28 



When selecting fish for brood stock, the dealer 

 should attempt to get an assortment of sizes. The male 

 fat-headed and blunt-nosed minnows are larger than the 

 females, while the male golden shiner is smaller than 

 the female. If only the largest specimens are selected, 

 the pond will have an uneven sex ratio. A 50-50 ratio 

 is preferred, but a preponderance of fem'ales is satis- 

 factory for fatheads. 



STRIPPING MINNOWS AND SUCKERS 



Suckers and minnows that spawn in running water 

 (creek chub, stone-roller, black-nosed dace) are usually 

 stripped and the eggs hatched in jars. Surber (1940) 

 provides the following instructions for the stripping 

 of suckers and minnows: 



Stripping minnows is a somewhat delicate task for a beginner 

 but the knack is soon acquired and the breeders handled without 

 serious injury. Anyone familiar with the spawning operations 

 conducted annually at one of our trout hatcheries, or field 

 stations operated for the taking of pike eggs, will appreciate 

 the similarity of the task. When the breeders are seined from 

 either pond or stream, the seine should not be lifted from the 

 water but the ripe fish, males and females, assorted from beneath 

 the surface, and only those ascertained to be ready for spawning 

 sorted out and placed in containers, all unripe fish being im- 

 mediately released for another day. If those selected for strip- 

 ping do not give their eggs and milt freely, under light pressure 

 with the thumb and forefinger, moving downward over the abdomen 

 toward the vent, they should also be released, as eggs produced 

 by force will not prove fertile. The males of both minnows and 

 suckers mature somewhat earlier in the season than the females, 

 and the bulk of them may have moved higher up stream than the 

 point at which the bulk of the females are taken, resulting in a 

 scarcity of males: both sexes would be available, however, in 

 ponds. In amy event, do not attempt to take the eggs unless a 

 ripe male is immediately available for fertilizing them. 



Hold the fish over a dampened pstn when expressing the eggs, 

 and immediately after the eggs are taken strip the milt from a 

 male over the eggs after which the mass of eggs and milt should 

 be gently stirred with the fingers so as to assure the sperm 

 reaching all the eggs in the mass secured. Four or five pairs 

 of fish may be stripped into one pan, repeating the stirring 

 after each batch of eggs and milt is added, when, after the lapse 

 of 2 or 3 minutes, water may be slowly added to the pan smd the 

 stirring continued at intervals by v^irling and rocking the pan 

 gently to and fro. After about 10 minutes the milt may be washed 



