432 



PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER FISHES. 



breaks off the young shoots with the snout, or by the movements of 

 the body, or by biting." Doubtless " he then sweeps the underlying 

 rootlets clean of bottom ooze by the fanning movements of his pec- 

 toral and caudal fins. When he excavates into sand or gravel, the 

 work is prol)ably done largely, as in teleosts, by fanning with the 

 caudal and pectoral fins. This much may be inferred from the frag- 

 mentary observations " recorded. 



A nest is made without any selected mate and sometime in advance 

 of finding or selection of one by its maker. Meanwhile the male 

 stays beside it more or less persistently. "If the female does not 

 appear, the waiting male ceases after a time to guard the empty 

 nest," and leaves. More likely, however, a seeking female, a night 





^^^^V5^' 



Fifi. 22. — Nest of Ilowtisi. After Dean. 



or two later, may find the nest and its maker. After a longer or 

 shorter play, caressing and circling about, the two come together 

 side by side, the one laying the eggs, the other fertilizing. On one 

 occasion observed by Reighard, the preliminary play lasted '' one hour 

 and twenty minutes." After the first pairing, the two fishes may 

 again play and come together as much as five or six times. 



The stock of eggs thus provided is watched over assiduously by 

 the male, but he is quite willing to admit another female to the nest, 

 and not infrequentlj'^ one enters and adds to the store. But while 

 two, or even more, females may spawn in one nest, ovij)osition being 

 intermittent, a female may also spawn in two or more nests. Under 

 such circumstances the number of eggs in any nest mav vary greatly,, 

 from a few to many thousands. In one case Reighard could only 



