Unlike the females of E. camurum (Mount 1959: 

 241-242j and Percina pcllata (New 1966:25-26), the 

 female of E. gracile is passive to most of the courtship 

 antics of the male. During courtship the persistent male 

 pursues the female and places himself on her back or 

 alongside her with his head above hers. When on top 

 of the female, the male rapidly vibrates his pectoral 

 fins along the female's sides, thus stroking her. 



At intervals the male leans forward, opens his mouth 

 very wide, and by bobbing his head rapidly, rubs his 

 chin tubercles over the top of the head and snout of 

 the female (Fig. 4) much as Collette (1962:144) in- 

 ferred. The male usually al.so rubs the top of the head 

 and nape of the female witii his breast. Sex recognition 

 in the species is e\idently good, for no instances of 

 male courting male were noted. 



Although the positions of the male's anal and pelvic 

 fins, all of whicii are tuberculate, were not specifically 

 noted, presumably these fins aid the male in maintaining 

 contact with the female. Collette (1965:605) reported 

 that the male of the allied E. fusiforme "beats" the nape 

 of the female with its tuberculate pelvic fins while its 

 tuberculate anal fin remains in contact with the lemale's 

 caudal peduncle. In E. gracile the "beating" seems to 

 be perfoiTned by the nontuberculate pectoral fins. 



All slinmlation by the male is tactile rather than 

 visual. No color displays are made, although the male 

 may become a little brighter, particularly in showing a 

 metallic green around the cheeks and opercles, during 

 pursuit of the female. When the female has been ade- 

 quately stimulated, she swims to a suitable object, such 

 as a leaf petiole or small twig, makes a pass over it, 

 and fastens a single egg to it. 



The male follows closely behind or above and jjasses 

 over the egg, fertilizing it. The female may make a 

 wide circle, return, and deposit another egg next to the 

 first. In this manner a number of eggs may be placed 

 on one object, usually arranged very neatly and precisely 

 (Fig. 5) aIthou<;h sometimes only one egg is deposited 

 on an object. 



The courtship and spawning of E. gracile are similar 



Fig. 5. — Eggs of Etheostoma gracile on leaf petiole. Al- 

 though neatly and precisely arranged, each egg represents a 

 separate pass over the petiole by the parents. 



to those described for the related E. fusiforme (Fletcher 

 1957:202-203; Collette 1962:170), but the courting 

 behavior is more elaborate and complex in E. gracile. 

 In the laboratory, females laid 30 - 50 eggs and 

 were not seen spawning more than once each. Whether 

 additional spawning occurs in the wild is not known. 

 No fighting or postspawning care was observed. 



Time of Spawning 



Eggs weir deposited by one female on May 24 or 

 25, by one on the morning of May 29, and by another 

 on the morning of May 30. No obsenations could be 

 made in the wild, although the appearance of approxi- 

 mately 1-week-old young ujjstrcam from the study area 

 on May 22 suggests that the eggs may iiavc been de- 

 posited as early as May 15. Spawning thus occurs in 

 late May in Dismal Creek, the exact time varying 

 from site to site and ])robably from year to year. 



Forbes & Richardson (1920:316) reported fuil-si/cc! 

 eggs in females taken on .\])ril 28. Hubbs & Cannon 



Fig. 4. — Courtship position 

 of Etheostoma gracile. At in- 

 tervals the male "yauns" 

 widely and, by bobbing his 

 head rapidly, strokes the 

 snout of the female with his 

 rhin tubercles. 



