20 



JACOB REIGHARD. 



and tail. The spawning vibrations lasted two or three seconds. 

 The fish then separated and the female went up stream. Repeat- 

 edly after this she dropped down among the males, but when 

 approached by them moved away and did not again spawn. The 

 spawning was not accompanied by any change in color (red 

 stripe) such as was noted in the white sucker. 



Except in the attitude of the pairing males the breeding be- 



FIG. 6. Dorsal view of a female of Moxostoma aiireolum pairing with two 

 males. Effective pearl organs are shown. Compare Fig. 5. 



havior of the red-horse does not differ essentially from that of 

 the white sucker. The eggs are presumably buried in the bottom 

 as in the white sucker. Those of a single female are scattered 

 in small lots over a considerable bottom area. Those fertilized 

 by a single male are also widely scattered. 



C. The Hogsucker (Calostomus nigricans Le Sueur). 



i. General Activities. Catostomus (Hypentelium) nigricans is 

 known locally in Michigan as the black sucker or pugamoo. Over 

 a wider territory it is known as hogsucker, hogmolly or stoneroller. 

 When not breeding it may often be seen feeding on the rapids of 

 our brooks, creeks and smaller rivers. In feeding, the fish puts 

 its snout under a stone and roots it up or thrusts it sidewise. 

 It then sucks up the slime between the stones and with it obtains 

 immature insects which form its chief diet (Forbes and Richard- 

 son, 1908). 1 have once seen the fish when thus engaged each 



