, 1903, at Hilton (north) Bridge and in 1904, two more west of the Parma and Hamlin Line Bridge. In Buttonwood Creek, I secured nine individuals of this species at Slade’s Flats, July 9, 1903 and several more near the R.W. and O.R.R.

Bridge, June 24, 1903. This species was found associated with A. melas and A. nebulosus.

In one instance, there were secured from one hole, nine specimens of A. natalis, five of A. nebulosus and two of A. melas. Its spawning habits and season are probably the same as 48 those of A. nebulosus. In the summer of 1924 (July) and on May 29, 1926, we found this species to be common at Collamer (Smith in chart) Bridge in North Creek.

Ameiurus natalis is found on a muddy bottom and in a sluggish current. It does not range as far upstream as A. nebulosus. This is clearly illustrated in North Creek, where it is found in the lower four and one half miles, while A. nebulosus extends over eleven and one half miles.

6. Ameiurus nebulosus (Le Sueur). Bullhead.

This species was found in six of the ten streams examined, and is the most common species of Ameiurus in this region. Evermann and Kendall recorded it from Four

Mile Creek, at Nine Mile Point, Sandy Creek at North Hamlin, N.Y., and at Long Pond.

Fishermen take it at all seasons in considerable numbers from Braddock’s Bay and the other ponds to the east. In Salmon Creek it is uncommon from the mouth to the main forks. From this point to the Ridge, it was taken only at Hill’s Bridge and at the Parma

Center (west) Bridge. Above the ridge are three millponds, in each of which this species is taken. In the West Branch of Salmon Creek, it is quite common below the Irish

Settlement Bridge. In Round Pond tributary, it is found especially below the R.W. and O.

R.R. Bridge, above which no adults and very few young were taken. In Northrup Creek proper, it was recorded only at the mouth and in the millpond above the Ridge. These latter came in to the creek from the canal. In North Creek, many specimens were taken in

1903 and 1904. Here it has a greater range than A. melas or natalis, but wherever A. melas occurs with it they are equally abundant. In Buttonwood Creek, most of the specimens taken had round leech spots on the branchiostegals. 49

This species spawns in the last of May and during the first half of June, although specimens have been obtained with eggs as late as June 30. On July 8, 1904, in

Buttonwood Creek near the banks I saw numerous schools of young 2 to 3 centimeters long, unattended by adults.

Ameiurus nebulosus prefers lakes and ponds and streams with a muddy bottom and sluggish current, and yet it is not so restricted to these as are A. natalis and A. melas.

Quite frequently, it is found in a stream of diversified bottom and swift current, e.g.,

Salmon Creek. Whenever it occurs with one or both of the other species of Ameiurus and there is a difference in their ranges, A. nebulosus always has the greater range.

The distribution of mature bullheads to Monroe waters from the Western Wide

Waters of the Erie Canal, Rochester, N.Y., is as follows (Table 4).

7. Ameiurus melas (Rafinesque). Black bullhead.

Common. Evermann and Kendall recorded a young example of this species from

Sandy Creek, August 20, 1894. It was taken by myself from four streams. In the West

Tributary of Northrup Creek, from the Parma and Greece Line Bridge up to the Parma

Center (east) Bridge, several stray young and one adult of this species were taken.

Though not secured in Salmon Creek proper, it was not uncommon in the lower 3 miles of the East Branch of the West Fork of Salmon Creek. In North Creek, numerous specimens were secured from the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, July 26, and 30 and August 2,

1904. In Buttonwood Creek, June 24 and 30, 1903, and a few were obtained on Slade’s

Flats and at the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge. In 1924, specimens were secured at Hilton

(north) Bridge of North Creek, farther upstream than formerly taken. In 1926, we missed it in the same place. 50

Ameiurus melas seems to be distinctly a mud-loving species. It occurs only in sluggish muddy places, is not so much of a deep-water form as A. natalis as shown by its presence in the West Branch of Northrup Creek and in the East Branch of the West Fort of Salmon Creek. The distribution of the representatives of the genus in Salmon and

Northrup Creeks beautifully illustrates the restricted habitat and range of A. melas and the presence of A. nebulosus on a bottom, and in a current, not of its preferred habitat (Figure

15). In Salmon Creek proper, with a swift current and diversified bottom, A. nebulosus was found. In the East Branch of the West Fork, with sluggish current and muddy bottom, A. melas was found. In the West Fork, with swift current and gravelly bottom, no

Ameiurus was found. In Northrup Creek proper, with swift current and diversified bottom, A. nebulosus was present. In the West Tributary, with a sluggish current and with mud intervals, A. melas was collected.

In summary, Ameiurus natalis is found on muddy bottom and in sluggish currents of the two largest muddy streams. Ameiurus melas is found on muddy bottoms and in sluggish currents of the two largest muddy streams and of two smaller muddy creeks.

Ameiurus nebulosus is found on muddy bottoms, in sluggish currents, but not restricted thereto. It was taken in the two largest muddy streams, in two small muddy creeks, and in the two large streams, most diversified in current and bottom.

8. Noturus flavus Rafinesque. “Poison bullhead”, yellow bullhead, stone cat.

Common. Secured at Hilton Beach, Lake Ontario, June 26, 1903. Very common in the lower five miles of Salmon Creek, in which the first specimens were secured at

Hilton Bridge, June 18 and 22, 1903. In Northrup Creek, it is uncommon, only one being taken just above Northrup’s (north) Bridge, July 15, 1904. Also recorded it from Sandy 51

Creek. Evermann and Kendall record two specimens from Nine-mile Point. In Salmon

Creek it was the most abundant form under old crockery, tin, and stones, the salamander,

Necturus maculosus, being at certain seasons in abundance. For example, on November

24, 1903, on one riffle, 22 specimens were taken, 11 of which were under one large stone. The measurements of the above specimens range as follows: Length 122 to 174 mm; head 3.4 to 3.9, average 3.6, mode 3.6; width of head 4.1 to 4.6, average 4.3, mode

4.3; snout 2.0 to 2.8, average 2.5, mode 2.4; depth 4.8 to 6.7, average 5.7, mode 6.1, eye

2.6 to 3.5, average 3.0, mode 3.3.

On July 4, the writer found what he thought were the eggs of this species under a flat stone in the riffles where there were stone cats at the time, but the identification is uncertain. The range of breeding is during the last of June and through July. A female secured at Hilton Beach, June 26, 1903, was gravid with eggs, as was another taken in the

Salmon Creek on July 25, 1904. As to the rate of growth, very little evidence was secured. A young fish of the year, or of the year before, taken in Salmon Creek August

20, 1907, measured 2.3 cm long. And some half-grown specimens, taken on July 26,

1904, from Salmon Creek, measured 9.6, 9.8, and 10.8 cm, respectively. In 1926 (May

29) and 1924 (July) we found this species not uncommon about a mile above the mouth of Northrup Creek on sandy or gravelly bottom, clear water; also taken in Salmon Creek.

This species frequents the swift, shallow portions of the larger creeks, being found especially under stones, though not infrequently taken under rubbish. Noturus flavus often is found in deeper (yet swift) water, not being confined to the shallows as

Schilbeodes miurus is. In the lake it apparently prefers gravelly or sandy situations.

9. Schilbeodes gyrinus (Mitchill). Tadpole cat. 52

Common. Dr. Evermann secured one specimen from Long Pond, August 17,

1894. In Northrup Creek proper, about three quarters of a mile above the mouth, four young were taken August 10, 1904. Then follows an interval of six miles in which it is absent. It reappears above the Ridge Dam, where 1 young was obtained on July 18, 1904.

In the West Tributary of Northrup Creek, I secured one specimen 50 mm long above the

Parma Center (east) Bridge. In the East Branch of the West Fork of Salmon Creek, in the deep pools below Irish Settlement Bridge, numerous adults and young 20 to 30 mm long were taken August 16, 1904. In North Creek, it was taken only above Parma and Hamlin

Bridge for an extent of two and one half miles and again just below the Ridge. On May

29, 1926 and in July 1924, several were taken at Smith Bridge in North Creek. In

Buttonwood Creek, the first specimen was secured July 7, 1904, at the Burritt Road

Bridge, where the stream is 6 feet wide, 1 to 2 feet deep, and with a grassy mud bottom.

This example was 57 mm long. In the same place, I seined twice more and obtained 20 young 1 to 1.25 cm long. From this evidence the conclusion was at first that S. gyrinus spawns at the same season as A. nebulosus, and because of the young taken at the same place and time we thought it might have a similar parental habit—all of which may be yet true, but subsequent examination of the specimen reveals that it is a female gravid with apparently ripe eggs. What is even more interesting, some of the specimens secured from

North Creek, July 30, 1904, were females with fully developed eggs unlaid.

Young secured from Buttonwood Creek August 12, 1904, were from 2.5 to 3 cm long, as were some on August 16 from the East Branch of the West Fork of Salmon

Creek. Young also taken in November have measured 2.5 to 3.0 cm long. The measurements of ten adults are as follows: length 50 to 71 mm; head 3.1 to 3.6; depth 3.1 53 to 5.3; eye 5.6 to 7.6; width of head 3.5 to 3.8; pectoral spine in head, 2 to 2.8; humeral process in head 3 to 3.8.

Schilbeodes gyrnus is found in the deep muddy portions of streams. In no instance were they taken from shallows or rocky places, though above the Ridge in Northrup

Creek one specimen was secured on a sandy bottom, just below a rock bottom and a series of cascades. This, however, was a young specimen, and had, doubtless, strayed up from the muddy mill-pond immediately below. In North Creek and adult was taken just below the Ridge on a bottom composed of a mixture of sand and mud.

10. Schilbeodes miurus (Jordan). Barred mad tom.

Not common in Salmon Creek, where it is found under stones and rubbish. My first inkling of its presence in this stream was from a fungus-infected specimen taken at the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, June 18, 1903. On the Hilton Bridge riffles two more were secured the same date; two, June 27, 1903; two, November 24, 1903. Several others were taken in 1903 with dates unrecorded. In the summer of 1904, I obtained only two specimens, these being taken on July 15 from underneath weeds in the shallows. On

August 20, 1907, just above the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge, Mr. A.A. Allen and myself secured some two dozen or more specimens. Evermann and Kendall record five specimens from Sandy Creek at North Hamlin, August 20, 1894. In 1924 and 1926 (May

29), we found this species in another creek than Salmon Creek, namely Northrup Creek below Northrup (north) Bridge. It was on a sandy gravelly bottom.

The length of nine adults taken August 20, 1907, ranges from 4.8 to 7.3 cm, and

17 young taken in the same place at the same time vary from 1.8 to 2.8 cm in length. A young example presumably hatched in the summer of 1903 measured 35 mm on 54

November 24, 1903. From gravid females, it would appear that the breeding time is in

June and July. The measurements of 12 specimens of 1903 and 1904 are as follows: length 35 to 87 mm; head 3 to 3.6; depth 3.4 to 5.8; eye 4 to 5.6; width of head 3.3 to 4.5;

Humeral process in head 3 to 4.5; pectoral spine in head 1.6 to 2.2; D 1,6; A 11 to 15.

This species frequents the swift gravelly shallows, being less confined to the cover of stones than Noturus flavus might be expected from its color. It is found as often in the weeds of the rapids as under stones, boards, or rubbish.

Order Eventognathi

Family Catostomidae. The suckers, buffalo fishes.

11. Catostomus catostomus (Forster). “Redside”, fine-scaled sucker, long-nose sucker.

At Willow Beach, Lake Ontario, on July 30, 1904, Mr. M. de Lavergne and the

Collamer Brothers took two of this species in gill-nets place about 2 miles out from the shore. Each weighed 3 pounds. Catostomus catostomus is evidently a deep-water fish.

12. Catostomus commersonii (Lacepede). Common sucker, lake sucker, pond sucker,

“Redside”.

Abundant in almost every stream examined, and generally found throughout its whole extent. In the West Tributary of Northrup Creek, it is very uncommon below the

Parma and Greece Line Bridge. In Salmon Creek, in the rock bottom area just above the

Ridge, it is almost entirely replaced by Hypentelium nigricans, only one C. commersonii being taken. The common suckers begin running from the lake as early as April 1 and continue for two or three weeks. Sometimes they begin before April 1 and occasionally continue beyond April 20. At Hilton, suckers ascend Buttonwood Creek earlier than in

Salmon Creek, and the first catches are generally made from the former stream. It may be 55 due to the earlier breaking up of the ice in this stream. Drs. Evermann and Kendall record this species form Long Pond and Sandy Creek.

In the earlier days, the “run” of the suckers was an important event, and many a family salted a barrel or so of them. Of these times, Arad Thomas (1871, p. 30) says, “a kind of sucker-fish called redsides used to run up from the lake in plenty. They were taken in April and May in seines by the wagonloads. … Very few redsides run now.”

Even until about thirty years ago, to secure in one night a wagonload on the riffles was not unusual. The extensive use of the seine has ceased, and in recent times the practice has been mainly thumping to “dip nets”, which have two wings.

A glance at the charts shows that the occurrence of C. commersonii has no apparent relation to the bottom conditions, nor conditions of current. It is the most widely distributed of the fishes found in this region, occupying in almost every stream a more extensive range than any other species.

13. Hypentelium nigricans (Le Sueur). Hog sucker, stone-roller.

Quite common in Salmon Creek. My first specimen was secured July 23, 1904, above the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge. In this same area, August 20, 1907, Mr. Allen and myself secured several young, 47 to 53 mm long. On August 17, 1907, we secured two, one half a mile west of the Hilton Bridge. Another was taken on rock bottom above Hill’s

Bridge, July 27, 1904. On November 7, 1904, they were found to be common on the rock bottom from the Ridge to the third dam below the canal. Here numerous specimens were taken and large schools observed. One young 58 mm long was taken in the West Fork of

Salmon Creek on a gravelly bottom 0.5 of a mile above Anderson’s Bridge. Mr. Edward

C. Archer states that he frequently finds it associated with C. commersonii and 56

Moxostoma aureolum in the spring run. As the season advances, they may often be seen on the bottom beneath the bridges, where the boys occasionally capture them with snatch hooks. The measurements of eleven specimens are as follows: length 43 to 198 mm; head

3.8 to 4.5; eye 3.6 to 6.3; depth 4 to 5.5; D 10 to 12; A 7; scales 48 to 52.

It occurs on the clear, swift, gravelly or stony riffles. It prefers cold water, and often is taken on stretches of rock bottom, as in Salmon Creek above the Ridge.

14. Erimyzon sucetta oblongus (Mitchill). Chub sucker.

Not common. One specimen was recorded from the West Tributary of Northrup

Creek, just west of Butcher’s Bridge, July 14, 1904. In Salmon Creek in the spring of

1902, Mr. E.C. Archer secured a specimen above the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge. It doubtless ascends this stream sparingly to breed in the spring. In North Creek from the

Parma and Hamlin Bridge to the Blossom Cemetery Bridge several half-grown individuals were taken. In the same stream from Hilton (north) Bridge to the mouth, on

July 26, 1904, 10 of the puzzling minnow-like young, varying in length from 20 to 30 mm, were obtained. In 1924 and 1926, it was found in the missing interval of North

Creek and on May 29, 1926, in Buttonwood Creek at the Parma and Greece Bridge.

This species was always taken in the deep muddy places where the current was sluggish. Some of the young above referred to were taken on rock bottom.

15. Moxostoma aureolum (Le Sueur). Mullet, redhorse.

Common. Frequently taken in the spring run of suckers in Sandy and Salmon

Creeks. In Salmon Creek, four specimens were secured on April 4, 1904, at the R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge and below. It ascends this stream with C. commersonii and has similar spawning beds and season. Its ova are white in contrast with the yellowish ones of C. 57 commersonii, and smaller. Fishermen at Willow and Hilton Beaches, Lake Ontario, find the mullet among their common captures. Dr. Evermann secured it four miles off Nine- mile Point, at Long Pond, and at Sandy Creek, North Hamlin, N.Y.

Except in the spring, it occurs sparingly in our streams. It is more of a lake or river fish or in larger streams.

Family Cyprinidae. The carps, dace, minnows, chubs, etc.

16. Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque). Stone-roller.

Common. There is scarcely a stream that has a stretch of rocky or stony bottom that does not yield this form. Evermann and Kendall secured it at Salt Brook, one and one half miles above Nine-mile Point, June 11, 1893, and at Long Pond, August 17, 1894.

The males begin to develop the nuptial tubercles in the fall. One male 6 inches long, taken from Salmon Creek on November 7, 1904, had the whole body from head to tail covered with incipient tubercles. In five of the seven streams in which it was recorded, it was common within the ranges indicated on the charts. The two exceptions are North

Creek and the East Branch of the West Fork of Salmon Creek. In the former, a few were collected on a rock bottom east of Hilton (north) Bridge and a few more from the stone- covered bottom above the Ridge; in the latter, only from the three and one half mile mark upward.

It is most common in the smaller streams, like Round Pond Tributary, Larkin

Creek, and one or two smaller branches of the Salmon Creek. In these, it occurs not where the stream’s course is swiftest, but prefers the sluggish portions. In the larger muddy streams it is unusual or absent; e.g., North Creek and Buttonwood Creek. It ordinarily frequents gravelly, stony, or rock bottoms. 58

17. Chrosomus erythrogaster Rafinesque. Red-bellied dace.

Everman and Kendall record this species from Salt Brook, one and one half miles above Nine-mile Point, June 11, 1893, and from Long Pond, August 17, 1894.

It prefers a muddy bottom in small, clear streams.

18. Hybognathus nuchalis Agassiz. Silvery minnow.

Recorded by Evermann and Kendall at Salt Brook, June 11, 1893. Not taken by the writer in Monroe County, but known in other localities to have ripe ova in April. It is a species of the lakes or larger streams, or of the mouths of smaller streams on muddy bottom and in sluggish current.

19. Pimephales promelas Rafinesque. Fathead.

Taken at Clarkson, N.Y., in the West Fork of Salmon Creek. This minnow was recorded in Monroe County by Evermann and Kendall from Salt Brook, June 11, 1893. It is not a common species in the lake basin. The measurement of eleven specimens of this species are as follows: length 25 to 58 mm; head 3.6 to 4.1; eye 3.5 to 5; snout 3.5 to 5; depth 3.5 to 3.8; scales 8 – 41 to 45 – 5 to 7; lateral line pores almost entirely lacking to

19.

It seeks a sluggish current and a gravelly bottom, or cut off ponds.

20. Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) [Hyborhynchus notatus Rafinesque in charts].

Blunt-nosed minnow.

Abundant. Taken from each of the 10 streams studied. Specimens were also secured in Sandy Creek. Evermann and Kendall recorded this species at Salt Brook and at

Long Pond. 59

It is distinctly an upper course fish. In every stream, with the exception of Larkin

Creek, it is form about one mile north of the Ridge to the source that this species is common, if present at all. In Larkin Creek, it is common the whole length of the stream.

Specimens were taken on all sorts of bottoms.

21. Leucosomus corporalis (Mitchill). Fall fish.

Evermann and Kendall recorded this species in Sandy Creek near North Hamlin, at Charlotte, and at Salt Brook. Although not taken in 1903 or 1904, yet from former collecting I may call it an uncommon inhabitant of Salmon Creek. It chooses the clear rapid portions of the larger streams.

22. Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill). Horned dace.

Abundant. Found in all the streams examined. In this region it is very widely distributed. It was found in the upper courses of the larger streams and throughout the entire length of the smaller creeks.

23. Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill) [Abramis crysoleucas (Mitchill) in charts].

Common. Examples were obtained from Salmon Creek and two of its main branches, from North and Buttonwood Creeks, and from the West Branch of Northrup

Creek. It was recorded by Evermann and Kendall from Salt Brook. It was not found in

Salmon Creek proper, but a few were taken from a small tributary (Burritt Creek) just west of Hilton Bridge.

In every stream in which it was recorded, it was without exception where the bottom was either a marshy or clayey mud, the current imperceptible or slow. It is not a minnow of the shallowest parts of the range in which it occurs.

24. Notropis bifrenatus (Cope) [Notropis cayuga in charts]. Bridled minnow. 60

Not uncommon in Buttonwood and North Creeks. It was recorded from Four-mile

Creek by Evermann and Kendall. The measurements of ten specimens of this species from North Creek are: length 37 to 46 mm; head 3.7 to 4; depth 4 to 4.5; snout 3 to 3.7; eye 3 to 3.7; D 8; A 7; scales 34 to 37; scales before the dorsal fin 12 to 15.

It was found in the deeper parts of the ranges indicated. The data from

Buttonwood and North Creeks restrict this form to a muddy bottom and a slow current.

25. Notropis heterodon (Cope). Varying-toothed minnow.

At Smith Bridge (North Creek) on May 29, 1926, we took one specimen of this species on a muddy bottom, the customary habitat in which we have usually found it in other regions.

26. Notropis deliciosus (Girard) [Notropis blennius in charts]. Straw-colored minnow.

One lone specimen of this species was taken on a gravelly sandy bottom halfway between Hilton and Hill Bridges, Salmon Creek.

27. Notropis hudsonius (DeWitt Clinton). Shiner, spot-tail.

Evermann and Kendall record this species at Salt Brook near Nine-mile Point,

June 10 and 11, 1893; at Long Pond, August 17, 1893; lakeshore, mouth of Long Pond,

August 17, 1893; Nine-mile Point, August 23, 1894.

28. Notropis whipplii (Girard). Satinfin, silverfin, shiner.

Not common. It was taken only in Salmon Creek at Adams Basin, just south of the canal, August 24, 1904. It probably enters this stream from the canal. The measurements of nine specimens of this form are as follows: length 41 to 74 mm; head 4 to 4.2; depth 4 to 4.6; eye 3.2 to 4.5; snout 3 to 3.6; D 8; A 8; scales 6 – 38 to 42 – 4. It was found in clear water on a gravelly bottom. 61

29. Notropis cornutus chrysocephalus (Rafinesque) [Notropis cornutus in charts]. Shiner.

Very common in every stream of northern Monroe County. Evermann and

Kendall recorded it form the following localities: Four-mile Creek, Salt Brook, Long

Pond, and Sandy Creek. It is not confined to any one bottom or current. I found it most common in some of the slower and smaller streams. Forms not typical, very close to N. c. frontalis, were frequently taken with N. c. chrysocephalus.

30. Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque. Silver-sided minnow.

Not uncommon in Salmon Creek and in the lower course of its West Fork. The measurements of six specimens are as follows: length 35 to 56 mm; head 3.9 to 4.3; depth

5 to 5.8; eye 3 to 3.6; snout 2.7 to 3; D 8; A 11 or 12; scales 5 or 6 – 40 to 45 – 3 or 4; scales before dorsal, 17 to 21. It likes a swift current and the gravelly beds of the larger streams.

31. Notropis rubrifrons (Cope). Red-fronted minnow.

Evermann and Kendall recorded it from Salt Brook, June 11, 1894, and from

Sandy Creek at North Hamlin, August 20, 1894. Its habitat is similar to that of the preceding species. On May 29, 1926, we found several fine males in Northrup Creek east of the Northrup Bridge on a sandy or gravelly bottom.

32. Rhinichthys atronasus (Mitchill). Black-nosed dace.

Found in the upper courses of Larkin, Buttonwood, and North Creeks. Evermann and Kendall had it from Four-mile Creek, Salt Brook and Long Pond. The forms taken near the Ridge Bridge and below in the West Branch of the Main Fork of Salmon Creek,

August 8, 1904, were somewhat different. The measurements of five of these are as 62 follows: length 53 to 65 mm; head 3.6 to 4; depth 4.5 to 5; eye 5 to 5.6; snout 2.5 to 2.8; scales 12 or 13 – 56 to 66 – 10; D 8; A 7.

This species was taken in slow currents, sometimes not on gravelly bottoms, yet in the streams in which it was recorded it was in the swiftest ranges these afforded. In

North Creek, it was most common on gravelly bottoms; in Buttonwood Creek, on weedy and muddy bottoms; in Larkin Creek, on rock bottom; and in the West Branch of the

Main Fork of Salmon Creek, on a gravelly bottom. Plainly from the ranges given on the charts it appears an upper course fish in northern Monroe County streams. In each of the four streams where it was recorded, the water was clear and cold.

33. Rhinichthys cataractae (Cuvier and Valenciennes). Long-nosed dace.

This species has been casually found to be quite common at Hilton Beach. In the summer of 1914 (June 26), the author took several on the line while fishing for perch from a short pier. It occurred on a sandy or somewhat gravelly bottom in water 2 to 4 feet deep. This constitutes another addition to the Lake Ontario fauna. It is absent in the headwaters of Cayuga Lake so far as known. It is not infrequent in the head streams of the Susquehanna River, where it frequents clear, swift, flowing, gravelly, pebbly or rocky streams.

34. Erinemus storerianus (Kirtland).

“Found only in Long Pond at Charlotte, where but three specimens were obtained” (Evermann and Kendall).

35. Nocomis biguttatus (Kirtland) [Hybopsis kentuckiensis in charts]. Chub. 63

Very widely distributed. Found in every stream examined. Not very common in any except Salmon Creek. It is a species of the large streams and prefers a gravelly bottom and swift current, but it is not always so confined.

36. Carassius auratus (Linnaeus). Goldfish.

Table 5 lists the distributions of goldfish to Monroe County waters by the New

York Fish Commission.

37. Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus. “German carp”, carp.

Becoming very common. Lake Ontario supplies this species to the lower courses of its affluents; the canal, to the upper courses. I recorded it from the West Fork of

Salmon, Buttonwood, Northrup, and North Creeks. Another sources of introduction may be from residents of Monroe County stocking into ponds (Table 5).

Order Apodes

Family Anguillidae. The eels.

38. Anguilla rostrata Rafinesque. Common eel.

Common in the lake and the larger streams such as Salmon and Sandy Creeks. It was found in the places usual for this species. On May 5, 1877, the New York Fish

Commission placed in the Genesee River, above the rapids at Rochester, 5000 eels from

Sayville, Long Island.

Order Isospondyli

Family Clupeidae. The herrings.

39. Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson). “Sawbelly”, alewife.

Very common in the lake. In early summer of almost any year countless numbers of them may be found dead along the lake shore. Evermann and Kendall obtained this 64 species at Long Pond and at Sandy Creek. It is restricted to the lake, and does not enter the mouths of our larger streams except at the spawning period in the spring. How the alewives appeared in Lake Ontario is locally a matter of wide conjecture, and may never reach the stage of proof, but ever remain a matter of beliefs (Smith 1892, pp. 187-192;

Bean 1884, p. 590, also p. 200).

40. Alosa sapidissima (Wilson). Shad.

The story of the deposit of shad fry in the Genesee River (Smith 1892, pp. 193,

195) can best be told by a series of excerpts from the reports of the New York Fish

Commissioners for the year 1871 to 1882. Of the initiation of the project Mr. Seth Green writes as follows: “I also took a few to the Genesee River although not enough to prove whether the shad will go down the St. Lawrence and find their way back. This is an experiment yet to be made and I should not be surprised at its being a success or a failure.

If there are any shad caught in Lake Ontario we shall find where they came from… .”

(Report 1871, p. 23)

A few days later, he writes: “June 30th 1870. Carried to Rochester a few young shad fry; turned them loose in Genesee River… .” (Report 1871, p. 26).

“Mention was made in the last report of several experiments made during the spring of 1872 for the purpose of testing this question, the shad being deposited in the

Genesee and other rivers flowing into fresh water lakes. The following summer these fish were caught in Lake Ontario varying in size up to seven inches in length.” (Report 1873, p.5)

“June 21, 1872. Sent 60,000 young shad fry to Genesee River; turned them loose below the lower falls.” (Report 1873, p. 30) 65

“The shad which had been previously deposited in the Genesee, Oswego, and

Cayuga Rivers, of this state, were found to have thriven. They lived and grew not going far from the mouth of the river and finding in the lake the food that they needed in sufficient quantities for their use. They were often taken of marketable size and would have been abundant had it not been for the destruction wrought by ‘eel weirs’.” (Report

1874, p. 6)

“Shad of good size are being frequently caught in Lake Ontario, mostly at the foot of the lake, but occasionally off the mouth of Genesee River and the Sodus Bay.” (Report

1877, p. 9)

“June 6, 1878. Shipped to Genesee River, tributary Lake Ontario, by Jonathan

Mason 100,000 shad fry.”

“June 10, 1878. Shipped to Genesee River 90,000 young shad.”

“Between the years 1870 and 1878, Seth Green, superintendent, put six hundred and fifty eight thousand young shad in the Genesee, Black, Oswego and other rivers emptying in Lake Ontario… .” (Report 1882, p. 42).

Family Coregonidae. The white-fishes, ciscoes.

41. Coregonus clupeaformis (Mitchill). Common whitefish.

Formerly common, but now scarce. I saw one specimen taken July 30, 1904, about two and one quarter miles out from Willow Beach. Until 1899, deposits of whitefish have been made in Lake Ontario from the Monroe shores (Table 6).

42. Leucichthys artedi (Le Sueur) [L. ontariensis Jordan and Evermann]. Lake herring, cisco. 66

Not seen in the summer of 1904. It is frequently taken in the gill nest off Hilton and Willow Beaches. In the early days of the New York Fish Commission, they used to secure their cisco spawn from the lake near Rochester. Until 1898, 6,500,000 ciscoes had been put into the lake at Charlotte.

43. Leucichthys prognathus (H.M. Smith). “Bloater”, long jaw.

Frequently taken in gill nests of Willow and Hilton Beaches in the summers of

1902 and 1903, when more of this species were secured than of L. artedi. Dr. H.M. Smith

(1894, pp. 4-13), when publishing his description of this species, had nine specimens of this form from Monroe County localities. “Six specimens came to hand on June 12

(1892), and were sent by Mr. George M. Schwartz of Rochester, New York, at the solicitation of Mr. Frank J. Amsden of the same place. I also referred to three examples now in the collection of the Fish Commission obtained by Dr. R.R. Gurley at Nine-mile

Point, New York, in June 1893.”

“Mr. Strowger, who has been familiar with the lake fishes for a great many years, said that long jaws were not fished for in the vicinity of Nine-mile Point until some time after the civil war. An old fisherman, however, informed him that prior to that time he occasionally took a specimen while fishing for regular whitefish.”

“Mr. Strowger … has seen long jaws that weighed upwards of 4 pounds and has never heard of same weighing as much as 6 pounds. Under date of May 17, 1892, (he) writes that the first fishing boat to come from the lake that season arrived on that day and had two bloaters, taken about two miles from the shore, inside the main schools that are usually found in 80 to 100 fathoms of water off that place. One of the bloaters had spawn, 67 the other very immature spawn-sacks. In the opinion of Mr. Strowger, this species probably has a prolonged spawning period, extending over the entire year … .”

“Several of the specimens forwarded by Mr. Schwartz on June 13, 1892, which had probably been caught about two days before, had fully matured spawn, which was running when the fish were unpacked. One of these, 12 inches long, contained 2 ounces of ripe eggs and also many undeveloped ova of very small size, together with a number of larger eggs that were apparently approaching maturity. The ripe eggs were of a pale- yellow color, transparent, and one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter.”

Family Salmonidae. The trout, salmon.

44. Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum).

From 1873 to 1880, the New York Fish Commission gave considerable attention to the introduction of this species within Monroe County (Table 7).

45. Salmo salar Linnaeus. Atlantic salmon.

Formerly it ran up Salmon and Sandy Creeks in abundance, but several decades have elapsed since the last capture of native salmon. Arad Thomas (1871, pp. 29-30) writing of the salmon in Orleans County (adjoining Monroe County) in pioneer days, says, “At the first settlement of this country the Indians and whites caught an abundance of salmon here. … The salmon disappeared years ago… .” Turner (1849, pp. 558-559) writes of the salmon as follows:

“The salmon in their seasons, were abundant in the Oak Orchard, at the early period of the settlement, and in fact, up to 1816 and 1818. … In the months of June and September, the salmon ascend the main stream and its small tributaries, in great numbers, and were easily taken; sometimes they would ascend in high water, and when it receded, would be 68 left upon the banks. They have been picked up in cultivated fields along the streams, after a freshet.”

Efforts were made by the N.Y. Fish Commission from 1876 to 1880 toward restocking our waters with this species but the distributions were not enough to accomplish it (Table 8).

On July 23, 1878, a Kennebec salmon was caught in Genesee River in a scoop- net, below the lower falls near Rochester. It weighed ten and three-quarters pounds and measured thirty inches in length, seventeen and a half inches in girth. It was caught about

6 P.M. The first salmon ever known to have been caught in the Genesee River; supposed to be one of the lot put in Caledonia Spring Creek.

Salmo salar sebago (Girard). Landlocked salmon. A few of this species have been placed in Monroe County waters (Table 8).

46. Salmo henshawi Gill and Jordan. Red-throat trout.

So far as I can determine, the N.Y. Fish, Forest, and Game Commission have planted this form in Monroe County waters but twice, viz: in 1899, 10,000 and 7,000 fish were stocked in Spring Creek Pond, Wheatland.

47. Salmo fario Linnaeus. Brown trout.

The N.Y. Fish Commission began the distribution of brown trout to Monroe

County waters in 1886, and the records show such distribution to at least 1899, if not later. The records are shown in Table 9.

48. Salmo irideus Gibbons. Rainbow trout, steelhead trout. 69

Under the name of “California Mountain Trout”, the N.Y. Fish Commission began to distribute this species in 1879 into Monroe County waters. The record of distribution is presented in Table 10.

49. Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum). Lake trout.

Formerly it was not infrequently taken off the Monroe County shore, but at present it is rarely secured. The New York Fish Commission planted comparatively few lake trout in Monroe County waters, as the list in Table 11 indicates.

50. Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill). Brook trout, speckled trout.

I recorded this species only from Buttonwood Creek, where, I am told, it was planted several years ago. Residents, however, say that it used to be a native of the upper course of this stream—a condition which doubtless obtained for many of our other streams. The distribution of brook trout to Monroe County waters from 1876 to 1899 is in

Table 12.

Order Haplomi

Family Umbridae. The mud minnows.

51. Umbra limi (Kirtland). Mud minnow, dogfish.

Common. Secured in Salmon Creek and one of its tributaries, Buttonwood Creek,

Round Pond Tributary, North Creek, and West Branch of Northrup Creek. In spring they are often in cut-off pools left by the high water. The name “Mud Minnow” is seldom, if ever, heard for this species. It is invariably called “dogfish”, owing to the mistaken notion this it is the young of Amia. Dr. Hugh M. Smith in 1892 had a specimen of this species from Irondequoit Bay. The measurements of seventeen specimens vary as follows: length 70

50 to 85 mm; head 3.1 to 3.6; depth 3.8 to 4.8; eye 3.8 to 5.2; D 12 to 14; A 7 or 8; snout

2.9 to 4; scales 33 to 37.

It prefers a muddy bottom and a sluggish current. From the Round Pond Tributary chart (Figure 8) it appears as if it were on a gravelly bottom where there is some current; but here the specimens were secured from a cut-off pool and not from the main stream.

Family Esocidae. The pikes.

52. Esox vermiculatus Le Sueur. “Grandad” pickerel, little pickerel.

Quite common. Taken in eight of the ten streams examined. Not secured in Larkin

Creek nor in the West Fork of Salmon Creek. By many in this region, it is called

“grandad” pickerel (owing to the fact that they suppose this form to be the young of Esox lucius). Evermann and Kendall had it from the outlet of Long Pond, August 7, 1894.

It is more of a small stream species than the following species. Like it, however, it takes to shallow water in the spring, and often is found in ditches and pools cut off from the stream from which it came. It is most frequent on grassy bottoms and in little side extensions or backwaters of our stream.

53. Esox lucius Linnaeus. Northern pike.

Common in all the ponds along the lake shore west of Charlotte; also, in all the larger streams investigated. It is common in larger streams, particularly the more sluggish ones. Many are killed in spring when in the shallow water of the marsh lands. In the earlier days of the N.Y. Fish Commission, distributions of adult pike were made from the

Erie Canal wide-waters to Monroe County streams (Table 13).

54. Esox masquinongy (Mitchill). Muskallonge.

In 1892, the New York Fish Commission placed 50,000 in Irondequoit Bay. 71

Family Cyrpinodontidae. The killifishes.

55. Fundulus diaphanus (Le Sueur). Grayback, fresh-water kelly.

It is a common form in the lake, but was found in only one stream, the headwaters of Round Pond Tributary, where it was rather uncommon. Here several specimens were found, none of which were secured below the Ridge. They were taken on a sandy bottom in clear water. Their measurements vary as follows: length 42 to 57 mm; head 3.2 to 3.6; depth 4.6 to 5; eye 3.5 to 4; D 12 or 13; A 10 or 11; scales 44 to 50 – 12. The U.S. Fish

Commission had it from Long Pond, August 17, 1894. This is a species of clear water, slight or no current, and sandy or muddy bottom.

Order Thoracostei

Family Gasterosteidae. The sticklebacks.

56. Eucalia inconstans (Kirtland). Brook stickleback.

Common in the upper courses of nine of the streams studied. It seems not to be restricted to standing water and pools cut off from the streams. Evermann and Kendall recorded it from Salt Brook, Four-mile Creek, and Long Pond. It was found on muddy, gravelly, stony, or rocky bottoms, not confined to sluggish currents. It was most abundant, however, on muddy or gravelly bottoms where the current was not strong.

57. Gasterosteus bispinosus Walbaum. Two-spined stickleback.

Uncommon. Just west of Hilton Bridge, Salmon Creek, on June 22, 1903, several large schools of this species were observed, each school numbering 200 to 300. Twenty- five specimens were taken, most of which were females, containing ripe eggs. Evermann and Kendall recorded it from Salt Brook. The measurements of 16 specimens vary as 72 follows: length 43 to 64 mm; head 3.2 to 3.8; depth 4.1 to 5; eye 3 to 3.6; D II to I, 12; A

I, 7 to 9; snout 2.7 to 3.6.

Order Salmopercae

Family Percopsidae. The trout perches, sandrollers.

58. Percopsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum). Trout perch.

Not taken by the writer in 1906 and 1905. Dr. Evermann obtained it from Nine- mile Point, Lake Ontario, in 1893. In the period from 1905 – 1926, several were found dead at the Hilton Beach, Ontario.

Order Xenarchi

Family Aphredoderidae. The pirate perches.

59. Aphredoderus sayanus (Gilliams). Pirate perch.

So far as I can determine, this is the first record of this form from the lake basin.

The first specimen was secured on July 8, 1904, in Buttonwood Creek. Thereafter, from this creek and North Creek, over 20 individuals were collected in 1904. On August 19 and 20, 1907, this form was still found to be quite common in these two streams. The measurements of 13 specimens vary as follows: length 42 to 81 mm; depth 3 to 3.3; head

2.5 to 2.9; eye 4.8 to 5.6; snout 3 to 3.4; D III, 10 to 12; A II, 5 to 7; scales 52 to 59; Vent at base of the ventrals in a 42 mm specimen, at the knob in a 73 mm specimen. This species was invariably found on a muddy bottom, generally in a sluggish current, sometimes in no current at all.

Order Percomorphi

Family Atherinidae. The silversides.

60. Labidesthes sicculus (Cope). Brook silversides. 73

Not uncommon in the lake. Evermann and Kendall recorded it from Long Pond and Sandy Creek.

Family Centrarchidae. The sunfishes, basses.

61. Pomoxis sparoides (Lacepède). Calico bass, strawberry bass.

One specimen was secured in Northrup Creek east of Northrup’s Bridge, August

10, 1904. In spring, it occasionally strays up Salmon Creek as far as R.W. and O.R.R.

Bridge. It is not uncommon in Cranberry and Long Ponds. Often it is caught in considerable numbers in Cranberry Pond outlet. Evermann and Kendall recorded two examples from Long Pond, August 17, 1894. In 1891, Dr. H.M. Smith (1892, p. 209) notes that it “seems to be especially abundant in Irondequoit Bay. In 1890, two anglers in

Irondequoit Bay took 120 of these fish during part of one day.” This species is restricted almost entirely to the bays and ponds or to the lower courses of their affluents. The N.Y.

Fish Commission distributed calico bass to different waters of the state form the Erie wide-waters at Rochester during the years 1873, 1874, 1875 and 1876.

62. Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque). Rock bass, red eye.

Common in almost every stream of this region. Evermann and Kendall recorded it from Salt Brook near Nine-mile Point, Sandy Creek near North Hamlin, Long Pond, and at Nine-mile Point. It is most frequent in the larger streams. In the four streams from which recorded, it was very uncommon. It prefers Potamogeton, patches, shelving banks or logs for cover. It is found in the deeper places of the streams where the current is not strong. On May 29, 1926 we found two large males protecting their nests in the weeds under Smith Bridge of North Creek. From 1872 to 1887, the N.Y. Fish Commission distributed from the Erie Canal wide-waters at Rochester 12,106 rock bass, the most 74 abundant form in the western wide-waters. Of these, Monroe County received 1, 215

(Table 14).63. Lepomis incisor (Cuvier and Valenciennes) [Lepomis pallidus (Mitchill) in charts]. Bluegill, blue sunfish.

Occasionally secured from Braddock’s Bay, Long Pond, and Cranberry Pond, as well as from the lake. One specimen was obtained in the West Branch of Northrup Creek.

It is found in the lake and in the bays west of Charlotte. When in the larger streams, it is found in the quiet places.

64. Eupomotis gibbosus (Linnaeus). Pumpkin seed, sunfish.

Very common. Found in every stream studies except Larkin Creek and West Fork of Salmon Creek. It is most common in the quiet waters of the large streams with muddy bottoms, though not entirely limited to such places. It was found also in the larger streams where some current and diversified bottoms obtain. On July 24, 1895, the N.Y.

Forest, Fish and Game Commission deposited 90 adult sunfish in the Genesee River at

Rochester and 30 adults in Black Creek.

65. Micropterus dolomieu Lacepède. Small-mouthed black bass.

Abundant. In North Creek, Salmon Creek, West Fork of Salmon Creek, Sandy

Creek, September 20, 1904. In August, along the lake shore from Charlotte to Troutburg, they are ordinarily taken among the Potamogeton areas, as are also the young of the other

Centrarchidae found in this stream. In winter, the young prefer the shallows, being under stones with Ambloplites rupestris, cyprinids and darters. This species I found nesting east of the R.W. and O.R.R. Bridge in Salmon Creek, June 18, 1903, their nests being farther from the bank than were those of E. gibbosus, which place its nesting depression at the very edge of the stream in shallow water. 75

It was found in the swift cold water of the clearer streams. It does not frequent the smaller streams as much as M. salmoides. Each likes the channels or lower courses of streams. This species is found in deeper water than M. salmoides.

The N.Y. Fish Commission, from 1872 to 1888, distributed from the Erie Canal wide-waters at Rochester 10,456 adult black bass, and the N.Y. Forest, Fish and Game

Commission continued to distribute black bass in 1895, but I do not know the source of their supply. From 1872 to 1899, Monroe County waters received consignments of black bass (Table 15).

66. Micropterus salmoides (Lacepède). Large-mouthed black bass, Oswego bass.

More widely distributed in the streams in this region than the preceding species, but not so common along the lakeshore. The U.S. Fish Commission parties secured it from Four-mile Creek at Nine-mile Point and from Long Pond.

It was almost invariably found in a sluggish current. It ranges more freely than the preceding species and often frequents shallower water. Where found in a stream of swift current, e.g., Salmon Creek, it is not common.

The N.Y. Fish Commission distributed from the Erie wide-waters at Rochester, from 1872 to 1888, 4, 925 adult Oswego bass to waters of the state. The records of distribution of Micropterus salmoides to Monroe County waters from 1874 to 1898 are listed in Table 16.

Family Percidae. The perches.

67. Stizostedion vitreum (Mitchill). Wall-eyed pike, yellow pike, blue pike, pike perch. 76

Not uncommon. Taken at Hilton Beach, June 26, 1903, and at Willow Beach,

August 7, 1904. Not infrequently taken in gill nets at the latter place during the summer of 1904. It is a lake species, very seldom entering our larger streams.

The New York Fish Commission from 1873 to 1888 distributed 544 adult pike perch from the Erie wide-waters to various waters of the state. From 1892 to 1898, pike perch were distributed to Monroe County waters (Table 17).

68. Stizostedion canadense (Smith). Sand pike, sauger.

Uncommon. Rarely secured by fishermen off Monroe County shore.

69. Perca flavescens (Mitchill). Yellow perch.

Very common. Inshore they were caught at the lake in abundance in the latter part of June, July and the first half of August, 1904. Evermann and Kendall recorded it from

Four-mile Creek, Salt Brook, near Nine-mile Point, and Long Pond.

From the Erie wide-waters, Rochester, during the period 1872 to 1888, the N.Y.

Fish Commission distributed 2, 575 adult yellow perch to waters of the state. The distribution of perch to Monroe County waters is listed in Table 18.

Family Etheostomidae. The darters.

70. Percina caprodes zebra (Agassiz). Log perch, “pike”.

Common in swift gravelly streams. It was taken throughout the summers of 1903 and 1904 from Salmon Creek. One specimen was secured on July 15, 1904, from

Northrup Creek. Several have been taken (1924-1926) in Northrup Creek since the lone record of 1904. On September 20, 1904, it was found in Sandy Creek. The U.S. Fish

Commission parties had it from Nine-mile Point. 77

It is a darter of the rapid, gravelly shallows of our larger streams, but still not confined to the riffles. Often it is found in deeper water where the current is not decided, and the bottom is not gravelly.

71. Boleosoma nigrum (Rafinesque). Johnny darter.

Common. I secured it from Round Pond Tributary, North Buttonwood and

Northrup Creeks. The subspecies olmstedi was recorded at Long Pond, August 17, 1894, and at Sandy Creek August 20, by the U.S. fish Commission parties. A form approaching this subspecies (if not actually it) was found to be common in Salmon Creek.

The ranges of this species seem to be in the upper courses largely, on gravelly or sandy bottoms where there is some current.

72. Etheostoma blennioides Rafinesque [Diplesion blennioides (Rafinesque) in charts].

Green-sided darter.

It was found only in Salmon Creek, where in the two miles of its range, no darter is more common unless it be Percina caprodes zebra. In 1904, between the R.W. and

O.R.R. Bridge and Hill’s Bridge, 30 or more specimens were taken, several of which were not retained. On May 29, 1926, we found males in breeding height of color at Hill’s

Bridge. Evermann and Kendall recorded 3 specimens in Sandy Creek, August 20, 1894.

The measurements of four specimens vary as follows: length 46 to 72 mm; head 4.2 to

4.8; depth 5 to 5.5; eye 3.3 to 3.6; D XII to XIV, 12 or 13; A II, 8 or 9; scales 6 – 58 to 60

– 10 or 11.

It is a darter of the swift gravelly riffles of the larger clear streams. It chooses shallows, which have plenty of weeds, and seeks the cover of these as frequently as stones. 78

73. Poecilichthys coeruleus (Storer). Rainbow darter.

Evermann and Kendall recorded a few specimens from Salt Brook near Nine-mile

Point, June 11, 1894.

74. Catonotus flabellaris (Rafinesque). Fan-tailed darter.

Common. Obtained in all of the ten streams studied and also from Sandy Creek,

September 20, 1904. “Four-mile Creek; Salt Brook near Nine-mile Point; and Sandy

Creek near North Hamlin” – Evermann and Kendall.

It is not restricted to clear shallow gravelly rapids. Oftentimes it is found on other bottoms. It was almost as frequently taken in places where the current was slow.

75. Poecilichthys exilis (Girard). [Boleichthys fusiformis in charts].

Uncommon. From North Creek, just west of the Parma and Hamlin Line Bridge,

July 30, 1904, I secured 4 specimens. At this point, North Creek is muddy with a few stones on the bottom and is 1 to 1.5 feet deep. The measurements of the 4 specimens captured vary as follows: length 45 to 49 mm; head 3.5 to 3.7; depth 4.9 to 5.2; eye 3.5 to

4; snout 4.5 to 5.2; D IX, 10 to 12; A II, 6 to 8; scales 5 – 61 to 64 – 9 or 10. On August

20, 1907, Mr. A.A. Allen and myself found just north of Hazen’s Woods (east of Hilton

(north) Bridge) on a rock and gravelly bottom, three more of this species, one being a male in breeding dress. At Smith Bridge (North Creek) on May 29, 1926, we found many individuals of this species. They were taken on a muddy and stony bottom. The males were in breeding dress.

It is sometimes stated that it prefers clear cold brooks, but the data at hand point toward a sluggish current, shallow stretches and a muddy bottom. In the case of a rocky and gravelly bottom, there was a little mud. 79

Family Moronidae. The white basses.

76. Lepibema chrysops (Rafinesque). White bass, silver bass.

Uncommon. Occasionally taken off Manitou Beach and in Braddock’s Bay. Mr.

De la Vergne informs me that in some years he has frequently secured it from the lake.

77. Lepibema lineata (Bloch). Striped bass.

The only records of its occurrence in Monroe waters come from two early Reports of the N.Y. Fish Commission. The data follow: “June 27, 1878, A.W. Marks started from

Catskill with 147 striped bass from 5 to 7 inches in length, arrived in Rochester June 28th with 140 in fine condition; deposited them in the Genesee River below the lower falls.”

“October 27, 1879, a striped bass was caught in a seine in the Niagara River at

Lewiston, N.Y.; measured sixteen inches in girth. First one ever caught there or in waters of Lake Ontario; supposed to be one of the 140 deposited in the Genesee River June 28,

1878.”

Family Sciaenidae. The croakers.

78. Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque. Freshwater drum, sheepshead, white perch.

Rather uncommon. Occasionally taken in gill nets in some of the ponds west of

Charlotte. Sometimes it is the only fish caught with the hook off the Manitou Beach pier.

One or two specimens were seen dead on the lakeshore. From the Erie wide-waters at

Rochester, the N.Y. Fish Commission used to secure it in small numbers. In 1897, the

N.Y. Forest, Fish and Game Commission deposited 120 adult white perch in the Genesee

River.

Order Cataphracii

Family Cottidae. The sculpins. 80

79. Triglopsis thompsoni Girard. Lake sculpin.

Evermann and Kendall recorded “three specimens from Nine-mile Point, one from the lake, the two others from a small creek.”

Order Anacanthini

Family Gadidae. The codfishes.

80. Lota maculosa (Le Sueur). Burbot, lawyer, ling.

West of the Genesee River it is infrequently taken. “One specimen obtained 4 miles off Nine-mile Point” – Evermann and Kendall (1902, p. 216). Mr. Charles H.

Strowger of Webster, N.Y., in Dr. H.M. Smith’s Report (1892, p. 215) speaks as if this species were common off Nine-mile Point. He says: “I wish to suggest that the ling

(Lota), which has generally been counted a worthless nuisance, can be utilized to good advantage and made of commercial value. Some years ago the whim took me to try experiment of salting and drying a few ling to see what they would amount to. I split open a dozen, rubbed them with salt, and dried them in the sun. They dried quickly and became very hard and developed the smell of codfish. When cooked they smelled and tasted like salt codfish, and I have no doubt that by curing them in the same way that codfish are treated no one but an expert could distinguish them from salt codfish, except from the shape of the tail. As thousands of these fish are thrown away every day, it strikes me that attention called to the question of curing them properly would result in considerable addition to the earnings of our lake fishermen.”

Bibliography

Bean, T.H. 1884. On the occurrence of the branch alewife in certain lakes of New York.

pp. 588-593. In: G.B. Goode (ed.) The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the 81

United States, Section I, Natural History of Useful Aquatic Animals, US

Commission of Fish and Fisheries, Washington, D.C.

Dymond, J.R. 1926. The Fishes of Lake Nipigon. University of Toronto Studies in

Biology, Publication of the Ontario Fisheries Research Laboratory. Series 27. 108

pp.

Evermann, B.W. & W.C. Kendall. 1902. Notes on the fishes of Lake Ontario. Report of

the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. 1901:209-216.

Fairchild, H.L. 1896. Fairchild, H.L. 1896. Physical characters of the region. pp. 28-36.

In: F. Beckwith, M.E. Macauley & J.B. Fuller (ed) Proceedings of the Rochester

Academy of Science, Volume 3, Rochester, N.Y.

Imlay, G. 1797. A topographical description of the western territory of North America:

containing a succinct account of its soil, climate, natural history, population,

agriculture, manners, and customs, with an ample description of the several

divisions into which that country is partitioned; to which are added, the discovery,

settlement, and present state of Kentucky, and an essay towards the topography,

and natural history of that important country by John Filson, Third edition. J.

Debrett. London. 598 pp.

Hubbs, C.L. 1926. A checklist of the fishes of the Great Lakes and tributary waters, with

nomenclatorial notes and analytical keys. University of Michigan Museum of

Zoology Miscellaneous Publications No. 15. 78 pp.

Jordan, D.S. 1923. A classification of fishes, including families and genera as far as

known, Stanford University Publications. University Series. Biological Sciences

3:77-254. 82

Jordan, D.S. 1924. Concerning the genus Hybopsis of Agassiz. Copeia 1924:51-52.

Meek, S.E. 1889. Notes on the fishes of Cayuga Basin. Annals of the New York

Academy of Sciences 4:297-316.

Meek, S.E. 1899. Notes on a collection of fishes and amphibians from Muskoka and Gull

Lakes. Field Museum Publication 41. Zoology Series 1:307-311.

Meek, S.E. & H.W. Clark. 1902. Notes on a collection of cold-blooded vertebrates from

Ontario. Field Museum Publication 67 Zoology Series 3:131-140.

Munro, R. 1804. A description of the Genesee country, in the state of New-York in which

the situation, dimensions, civil divisions, soil, minerals, produce, lakes and rivers,

curiosities, climate, navigation, trade and manufactures, population, and other

interesting matters relative to that country, are impartially described; to which is

added, an appendix, containing a description of military lands. Frederick-Town.

12 pp.

New York (State). Fish Commission. 1872. Fourth Annual Report of the Commissioners

of Fisheries of the State of New York. Senate Document. No. 57:9-11.

New York (State). Fish Commission. 1874. Sixth Annual Report of the Commissioners

of Fisheries of the State of New York. Senate Document. No. 41:12.

New York (State). Fish Commission. 1881-1882. Twelfth Annual Report of the

Commissioners of Fisheries of the State of New York. Senate Document. No.

89:6-7.

O’Callaghan, E.B. 1849. The Documentary history of the state of New-York;

arranged under direction of the Hon. Christopher Morgan, secretary of State.

Albany, Weed, Parsons & Co., Albany, NY. 1155 pp. 83

Reed, H.D & A.H. Wright. 1909. The vertebrates of the Cayuga Lake Basin, N.Y.

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 48:370-459.

Smith, H.M. 1892. Report on an investigation of the fisheries of Lake Ontario. Bulletin of

the U.S. Fish Commission 10:177-215.

Smith, H.M. 1894. Notes on two hitherto unrecognized species of American whitefishes.

Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission 14:1-13.

Smith, H.M., M.M. Snell & J.W. Collins. 1891. Fisheries of the Great Lakes in 1885.

Report of the Commissioner of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries for

1887, Appendix 1. Washington, D.C. 333 pp.

Thomas, A. 1871. Pioneer history of Orleans County, New York: containing some

account of the civil divisions of western New York, with brief biographical

notices of early settlers, and of the hardships and privations they endured, the

organization of the towns in the county, together with lists of town and county

officers, since the county was organized, with anecdotes and reminiscences,

illustrating the character and customs of the people. H.A. Bruner, Albion, NY.

463 pp.

Thwaites, R.G. 1896-1901. The Jesuit relations and allied documents; travels and

explorations of the Jesuit missionaries in North America (1610-1791), the original

French, Latin, and Italian texts, with English translations and notes. Burrows

Brothers, Cleveland, OH. 527 pp.

Turner, O. 1849. Pioneer history of the Holland purchase of western New York:

embracing some account of the ancient remains ... and a history of pioneer

settlement under the auspices of the Holland company; including reminiscences of 84

the war of 1812; the origin, progress and completion of the Erie canal, etc. Jewett,

Thomas & Co. Buffalo, NY. 666 pp.

Turner, O. 1851. History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and

Morris' reserve: embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates,

Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and

Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement or Extension of the pioneer history

of Monroe county. William Alling, Rochester, NY. 624 pp.

Weed, A.C. 1925. Some pickerel names. Copeia 1925:49-51. 85

Figure captions

Figure 1. The relationship between fish distribution and stream habitat variables can be graphed in this type of figure. At a glance, the distribution of any species can be correlated to any variable or set of variables.

Figure 2. This map of the study area in Monroe County, New York, is taken from USGS maps. The original figure, from which this was scanned, measured 29.1 by 26.9 cm and was meant to be published as a foldout.

Figure 3. Species present in Buttonwood Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1904. The relationship between fish distribution and habitat is plotted.

Figure 4. Fishes found in North Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1904.

Figure 5. Species collected in Larkin Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1904.

Figure 6. Fishes collected in Northrup Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1904.

Figure 7. Fishes collected in the west tributary of Northrup Creek, Monroe County, New

York 1904.

Figure 8. Fishes of Round Pond Tributary, Monroe County, 1904.

Figure 9. Fishes collected in the main branch of Salmon Creek, Monroe County, New

York, 1904.

Figure 10. Species collected in the west tributary of the main fork of Salmon Creek,

Monroe County, New York, 1904.

Figure 11. Fishes of the west fork of Salmon Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1904.

Figure 12. Fishes collected in the east tributary of the West Fork, Salmon Creek, Monroe

County, New York, 1904. 86

Figure 13. The Erie Canal affected the in-stream distribution of certain species by creating typical downstream habitats at upstream sites adjacent to the canal.

Figure 14. Distribution of six species of percids in Salmon Creek, Monroe County, New

York, showing areas of overlap by stream mile. Diet overlap also shown.

Figure 15. Distribution model for two species of bullhead in Salmon Creek (A) and

Northrup Creek (B), Monroe County. 87

Table 1. Explanation of miscellaneous data terms associated with abbreviations used in Fig. 1 and Figs. 3 to 12. Examples are from Fig. 1. Code Description Comments A Bridges Examples: below the 1-mile mark, at the 2-mile mark B Woodlands Example: at the 1-mile mark C Swamp Example: between the 1- and 2-mile marks D Important tributary Represented by a forked wavy line. The position of the tributary line in the upper or lower part of the “Misc. Data” space indicates that the tributary enters the stream from the right or left side respectively. One is represented at the 1.25- mile mark, which it enters from the left side, and at the 2.6- mile mark, which it enters from the right side. E Falls Example: on either side of the 4-mile mark F Dams Example: at the 5.6-mile mark G Remains of a dam Example: at the 7-mile mark H Small tributary Represented by an unforked wavy line. One is represented at the 5.8-mile mark, which enters from the right side, and at the 7.25-mile mark, which enters from the left side. I Canal Example: at the 7.5-mile mark

88

Table 2. Bridge abbreviations used in Figs. 3-12. Bridge Name Code Anderson’s A Blossom Cemetery BC Burritt Road BR Butcher’s B Clarkson and Sweden CS East Hamlin (south) EH(s) East Hamlin (east) EH(e) Hamlin (south) Hn Hendy’s Hy Hill’s Hl Hilton H Hilton (north) H(n) Hunts Corners (west) HC(w) Hunts Corners (east) HC(e) Irish Settlement IS Irish Settlement (east) IS (e) Lyell Road LR Monroe and Orleans Line MO North Greece (north) NG(n) North Greece (east) NG(e) North Greece (south) NG(s) North Greece (west) NG(w) Parma Center (north) PC(n) Parma Center (east) PC(e) Parma Center (west) PC(w) Parma and Clarkson PC Parma and Greece PG Parma and Hamlin PH Parma and Ogden PO Ridge Road R R.W. and O.R.R. RWO Smith’s Sh South Greece (east) SG(e) Sweden (east) S(e) Sweden (south) S(s)

89

Table 3. Number of fish taken from the Erie Canal and distributed to other freshwater systems, New York, 1872-1888.

Oswego bass Strawberry bass Rock bass Pike-perch Yellow perch Black bass Pike Bullheads Black pike Suckers Total 1872 647 4960 350 155 225 2000 60 9801 1873 195 75 3970 53 275 1286 393 6247 1874 533 20 921 291 46 365 2176 1875 482 20 785 290 728 388 50 2743 1876 30 6 75 350 25 150 636 1877 60 120 253 130 110 1663 1878 545 80 793 130 1548 1879 747 440 530 1532 25 355 15 3644 1880 964 250 450 1051 150 1625 4490 1882 375 24 199 52 75 725 1883 300 400 340 755 70 1865 1886 4 80 180 544 875 1683 1887 30 180 10 442 100 762 1888 13 110 15 599 75 812 Total 4925 121 12106 544 2575 10456 1588 6405 60 15 38795

90

Table 4. Distribution of mature bullheads stocked into Monroe County waters from fish taken from the Western Wide Waters of the Erie Canal, Rochester, N.Y., 1874 to 1886.

Year Number Stocking site stocked 1874 50 Black Creek, at Churchville 1877 1000 Genesee River, above the rapids at Rochester 1879 150 Palmer’s Pond, at Brighton 1880 675 Garbuttsville 1880 200 Lee’s Pond, at Greece 1880 300 Footh’s Ice Pond, at Rochester 1880 300 Chili Pond, at Chili 1880 150 Genesee River 1886 575 Garbutt Pond, at Garbuttsbille

91

Table 5. Stocking records of goldfish and common carp into Monroe County waters by the New York State Fish Commission or by private individuals into ponds.

Species Date Number Body of water Owner Town stocked goldfish April 10 1872 105 Allen’s Creek goldfish April 111872 400 Irondequoit Bay goldfish April 17 1876 20 Potash Creek goldfish May 5 1876 20 Culver’s Creek carp October 2 1886 25 Francis Weis Penfield carp 1886 20 C.N. Carpenter Penfield carp 1886 20 Henry N. Clark Brockport carp 1886 20 F.F. Schummers Fairport carp 1886 20 N.L. Bennett Unionville carp 1887 20 John Odell North Parma carp June 12 1888 15 O.S. Babcock Churchville carp June 15 1888 35 John Schott Coldwater carp June 6 1889 30 O.S. Babcock Churchville carp 1889 6 C.K. Green Rochester

92

Table 6. Annual number of Coregonus clupeaformis stocked into Lake Ontario in Monroe County, New York, 1874 to 1899.

Stocking date Number of fish stocked January 13, 1874 100,000 January 22, 1874 90,000 February 6, 1877 400,000 January 29, 1886 200,000 February 9, 1886 180,000 February 12, 1887 February 9, 1887 1896 2,300,000 1897 3,250,000 1898 4,500,000 1899 3,000,000 1899 1,000,000

93

Table 7. Introductions of Chinook salmon in Monroe County, New York, 1873-1880.

Date Number Stocking site stocked December 22, 1873 15000 Allen’s Creek December 30, 1873 16000 Allen’s Creek, tributary to Irondequoit Bay March 2, 1874 500 Honeoye Falls December 15, 1874 4000 Allen’s Creek, Fisher’s Station December 15, 1874 500 Caledonia December 22, 1874 1250 Caledonia Creek December 25, 1874 10000 Sandy Creek January 26, 1875 25000 Caledonia Creek March 22, 1875 260 Caledonia March 15, 1875 10000 Allen Creek, tributary of Genesee River January 7, 1878 6000 Caledonia Spring Brook January 8, 1878 420 Rochester January 12, 1878 4000 Spring Brook, tributary of Allen’s Creek February 6, 1878 120 Chapman’s Creek February 8, 1878 1000 Walter’s Creek, tributary of Genesee River February 15, 1878 75 Chapman’s Creek, tributary to Lake Ontario April 11, 1878 35000 Blue Pond, Mendon April 12, 1878 1000 Tributary to Lake Ontario December 31, 1878 10000 Spring Creek January 15, 1879 10000 Spring Creek March 11, 1879 1000 Caledonia Spring Creek May 20, 1879 45 Leighton’s Ponds December 4, 1879 514 Allen Creek, Wheatland January 21, 1880 30 Spring Creek June 15, 1880 152 Allen’s Creek

94

Table 8. Stocking of Atlantic salmon in Monroe County, New York, 1876-1897.

Date Number Stocking site stocked Atlantic salmon April 17, 1876 2000 Culver Creek February 6, 1878 180 Chapman’s Creek February 15, 1878 120 Chapman’s Creek April 11, 1878 20000 Blue Pond May 20, 1879 24 Leighton’s Ponds January 21, 1880 30 Spring Creek June 15, 1880 152 Allen’s Creek Landlocked salmon July 7, 1879 9000 Allen’s Creek, tributary to Genesee River May 12, 1880 5000 Blue Pond June 22, 1880 163 Allen Creek 1897 100 Irondequoit Creek, Brighton

95

Table 9. Stocking records for brown trout in Monroe County waters, New York, 1886 to 1899. Date Number Stocking site stocked April 9, 1886 50000 Spring Creek April 15, 1886 15000 Oatka Creek, Mumford April 22, 1886 15000 Caledonia Spring Creek April 28, 1887 21000 Oatka Creek March 5, 1888 4000 Spring Creek April 3, 1888 1000 Hoffman’s Creek, Irondequoit April 17, 1888 1000 Tributary of Black Creek April 27, 1888 1000 Allen’s Creek June 18, 1888 8000 Caledonia Creek March 26, 1889 2000 Allen’s Creek, Rochester 1890 5000 Hoffman’s Creek 1890 10000 Black Creek 1890 5000 Black Creek 1890 15000 Spring Creek and tributary 1890 15000 Spring Creek and tributary 1891 5000 Black Creek 1891 5000 Dugan’s Creek 1891 50000 Oatka Creek 1891 5000 Oatka Creek 1892 5000 Hoffman Creek 1892 30000 Oatka Creek 1896 5000 Garbutts Creek 1896 10000 Allen’s Creek 1896 1000 Spring Creek 1896 215 Spring Creek 1897 300 Oatka Creek 1897 200 Mendon Ponds, Mendon 1897 242 Oatka Creek 1898 10000 Deep Pond and Durham Brook, Mendon 1898 5000 Garbutt Pond 1898 15000 Allen’s Creek 1898 10000 Spring Creek 1898 200 Deep Pond and Durham Brook, Mendon 1898 2000 Spring Creek 1898 500 Oatka Creek 1898 3200 Allen’s Creek 1899 5000 Garbutt and Mill Ponds, Wheatland 1899 25000 Spring Creek 1899 20000 Oatka Creek 1899 9616 Spring Creek 1899 200 Riverside Cemetery, Greece 96

1899 2446 Spring Creek 1899 100 Garbutt and Mill Ponds, Wheatland 1899 500 Spring Brook, Riga

97

Table 10. Stocking records for rainbow trout in Monroe County waters, New York, 1872 to 1891.

Date Number Stocking site stocked June 30, 1879 10000 Allen’s Creek May 27, 1880 2000 Small stream and pond, Monroe June 25, 1880 5000 Caledonia Spring Creek July 7, 1880 6000 Caledonia Spring July 7, 1880 5000 Spring Creek June 4, 1881 5000 Haw’s Creek June 4, 1881 5000 Bound Brook June 21, 1881 25000 Allen Creek July 4, 1881 1000 Allen Creek, east of Genesee River July 4, 1881 20000 Irondequoit Creek July 5, 1881 7000 Mill Creek July 5, 1881 7000 Cold Spring Brook July 5, 1881 60000 Allen Creek, east of Genesee River July 8, 1881 20000 Allen Creek, east of Genesee River July 11, 1881 10000 Harper’s Brook June 12, 1882 10000 Black Creek June 22, 1882 20000 Black Creek June 27, 1882 10000 Outlet, Blue Pond June 30, 1882 30000 Oatka Creek June 14, 1883 160 Kondolf Lake June 21, 1883 200 Kondolf Lake June 29, 1883 4000 Kondolf Lake July 4, 1883 15000 Oatka Creek May 11, 1886 10000 Allen Creek June 1, 1886 10000 Tributaries of Irondequoit Creek June 25, 1886 15000 Oatka Creek, Mumford June 28, 1886 25000 Allen Creek, Wheatland July 6, 1886 32000 Allen Creek, and tributaries June 27, 1888 Oatka Creek, Monroe County 1891 3000 Irondequoit Creek 1891 30000 Caledonia Spring Creek 1897 257 Spring Creek, Wheatland 1899 1500 Allen Creek, Wheatland 1899 1250 Mendon Ponds 1899 1000 Atea Creek, Wheatland 1899 300 Spring Creek, Wheatland

98

Table 11. Stocking records for lake trout in Monroe County waters, New York, 1872 to 1891.

Date Number Stocking site stocked March 29, 1872 2000 Blue Pond April 12, 1872 4000 Allen’s Creek May 8, 1872 5000 Irondequoit Creek February 26, 1874 15000 Mendon Ponds February 15, 1878 100 Chapman’s Creek April 11, 1878 125000 Lake Ontario April 11, 1878 700 Allen Creek April 12, 1878 56000 Lake Ontario May 4, 1878 15000 Irondequoit Bay March 19, 1880 75000 Lake Ontario April 16, 1880 8000 Allen Creek February 12, 1888 20000 Lake Ontario 1891 350000 Lake Ontario

99

Table 12. Stocking records for brook trout in Monroe County waters, New York, 1876 to 1899.

Date Number Stocking site stocked February 16, 1876 8000 Hopper Creek February 19, 1876 10000 Allen’s Creek February 19, 1876 10000 Irondequoit Creek February 22, 1876 20000 Mendon March 8, 1876 5000 Irondequoit Branch, Pittsford April 27, 1877 5000 Durgan’s Creek, Scottsville May 1, 1877 6000 Allen’s Creek May 1, 1877 5000 Brighton Creek, Rochester May 11, 1877 5000 Allen’s Creek tributaries May 12, 1877 3000 Harper’s Brook May 12, 1877 3000 Mary’s Brook, tributary to Allen’s Creek May 12, 1877 5000 Culver Creek, Rochester May 14, 1877 3000 Spring Creek May 28, 1877 4000 Leighton’s Creek June 2, 1877 10000 Allen’s Creek June 16, 1877 10000 Allen’s Creek April 11, 1878 60 Allen’s Creek May 10, 1878 2000 Allen Creek, east of the Genesee River May, 1878 10000 Allen Creek May, 1878 10000 Mary’s Brook April 18, 1879 2000 South Run, Black Creek April 23, 1879 5000 Spring Creek May 30, 1879 6000 Allen Creek May 31, 1879 3000 Mary’s Ditch, Mumford June 2, 1879 8000 Spring Creek June 5, 1879 8000 Spring Creek June 10, 1879 15000 Spring Creek February 16, 1880 20000 Caledonia Spring Creek May 4, 1880 10000 Mill Creek, tributary to Blue Pond May 14, 1880 5000 Tributary to Black Creek, Spencerport May 18, 1880 2000 Hoffman Creek, Rochester May 18, 1880 5000 Allen Creek, tributary to Irondequoit Creek May 27, 1880 7000 Mill Creek, Chili Center May 16, 1881 5000 Caledonia Spring Creek May 30, 1881 5000 Hoffman’s Creek May 31, 1881 20000 Caledonia Creek May 13, 1882 18000 Allen’s Creek May 15, 1882 10000 Caledonia Spring Creek February 9, 1886 15000 Bradbury and Dennis Church Brooks April 1, 1886 4000 Hoffman’s Brook 100

May 5, 1886 25000 Spring Creek May 11, 1886 20000 Allen Creek May 14, 1886 4000 Mary’s Brook, Mumford May 18, 1886 25000 Spring Creek February 28, 1887 4000 Dry and Spider Brooks, Churchville May 17, 1887 2000 Allen Creek March 5, 1888 1000 Wood’s Creek, Chili Center April 17, 1888 1000 Spring Creek, tributary to Black Creek April 27, 1888 2000 Allen’s Creek May 31, 1888 4000 Caledonia Creek June 18, 1888 6000 Caledonia Creek February 16, 1889 5000 Hoffman Creek March 22, 1889 5000 Caledonia Creek March 27, 1889 2000 Wood’s Creek, Chili Center March 27, 1889 2000 Black Creek, Churchville April 16, 1889 10000 Irondequoit Creek April 30, 1889 5000 Duquesne Creek May 1, 1889 1000 Black Creek May 2, 1889 5000 Deep Hollow Creek May 3, 1889 200 Allen’s Creek (hybrids were stocked) 1890 5000 Hoffman Creek 1890 5000 Waters in the town of Irondequoit 1890 10000 Dugan’s Creek 1891 25000 Caledonia Spring Creek 1891 30000 Irondequoit Creek tributary 1891 5000 Hoffman Creek 1891 5000 Hoffman Creek 1891 5000 Dugan Creek 1892 5000 Hoffman Creek 1892 5000 Pine Hill Creek 1893 Hoffman’s Creek 1893 No name creek 1893 Peck, Hull, Dunhee, Tamarack Creeks 1896 5000 Thomas Creek 1896 5000 Barrett Stream, etc. 1897 10000 Spring Brook, Wheatland 1897 250 Allen’s Creek, Brighton 1897 1000 Irondequoit Creek 1897 5000 Garbert’s Pond, Garbert 1898 400 Spelman, Peck, Sulphur, Duncie Creeks 1898 600 Irondequoit and Allen Creeks 1899 200 Several streams in Wheatland 1899 200 Hill, Burke, Fowler Creeks, Mendon

101

Table 13. Stocking records for northern pike in Monroe County waters from the wide- waters of the Erie Canal, New York, 1874 to 1880, and from additional stocks, 1891 to 1899.

Date Number Stocking site stocked January 26, 1874 30 Honeoye Creek, East Rush February 4, 1874 30 Black Creek, Churchville April 30, 1877 100 Genesee River above the rapids April 13, 1878 40 Genesee River above the rapids April 9, 1880 150 Genesee River above the rapids 1891 100000 Irondequoit Bay 1899 500000 Braddock’s Bay

102

Table 14. Stocking records for rock bass in Monroe County waters from the wide-waters of the Erie Canal, New York, 1872 to 1887 and other stockings in 1895.

Date Number Stocking site stocked February 1. 1872 500 Black Creek January 26, 1874 50 Honeoye Creek, East Rush February 4, 1874 200 Black Creek, Churchville April 19, 1879 200 Palmer’s Pond, Brighton April 9, 1880 150 Genesee River July 24, 1895 80 Genesee River July 25, 1895 35 Black Creek

103

Table 15. Stocking records for smallmouth bass in Monroe County waters, New York, 1872 to 1899.

Date Number Stocking site stocked February 1, 1872 45 Black Creek January 26, 1874 25 Honeoye Creek, East Rush February 4, 1874 10 Black Creek, Churchville April 13, 1878 140 Genesee River above Rapids April 2, 1879 240 Genesee River at Rapids below dam April 19, 1897 15 Palmer’s Pond, Brighton April 19, 1879 25 Genesee River above dam April 9, 1880 250 Willow Pond, East Brighton April 20, 1883 330 Genesee River above dam, Rochester May 6, 1895 400 Oatka Creek, Scottsville May 20, 1895 55 Genesee River July 26, 1895 60 Mendon Ponds 1896 100 Deep Pond, Honeoye Falls 1899 2000 Braddock’s Bay, Greece 1899 6000 Irondequoit Bay 1899 100 Irondequoit Bay

104

Table 16. Stocking records for largemouth bass in Monroe County waters, New York, 1874 to 1898.

Date Number Stocking site stocked January 26, 1874 40 Honeoye Creek, East Rush February 4, 1874 20 Black Creek, Churchville April 13, 1878 210 Genesee River above Rapids April 19, 1879 40 Palmer’s Pond, Brighton April 19, 1879 200 Genesee River above the dam April 3, 1880 100 Ice Pond, Rochester April 9, 1880 600 Genesee River 1897 8000 Genesee River, Rochester 1898 13000 Irondequoit Bay, Irondequoit 1898 12000 Genesee River, Rochester

105

Table 17. Stocking records for walleye in Monroe County waters, New York, 1892 to 1898.

Date Number Stocking site stocked 1892 250000 Irondequoit Bay 1896 250000 Honeoye Creek 1896 50000 Black Creek 1897 200000 Black Creek 1897 500000 Various streams, Mendon, Bloomfield 1897 600000 Honeoye Creek, Rush 1897 3000000 Genesee River, Rochester 1898 1000000 Irondequoit Bay

106

Table 18. Stocking records for yellow perch in Monroe County waters, New York, 1874 to 1899.

Date Number Stocking site stocked February 4, 1874 100 Black Creek, Churchville April 19, 1879 200 Palmer’s Pond, Brighton April 9, 1880 150 Genesee River, Rochester July 24, 1895 80 Genesee River, Rochester July 24, 1895 35 Black Creek 1898 1000000 Genesee River, Monroe County 1899 200 Irondequoit Bay

107

Appendix A. Current names of fishes listed in A.H. Wright’s “The Fishes of the Vicinity of Rochester, New York”. Current class, order and family names, if different, are in bold. Order of names follows Wright’s Catalogue of Fishes. Current names follow Nelson et al. (2004).

Class, Order, Family Current name, if different Identified by Wright Class Marsipobranchii, Cephalaspidomorphi Order Hyperoartia, Petromyzontiformes Family Petromyzonidae, Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus Petromyzontidae Petromyzon m. unicolor (De Kay) Class Pisces, Actinopterygii Order Glaniostomi, Acipenseriformes Family Acipenseridae Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque Le Sueur Order Holostei, Lepisosteiformes Family Lepistosteidae Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus) Order Halecomorphi, Amiiformes Family Amiidae Amia calva Linnaeus Order Nematognathi, Siluriformes Family Ameiuridae, Ameiurus natalis (Lesueur) Ameiurus natalis (Le Sueur) Icataluridae Ameiurus nebulosus (Lesueur) Ameiurus nebulosus (Le Sueur) Ameiurus melas (Rafinesque) Ictalurus punctatus Noturus flavus Rafinesque Noturus gyrinus (Mitchill) Schilbeodes gyrinus (Mitchill) Noturus miurus Jordan Schilbeodes miurus (Jordan) Order Eventognathi, Cypriniformes Family Catostomidae Catostomus catostomus (Forster) Catostomus commersonii (Lacepède) Hypentelium nigricans (Lesueur) Hypentelium nigricans (Le Sueur) Erimyzon oblongus (Mitchill) Erimyzon sucetta oblongus (Mitchill) Moxostoma anisurum Moxostoma macrolepidotum Moxostoma aureolum (Le Sueur) (Lesueur) Family Cyprinidae Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque) Clinostomus elongatus (Kirtland) Leuciscus elongatus Clinostomus elongatus Phoxinus eos (Cope) Chrosomus erythrogaster Rafinesque Hybognathus regius Girard Hybognathus nuchalis Agassiz Pimephales promelas Rafinesque Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) Hyborhynchus notatus Rafinesque Semotilus corporalis (Mitchill) Leucosomus corporalis (Mitchill) Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill) 108

Margariscus margarita (Cope) Leuciscus margarita Notemigonus crysoleucas Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill) (Mitchill) Abramis crysoleucas (Mitchill) Notemigonus cryso-leucas Notropis bifrenatus (Cope) Notropis bifrenatus (Cope) Notropis cayuga Notropis heterodon (Cope) Notropis stramineus (Cope) Notropis deliciosus (Girard) Notropis blennius Notropis hudsonius (Clinton) Notropis hudsonius (DeWitt Clinton) Cyprinella spiloptera (Cope) Notropis whipplii (Girard) Luxilus chrysocephalus Notropis cornutus chrysocephalus Rafinesque and Luxilus cornutus (Rafinesque) (Mitchill) Notropis cornutus Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque Notropis rubellus (Agassiz) Notropis rubrifrons (Cope) Rhinichthys atratulus Hermann Rhinichthys atronasus (Mitchill) Rhinichthys cataractae Rhinichthys cataractae (Cuvier and (Valenciennes) Valenciennes) Macrhybopsis storeriana Erinemus storerianus (Kirtland) (Kirtland) Hybopsis storerianus

Nocomis biguttatus (Kirtland) Nocomis biguttatus (Kirtland) Hybopsis kentuckiensis Carassius auratus (Linnaeus) Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus Exoglossum maxillingua Order Apodes, Anguilliformes Family Anguillidae Anguilla rostrata Lesueur Anguilla chrysypa Rafinesque Anguilla rostrata Rafinesque Order Isospondyli, Clupeiformes Family Clupeidae Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson) Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson) Alosa sapidissima (Wilson) Order Isospondyli, Salmoniformes Family Coregonidae, Coregonus clupeaformis (Mitchill) Salmodidae Coregonus artedi Lesueur Leucichthys artedi (Le Sueur) L. ontariensis Jordan and Evermann Coregonus hoyi (Milner) Leucichthys prognathus (H.M. Smith) Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum) Salmo salar Linnaeus Salmo salar sebago

Oncorhynchus clarkii Salmo henshawi Gill and Jordan (Richardson) 109

Oncorhynchus tschawytscha Salmo trutta Linnaeus Salmo fario Linnaeus Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) Salmo irideus Gibbons Salmo mykiss

Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum) Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum) Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill) Order Haplomi, Esociformes Family Umbridae Umbra limi (Kirtland) Family Esocidae. Esox americanus vermiculatus Esox vermiculatus Le Sueur Lesueur Esox lucius Linnaeus Esox masquinongy Mitchill Esox masquinongy (Mitchill) Esox niger (Lesueur) Lucius reticulatus Order Haplomi, Cyprinodontiformes Family Cyrpinodontidae Fundulus diaphanus (Lesueur) Fundulus diaphanus (Le Sueur) Order Thoracostei, Gasterosteiformes Family Gasterosteidae Culaea inconstans (Kirtland) Eucalia inconstans (Kirtland) Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus Gasterosteus bispinosus Walbaum Order Salmopercae, Percopsiformes Family Percopsidae Percopsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum) Order Xenarchi, Percopsiformes Family Aphredoderidae Aphredoderus sayanus gibbosus Aphredoderus sayanus (Gilliams) Lesueur Order Percomorphi, Atheriniformes Family Atherinidae Labidesthes sicculus (Cope) Order Percomorphi, Perciformes Family Centrarchidae Pomoxis nigromaculatus Pomoxis sparoides (Lacepède) (Lesueur) Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque) Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque Lepomis incisor (Cuvier and Valenciennes) Lepomis pallidus (Mitchill) Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus) Eupomotis gibbosus (Linnaeus) Micropterus dolomieu Lacepède Micropterus salmoides (Lacepède) Family Percidae Sander vitreus (Mitchill) Stizostedion vitreum (Mitchill) Sander canadense (Griffith and Stizostedion canadense (Smith) Smith)

Perca flavescens (Mitchill) Percina caprodes (Rafinesque) Percina caprodes zebra (Agassiz) Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque Boleosoma nigrum (Rafinesque) Etheostoma olmstedi (Storer) Boleosoma nigrum olmstedi Etheostoma blennioides Etheostoma blennioides Rafinesque Rafinesque Diplesion blennioides (Rafinesque) Etheostoma caeruleum Storer Poecilichthys coeruleus (Storer) Etheostoma flabellare Rafinesque Catonotus flabellaris (Rafinesque) 110

Etheostoma exile (Girard) Poecilichthys exilis (Girard). Boleichthys fusiformis Percina maculata (Girard) Hadropterus aspro Family Moronidae Morone chrysops (Rafinesque) Lepibema chrysops (Rafinesque) Roccus chrysops Morone saxatilus (Walbaum) Lepibema lineata (Bloch) Roccus lineatus Family Sciaenidae Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque Order Cataphracii, Scorpaeniformes Family Cottidae Myoxocephalus thompsonii Triglopsis thompsoni Girard (Girard) Cottus bairdii Girard Cottus ictalops Order Anacanthini, Gadiformes Family Gadidae Lota lota (Linnaeus) Lota maculosa (Le Sueur)

111

Appendix B. Current names of plants and animals, other than fishes, listed in A.H. Wright’s “The Fishes of the Vicinity of Rochester, New York”. Names are presented here in the order in which they appear in the text. Plant names follow Mitchell and Tucker (1997). Reptiles and amphibians follow Crother et al. (2000).

Current name, if different Name used by Wright Additional information Cephalanthus occidentalis, buttonbush Acer saccharinum white maple, silver maple Tilia americana basswood Juglans cinerea butternut Ulmus americana American elm hickory Carya sp. oak Quercus sp Fagus grandifolia beech Fagus sp.

Prunella vulgaris self-heal Salix willow Cornus sericea Cornus stolonifera red osier Melilotus officinalis Meliotus (sic) officinalis yellow sweet-clover

Platanus occidentalis sycamore Solidago goldenrod Oxalis stricta lady’s-sorrel Mentha spicata spearmint Ranunculus acris common buttercup Trifolium pratense red clover Trifolium hybridum alsike clover Achillea millefolium common yarrow Anemone canadensis Canada anemone Calystegia sepium Convolvulus sepium hedge-bindweed Asclepias incarnata swamp milkweed Typha cat-tail Saururus cernuus lizard’s-tail Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum Nasturtium officinalis watercress Sagittaria latifolia wapato pickeral-weed Potenderia cordata

Iris versicolor (probably) Iris iris Decodon verticillatus Decodon water-willow

Potamogeton pondweed crawfish Cambarus sp.; Orconectes sp. Chrysemys marginata painted turtle Chelydra serpentina common snapping turtle Clemmys guttata spotted turtle 112

Rana pipiens northern leopard frog Rana clamitans green frog Rana catesbeiana bullfrog Nerodia sipedon Natrix sipedon fasciata water snake Polygonum knotweed Armoracia lacustris lake-cress (Roripa aquatica) watercress Nuphar advena Nymphaea advena yellow pondlily

Nymphaea odorata Castalia odorata white waterlily Lysimachia Steironema loosestrife

Mimulus ringeus Mimulus monkey flower

cardinal flower Lobelia sp. water dock Joe Pye Eupatorium purpureum or

E. macloatum

blue vervain Verbena hastata

swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata

Onoclea sensibilis Onoclea sensitive fern

wild bean Lathyrus palustris or L. japonicus round cornel Cornus rugosa

Samolus valerandi Samolus brookweed

Aster aster hemlock Tsuga sp. birch Betula sp. ash Fraxinus sp. Mentha x piperita Mentha piperata (sic) spearmint

Eupatorium purpureum sweet Joe-Pye weed Eupatorium perfoliatum thoroughwort 113

Carum carvi Carum caraway

Prunella vulgaris Prunella self-heal

Apios americana Apios tuberosa wild bean?

Chaerophyllum procumbens wild parsley or Conioselinum chinense shadbush Amelanchier sp. witch-hazel Hamamelis virginiana Justicia americana Dianthera americana water-willow

Helianthus sunflower Asclepias syriaca common milkweed Verbena hastata blue vervain Petroselium crispum Petroselium hortense parsley

Melilotus alba Meliotus (sic) alba white sweet-clover

Cicuta maculata water hemlock red oak Quercus rubra

sugar maple Acer saccharum

shagbark hickory Carya ovata

black ash Fraxinus nigra Chara alga Polygonum hydropiper common smartweed Achillea millefolium Achillea yarrow

Potentilla anserina silverweed Apocynum dogbane Cornus rugosa Cornus circinata round-leaf dogwood

elder Sambucus sp. poplar Populus sp. sumac Rhus sp. Alisma water-plantain Crataegus hawthorn Necturus maculosus common mudpuppy Bidens water-marigold Coreopsis lanceolata Coreopsis coreopsis Echinocystis lobata wild cucumber Echinocystis sp.

114

Crother, B.I., J. Boundy, J.A. Campbell, K., de Queiroz, D.R. Frost, R. Highton, J.B. Iverson, P.A. Meylan, T.W. Reeder, M.E. Seidel, J.W. Sites, T.W. Taggart, S.G. Tilley, and D.B. Wake. 2000. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Circular 29. iii + 82 pp. Mitchell, R.S. and G.C. Tucker. 1997. Revised Checklist of New York State Plants. New York State Museum Bulletin 490. vii + 400 pp. 115

Figure captions

Figure 1. Generic chart for displaying fish distribution within a stream and relating that distribution to habitat and other physical characteristics of the stream. See text for explanations of terms and figures.

Figure 2. Map of Monroe County, New York. The study streams are those west of the

Genesee River primarily in the Towns of Greece, Parma, Ogden, Hamlin, Clarkson and

Sweden.

Figure 3. Fish distribution and habitat use in Buttonwood Creek, Monroe County, New

York, 1903-1904.

Figure 4. Fish distribution and habitat use in North Creek, Monroe County, New York,

1903-1904.

Figure 5. Fish distribution and habitat use in Larkin Creek, Monroe County, New York,

1903-1904.

Figure 6. Fish distribution and habitat use in Northrup Creek, Monroe County, New

York, 1903-1904.

Figure 7. Fish distribution and habitat use in west tributary of Northrup Creek, Monroe

County, New York, 1903-1904.

Figure 8. Fish distribution and habitat use in Round Pond Tributary, Monroe County,

New York, 1903-1904.

Figure 9. Fish distribution and habitat use in Salmon Creek, Monroe County, New York,

1903-1904.

Figure 10. Fish distribution and habitat use in west tributary of the Main Fork of Salmon

Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1903-1904. 116

Figure 11. Fish distribution and habitat use in West Fork of Salmon Creek, Monroe

County, New York, 1903-1904.

Figure 12. Fish distribution and habitat use in east tributary of the West Fork of Salmon

Creek, Monroe County, New York, 1903-1904.

Figure 13. Chart showing the effect of the presence of the Erie Canal on the distribution of fishes in Monroe County streams, 1903-1904.

Figure 14. Distribution of fishes in the family Percidae in Salmon Creek, Monroe County,

New York, 1903-1904. Also pictured is the percentage composition of diet of each of the species. The chart is an early representation of resource partitioning among confamilial fishes.

Figure 15. A graphic representation of habitat resource partitioning among three species of bullheads found in creeks in northern Monroe County, New York. See text and preface for an additional assessment. 117

Fig1 118

Fig2

119

Fig3

120

Fig4

121

Fig5 122

Fig6 123

Fig7 124

Fig8 125

Fig9 126

Fig10 127

Fig11 128

Fig12 129

Fig13 130

Fig14 131

Fig15