455 



The nests are fashioned with great care by the female, sand and silt being 

 fanned out from between the pebbles by the fins, and other objects removed by 

 the mouth ; or if the nests are on muddy ground, as is occasionally the case, they 

 may be paved with sticks and leaves. ' The male then joins the female, and bites 

 and presses out the roe (which may amount to a quarter of her weight) while she 

 lies on her side, an operation lasting two or three days. Thereafter the male 

 scatters the milt over the eggs, and both parents stay by the nest preventing the 

 approach of spawn-eaters during the eight to ten days required for the hatching 

 process, and subsequently protect the fry, covering the nest and aerating the 

 water in it with their fins for the three or four days during which the young 

 remain in the nest before making off for the deep water. In spite of the vigi- 

 lance of the parents many depredators, such as frogs and sunfish, get opportunities 

 of making havoc with the fry. 



By the end of the first year the fish are four inches long, and are mature at 

 two years, when they measure from eight to twelve inches in length, but spawn 

 much later than older individuals. They gain about a pound a year in weight 

 thereafter, till they reach the limit of weight of the adult, which is from six to 

 eight pounds for the large-mouthed species and four to five for the small- 

 mouthed. 



Of the other members of the same family there may be mentioned the 

 Grass or Calico Bass, (Pomoxys sparoides), the Rock Bass or Red Eye (Amhloplites 

 rupestris), and the common Sunfish, (Lepomis gibbosus.) 



The first of these is distinguished by its very long anal fin, (the formula is 

 D. VII or VIII, 15 ; A. VI, 17 or 18,) and occurs in quiet, clear ponds, with 

 grassy bottoms to which its colour is assimilated,. It attains occasionally a weight 

 of two pounds, but is not such a game fish as the preceding. The remaining 

 species are of smaller size, the Rock Bass differing from the Sunfish in its larger 

 toothed mouth, and in having six instead of three anal spines. 



All the Centrarchidse spawn in the spring like the Bass, and seem to have 

 the samo habits of looking after the fry. There appear to be four or five species 

 of Sunfish (Lepomis) within the Province, but their distribution is not well 

 understood. 



Unlike the preceding families the SERRANID^E constitute a characteristically 

 marine group, and there are only a few forms which live in brackish or fresh 

 water. Both of the species which have been reported from- Ontario belong to 

 the genus Roccus, viz., the Striped Bass, (rock-fish of the Atlantic coast) Roccus 

 lineatiJis, and the White Bass, Roccus chrysops, an exclusively fresh-water form. 



The former can hardly be regarded as a native of the Province ; it ascends 

 the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec, and has been taken at the mouth of the 

 Niagara River, but is essentially a brackish water form, and is regarded as the 

 best marine game-fish. The latter is, on the other hand, common in the Great 

 Lake Region, and attains a weight of from one to three pounds. They were 

 formerly still commoner in Lake Erie, so as to be of commercial value and not only 

 of interest to the sportsman ; their disappearance is probably due to the multipli- 

 cation of pound-nets, but is not regretted by fishermen as they were very de- 

 structive to whitefish spawn. 



