196 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



When a female was depositing her eggs she was very easily dis- 

 turbed; whenever anything was introduced into the tank she at once 

 darted off. When strong currents were made, she at first seemed to 

 apply herself nearer to the bottom, to make sure, as it were, that the 

 spawn would get fixed before it could be carried away; but when the cur- 

 rents were further intensified she at once changed her position, and ar- 

 rested the escape of the spawn. A sx)awning female was held immedi- 

 ately under the surface of the water so as to cause the spawn to escape. 

 When this was done tlwe spawn escaped in long ribbons consisting of a 

 single row of eggs. So firmly do the eggs adhere to each other that in 

 perfectly still water the ribbon was sometimes over a foot in length be- 

 fore it broke. When it had only about 2 feet of water to travel through, 

 it fell in wide loops at the bottom, but when it had to fall over 3 feet 

 the chain broke up into numerous segments which formed an irregular 

 pattern on the bottom. From experiments made, it seems the further 

 the eggs have to fall and the longer they are in contact with the water 

 before they reach the bottom, they are more widely dispersed, and have 

 all the less adhesive power. When the eggs are expressed in water 

 moving rapidly in various directions, the chains soon break iuto short 

 segments, and the individual eggs and the small groui:)S are often car- 

 ried a considerable distance before they reach the bottom. 



A number of flat stones and pieces of sea-weed were obtained, and a 

 spawning female held over them at different distances in still water, in 

 water with gentle currents, and in water with strong currents. In this 

 way we obtained groups of eggs which-.mimicked in a very striking 

 manner all the arrangements of the eggs on the stones and sea-weeds 

 dredged on the Ballantrae bank. When gently pressed, a beaded rib- 

 bon, consisting of a single row of eggs, always escaped ; when there 

 were no currents, it formed a conical heap ; when in a gentle current, 

 the ribbon fell in irregular looi^s, the elements of which rearranged 

 themselves so as to form a flattened cone ; but when strong currents 

 acted on it the ribbon was broken into fragments and only a few eggs 

 succeeded in fixing themselves to the objects introduced. When the 

 currents w^ere strong, the males were seen not only to swim nearer the 

 bottom but to expel longer ribbons of milt, which reached the bottom 

 before getting dispersed, and remained visible sometimes for ten min- 

 Tites. On gently expressing a male under the water it was never pos- 

 sible to expel ^o tine or so short portions of milt as escaped naturally, 

 but it was extremely easy expelling a ribbon from 18 inches to 3 feet in 

 length, measuring 2 lines across and 1 line in thickness. Such ribbons 

 fell to the bottom and remained almost unchanged for nearly two hours. 

 They then assumed a segmental appearance, and in about three hours 

 and a half had all but disappeared. 



Eggs were allowed to escape into a vessel containing fine sand, and 

 into another containing mud. The eggs after being fertilized under- 

 went the eLrly stages of development, but either owing to their moving 



