D< 



6 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



the lai'ger fish ahead was a female and the others males, though 1 was 

 unable to capture any of them at the time in order to confirm my 

 opinion. This agrees, however, with the statement of Hessei (1881, 

 p. 872), who says: 



Two or three or more of the male fish keep near the female; the latter swims more 

 swiftly on a warm, sunny morning, keeping mostly close to the surface, followed l)y 

 the males. 



The Germans call this "streichen,-'' or running spawning. Other 

 winters agree in this matter, so I shall speak of the larger fish as the 



Carp spawning. A female followed by a number of males. 



female and the smaller ones as males, for convenience in description. As 

 thc3' go along, the males each appear to be crowding and pushing in to get 

 as near to the female as possible, those behind often seeming to nose 

 under and displace the ones ahead of them. This often gives the appear- 

 ance of more or less of a struggle, and is accompanied by consider- 

 able splashing. After a time they come to rest, and four or five line 

 up parallel to one another, as represented below, one or two males 



being each side of the female. 

 The}^ remain quietly in this way 

 for a short time, perhaps one to 

 two or three minutes, when one 

 of them, presumably the female, 

 starts forward and the others 

 follow as before. While they 

 are quiet, some of the fish of the 

 group ma}" not form in line with 

 the others, but swim about in 

 the vicinity, falling into line 

 again as the procession moves 

 forward. 



I was unable to tell at what 

 moment the actual spawning 

 took place, though I observed that at times one of the males would 

 work forward beside the female until the}' were swimming nearly side 

 by side, when he would turn somewhat on his side and bring his ventral 

 side close under the female. At such a time the body of the male 

 usual I}" shook with a sort of quick vibrating movement (though this 

 was not always observed to he the case), and it was then, too, that 

 the most violent splashing of the water occurred. It is pro])abl3" at 

 this time that the eggs are laid and fertilized. Here again my 



Carp spawning. The fish at rest. 



