Article VIII. — Observations on the Breeding Habits of Fislies 

 at Havana, Illinois, igio and ipii. By R. E. Richardson. 



In this paper is presented a summary of all our notes of the 

 seasons of 1910 and 191 1, concerning the breeding of fishes other 

 than carp. They were made principally at Havana, Illinois, but in- 

 clude in a few cases observations made in the vicinity of Beardstown, 

 Meredosia, and Grafton. 



Paddle-fish (Polyodon spa f hula) 



The paddle-fish is now rare at Havana, but it is considerably 

 more abundant at Meredosia and other points below the La Grange 

 dam. Meredosia fishermen believe that it spawns every year in 

 Meredosia Bay. David McLean, an experienced and unusually in- 

 telligent fisherman there, says that paddle-fishes do a great deal of 

 splashing in the middle of the bay in June of each year, and that 

 they afterwards seem to leave the bay for the deep water of the 

 Illinois and Mississippi. 



Short-nosed Gar {Lepisosteus platostomus) 



Fifty eggs of short-nosed gar were found May 12, 1910, hanging 

 to grass and smartweed in Schulte's field, Havana, very near or 

 above the surface, where the depth of the water was one foot. Some 

 of them were high and dry except for such moisture as they might 

 get by capillarity. These eggs were taken into the laboratory, and 

 all hatched at the end of eight days. Freshly spent females were 

 taken with our trammel-net in the "Flag Pond" south of Lynch 

 Slough, May 19, 1910. This marsh is thickly grown up with Scirpus. 

 One female, 18 inches long, squirted eggs over the net, and they ad- 

 hered to it firmly. We took this specimen to the laboratory and 

 removed about 200 eggs from her. At 6 p. m. these eggs were 

 sprinkled over the bottom of a white enameled pan, to which they 

 adhered, and were washed with a little water containing milt squeezed 

 from the rather hard testis of a large male taken that afternoon in 

 the same place. At the end of twenty hours, examination showed 

 that all these eggs were impregnated. They began to hatch May 27, 

 toward evening, and by noon of May 28 were all hatched except for 

 a loss of about five per cent, by fungus. Apparently fresh eggs were 

 found May 8, 191 1, on trash and vegetation on the bottom, in water 



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