200 BREEDING GOLDFISHES 



ers have been selected they should be placed together by themselves. If 

 possible there should be three males to one female. This insures a higher 

 percentage of fertilized eggs than if only one male is used. If the definite 

 results of a certain cross are wanted, then use only one male. A second 

 female not spawning should never be present, as she will devour the eggs. 



Papier mache tubs are very nice for spawning in, but seasoned wood 

 tubs or tanks will do. The aquarium may be used, or the spawning net 

 shown on page 124. Aquarium should be at least 10-gallon size. 



Should there be no spawn after the fishes have been together several 

 days, remove about a quarter of the water daily and replace by fresh, 

 slightly cooler water. This is stimulating. Some intimation of an ap- 

 proaching spawning may be had by the fact that for several days before 

 the spawning takes place the males occasionally "drive" the ripe female. 

 This usually increases in intensity the evening before, and when spawn- 

 ing is in full swing it develops into a wild chase punctuated by short 

 periods of rest. So vigorous is the swimming at this time that fish with 

 large fin development generally have their fins torn and frayed. Males 

 with shorter caudal fins (tails) are the more rapid swimmers and their 

 fins become less torn. As these are also usually the young, vigorous males, 

 they are to be preferred for breeding purposes. Spawning usually starts 

 at daybreak and lasts till mid-afternoon. It may be repeated every few 

 weeks until the first of August, but the first spawn of the season is the 

 largest. 



Goldfishes deposit their eggs preferably on floating aquatic plants, 

 and these should be freely provided (first making sure they contain no 

 snails or other enemies to fish eggs). The best are water hyacinths (with 

 as large roots as possible) and bunches of myriophyllum. The female will 

 swim over the plants and drop the eggs. As they fall the male passes 

 over and fertilizes them by the ejection of spermatic fluid. The eggs 

 are of a mucilaginous character and adhere where they touch. This egg 

 adhesiveness is one of Nature's interesting little secrets. Man has never 

 succeeded in making a substance that will "take hold" under water and 

 yet not dissolve. 



The eggs are about 1-16 of an inch in diameter and are at first of a 

 pale amber hue, becoming still paler and more difficult to see on the 

 second and third days. The infertile eggs turn white on the second day 

 and soon become the centre of a ball of fungus. Their comparative prom- 

 inence soon convinces the beginner that most of the eggs are bad. He is 

 pleasantly surprised, as a rule, to see what a large number hatch after 

 all. The fish drops from ten to twenty eggs at a time, and after short 

 intermissions repeats the operation. A complete spawning of a medium- 

 sized female runs from five hundred to one thousand eggs. Large fish not 



