2020 



The Cornell Reading Courses 



will be considered, because the cold water forms require specially con- 

 structed ponds and special methods of stocking and management, which 

 cannot be taken up here. 



Spawning habits 



Fishes deposit their eggs in a variety of places. Several species require a 

 gravel shoal, others sand or mud bottom,' and many others spawn directly 

 on vegetation. The spawning grounds of some forms are located in swiftly 

 flowing water, others in quiet water. Some fishes are nest builders and 

 protect their eggs and young; others leave them to their fate. 



The small-mouthed black bass is the principal food fish requiring a gravel 

 bed as its spawning ground. In such a bed it excavates a slight depression 

 in which are laid the eggs. The male protects both eggs and young 

 from the depredations of other animals until the young are able to care 

 for themselves. Artificial nests, which are easily removed after the 



spawning season, are generally used by fish culturists. 

 A nest consists of a wooden box with sides approxi- 

 mately two feet long and open on two adjacent 

 sides (Fig. 179). Coarse gravel is placed on the 

 bottom of the box; then enough of a finer grade is 

 added to make the bed about six inches deep. 

 These nests are distributed about the pond in 

 water varying in depth from eighteen inches to two 

 feet. There should be one nest for every male bass. 

 Sunfish, rock bass, calico bass, large-mouthed black 

 bass, and bullheads are all nest builders, but they 

 use depressions in mud or sand bottom, particularly near the roots 

 of aquatic plants. The rock bass and the bullheads, however, often 

 make their nests in the bank of the pond or under submerged rocks, 

 logs, or other objects. These latter conditions are easily met by putting 

 broken drainpipes or by anchoring logs along the margin of the pond 

 where the water is from one to two feet deep. 



Yellow perch lay their eggs in long cylindric masses, which are generally 

 wound about aquatic plants, submerged logs and brush. ■ A few small 

 cedar trees or some brush anchored here and there in water from three 

 to six feet deep will answer the purpose. 



Pike, pickerel, carp, goldfish, and golden shiners throw their eggs 

 broadcast, the last three always where the vegetation is thickest. Their 

 eggs are adhesive, and become firmly fixed to the vegetation. An abun- 

 dance of aquatic plants will supply the necessary conditions. 



Suckers spawn on gravel or sand bottom usually where there is some 

 water current. Beds of gravel and sand placed at the pond inlet may 

 furnish the necessary conditions for a limited number. 



Fig. 179. — An artificial 

 nest for bass 



