An Ecological Study of the Worm Parasites of Portage Lakes Fishes

During the years of 1939 and 1940 a taxonomic and ecological study was made of the worm parasites of the fishes of the Portage Lakes, near Akron, Ohio.The complete results of this work are presented in an unpublished thesis (Hare, 1941) of which the present paper is a summary. 1 We have attempted to bring out in this work not only the kinds of worms found in each host, but also to show the various ecological factors involved, e.g., the effect of season, habitat, age, and food relations on parasitism.The Portage Lakes comprise a chain of small lakes and reservoirs extending southward from the city of Akron, Ohio.Summit Lake is within the city.Nesmith Lake, 41 acres, depth 10-24 feet; North Reservoir, 136 acres, depth 4-12 feet; East Reservoir, 292 acres, depth 12-25 feet; and Turkeyfoot Lake, 531 acres, depth 10-50 feet, were the principal lakes from which collections were made.The group includes also Long Lake, West Reservoir, and smaller tributary lakes as Hower's Lake from North Reservoir, Mud Lake and Rex Lake from Turkeyfoot.There is also small, shallow, weedy Grape Lake.Further to the south is the still larger, newly formed Nimisila Reservoir.A few specimens were also taken from the Ohio Canal, part of which connects Summit Lake with Nesmith Lake.The shore line of the chain offers a great variety of conditions from cottagelined banks to large marshy areas.The lakes and fish conditions were reported on by Osburn (1921), and studies of fish food and plankton were made by Kraatz (1928Kraatz ( , 1931Kraatz ( , 1941)).Acknowledgment of indebtedness of the author goes to Paul Eschmeyer for collections of fish and their identification; Dr. R. V. Bangham for identification of many parasites; Fred H. Glenny for assistance in preparing slides of parasites; Samuel Caplin for photographs of parasites (not included in this paper), and Dr. Walter C. Kraatz for suggestions and help in«the work and the thesis and this paper.