4(38 Roosevelt Wild Life Aiiinils 



female (Reighard, 06, p. 11 j. At the spawning time the females may also be 

 told from males by their thicker bodies, caused by the enlarged ovaries. The 

 dark areas are also intensified, so that during sexual excitement the female may 

 appear much darker than the male (Reighard, '06, p. 11). 



During these changes the female swims slowly in a circle or floats motionless, 

 and every two or three minutes rubs her belly against the stones with a deliberate 

 bending of the body to one side and then to the other, and the male bites the 

 female frequently though gently, on the opercle, cheek and corner of the mouth. 

 This act is interpreted by Reighard (I.e., p. 20) as a stimulus for the emission of 

 the eggs. During the emission of the eggs, to quote Reighard : ''The two fish lie 

 side by side on the bottom. The female is turned partly on her side so that her 

 median plane forms an angle of about 45° with the plane of the horizon. The 

 male remains upright with his head just back of the pectoral of the female or 

 opposite it." The male is quiet during the process while the female exhibits 

 certain peculiar fin movements. The eggs are emitted at periods when the female 

 is with the male in the nest. Reighard (I.e., p. 12) noted four such periods 

 occupying from 4-6 seconds each and separated by periods of about 30 (22-45) 

 seconds. The female he observed remained two hours and twenty minutes with 

 the male in the nest, and when she departed the male pursued her, but returned to 

 care for the eggs, which meanwhile had become adherent to the bottom stones of 

 the nest (Fig. D. opp. p. 12, Reighard. '06). At all times the male stayed by 

 the nest and cared for the eggs by fanning them with his pectorals. Frequently 

 he made short excursions in circles in the immediate neighborhood as if searching 

 for enemies. Beeman ('24, p. 97) says: "The male hovers almost constantly over 

 the nest. All intruders are immediately driven away. Solicitude and care of the 

 nest, and the future development of the fry is an example of parental care and 

 protection worthy of imitation." The male readily pairs with another female that 

 may approach the nest, the eggs being deposited with those already laid. Beeman 

 (I.e.) noted that the time in which the male shows a disposition to spawn with 

 different females varies from 30 to 36 hours: and that he appears to be able to 

 fertilize the eggs of at least three females. 



A female may spawn in more than one nest (Reighard, '06, p. 12). Ordi- 

 narily a male spawns with but one female at a time, but Beeman ('24. p. 9<)) 

 describes a case of a male spawning with two females in the same nest at the 

 same time, with an alternation of the egg-laying periods, and both females leaving 

 at about the same time after their eggs had been laid. 



The male guards the eggs until they are hatched. If another fish apiiruaches 

 too near he attacks it, and, according to Reigiiard's observations, the intruding 

 fish will invariably flee (I.e., p. 74). Beeman ('24. \k qS) mentions males fighting 

 over females, and such fighting ensues generally when lliere are too few females 

 to the number of males in a breeding pond. Lydell ('04, ]). 42) also notes fighting 

 of male fish especially when nests are close together, as they are likely to be in a 

 small body of water, and gives an instance w-here a male was killed and its nest 

 destroyed by the attack of ten or nmre ntber males. 



The fry when hatched lie (in the Imtlnm fnr a lime, aiiKing the stones, ami 

 then rise and school, but soon scatter. The atteixling male remains nn duty till 



