Chapt. XXV. Spawning. Food of Fishes. 367 



\ M thaear of &i Iba. contained 13,219 eggs, which is 2,11.'. to the pound. 



II ; „ 10,587 „ '.Ml 



6 ., '.Mil „ i.:,:i 



18,440 ,. 2,lfi3 



3 J .. 4,350 „ 1,848 



5 „ 8,084 „ 1,206 



Average . . . . . . . . 1,510 



85. It may 1"- interesting to know that hero as elsewhere some 

 fish 1 m ili I nests among the rushes at the margin of the water, 



deposit their eggs therein and keep guard over 

 mS *'"■«» lik " : > stickleback. Others exhibit pa- 



rental affection, swimming always close below 

 their offspring and attacking everything that comes near them. 



This they do till the fry are about three inches 



Ophioceph 



ttria/us. long, when they turn on ami eat them them- 



H1 ,„.f,';. selves if they do not disperse. Others, again, 



aeeplalut spawn in the sand, in the gravel and even on 



dipUyramme. 



rock. But all that lias been ascertained will 



be found particularized against the different fish in column 11 



of the list of fishes in Appendix G. An 



Para. 91. 



attempt to discover the period of incuba- 

 tion is also noticed below. 



Food of Fish. s. 



86. What has been ascertained of the food of different fishes is 

 also shown in the accompanying table. This has been gathered, 

 not from hearsay, but from the contents of the intestines. This is 

 interesting as showing the sustenance necessary for their increase 

 and their influence on each other. Some fish seem to be almost 

 entirely herbivorous, and they tind an ample supply of freshwater 

 weeds * on all the rocks in the rivers. Others prey on their 

 brethren, and others again are omnivorous, and none more so than 



the Mahseer. For the purposes of this report 



Appendix F. 



the fish are classed in the accompanying tahle 



with reference to their food, and consequent influence on each 



other. 



87. The teeth in the throat of the Mahseer seem unusually 



• Six different sorts of podotfemacetv !ia\ .■ 1 n gathered in flower and seed, but 



the nnmes of only two of them have been ascertained. These ore Itoriopti* hookeri- 



ana and Dalztllia pedunculoia. 



