80 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



i^OME FURTHER Js'OTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF AMIA. 



JACOB REIGITARD. 

 (Abstract.) 



The paper referred to two disputed points with regard to the breed- 

 ing habits of Amia. 



1. In an earlier communication to the Academy the writer had stated 

 that the nests of Amia are built by the male fish at some time in ad- 

 vance of spaAvning. In the communcation referred to^ some evidence 

 was brought forward in support of the position taken, which is opposed 

 to that held by most earlier observers. During the spring of 1900 the 

 writer attempted to get experimental evidence on this point. 



A fyke-net was stretched across the mouth of a small bay in which 

 about twenty-five .\mia nests had been located in each of the years 1898 

 and 1890. The net was placed in position before the beginning of the 

 breeding season, and at a time when, presumably, there were few Amiiie 

 in the bav, or none at all. The net was so located as to shut off all 

 access to the bay and so that any fish attempting to enter would be 

 caught and kept alive. As the fish were taken in the net the males were 

 placed in the bay back of the net while the females were confined in 

 a small crate. Seventy-five males were thus jtlaced in the bay in the 

 interval between April 18th and April 28th. These males were unable 

 to escape from the bay and by April 26th had built twentj'-three nests 

 within the bay. Of these nests only five contained eggs. These five 

 nests wx^re in two groups, one group consisted of three nests in a row 

 and about five meters apart. The other group contained two nests near 

 together. The eggs in all five nests were in approximately the same 

 stage of development and must have been laid at about the same time. 

 There were very few eggs in each nest, and all the nests were after- 

 ward abandoned by the males. The small number of eggs in these five 

 nests and the fact that the nests were near one another indicates that 

 the eggs in all the nests were laid by one or two females, females prob- 

 ably present in the bay before the net was placed across its opening. 

 The fact that no eggs were laid in the remaining eighteen nests seems to 

 be conclusive evidence that these nests were built by male fish ex- 

 clusively. On April 28, fifteen females were placed in the bay behind the 

 net, but no eggs were subsequently laid in any of the unoccupied nests 

 in the bay. Probably the keeping of these fifteen females in the crate 

 had in some way prevented their afterward spawning. 



2. Dean- reports that fishermen believe that the young AmiiB together 

 with the male fish leave the nest shortly after hatching, remain for a 

 time in retirement, presumably in deep water, and after a time return 

 again to shallow water. Dean is inclined to accept this statement. The 

 fishermen believe further that during. this interval the young fish are 



1 First Report of the Michigan Academy of Science, p. 135. 



« Dean, Bashfonl '96. The Early Development of Amia — Quar. Jour. Tni. Sci., xxxviii. 



