Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1884 — Fish-Eating Plante. [ARTICLE]

Fish-Eating Plante.

Prof. Baird, of the National Museum, has received from England a specimen of an aquatic fish-eating plant, known as the great bladderwort, which has been discovered to be peculiarly destructive to young fish. The plant is large, has no roots, but floats free in the water, and its leaves bear small bladders, which entrap the fish fry. Twelve or fifteen species of the plant are found within the limits of the United States, and it abounds in the Fish Commission carp ponds in Washington, where it has been heretofore introduced at considerable labor and expense, having been heretofore regarded as excellent fish food. Prof. Baird will warn carp culturists to destroy the plant wherever found, as he believes that millions of fry must be annually caught in the little bladder traps. _