Breeding Chanchito 



Frank L. Tappan 

 Minneapolis, Minnesota 



Efirly last S))nng I was fortunate- in 

 ol)taining a pair of little fellows bartly 

 two and one-half inches long, so small 

 that I feared they were too young to 

 breed. I placed them into a 30-gal- 

 lon aquarium. ^Vt one end of the 

 aquarium I placed a small terra cotta 

 castle, with a large opening at the 

 base. The (ish did not seem to agree 

 very well, and after several domestic 

 disputes apparently sej)arated, the 

 male taking possession of the castle, 

 while the female was usually to be 

 found in the shade of a group of 

 sagittaria at the further end of the 

 aquarium. One day I noticed that 

 the fish had apparintly made up 

 and were busy swimming thru and 

 around tlie castle, inspecting every part of 

 it. Then began the labor of removing the 

 sand from the inside of the castle which 

 took several days, the fish had a peculiar 

 method of throwing the sand out with tlieir 

 fins and tails, with a sort of quivering 

 motion not unlike that of a hen dusting 

 herself. Finally the last of the sand which 

 they were unable to remove in this manner 

 was taken up in tlieir mouths and carried 

 to a distance and deposited in a licaj). 



Early one morning (July 13th), I dis- 

 coverd tliat they had s])awnd. the eggs, 

 glistening like little white pearls, were 

 stuck or glued on the inside edge of the 

 castle. I'rom now on both fish were assid- 

 uous in their care and attention to the eggs 

 and voung. One- of the fish was constantly 

 hovering over the eggs fanning lliein with 

 his ])ectoral fins and causing a current of 

 water to How over them, when one fish be- 

 came tiri'd tile other instantly took its ])lac(.'. 



U})on first ])lacing the fish in the acjua- 

 rium, the water was ke])t at a dejjth of 

 eight inches, after the fish had spawned, 

 the depth of w%atcr was reduced to six 

 inches, and kept at tliat depth. 



CHANCHITO— 7/e/o/rtr.'<«A—Jenyns 

 After Drawing by Schlawjinski 



Early on the morning of the fifth day 

 1 found one of the old fish in the castle as 

 usual, but not a trace of eggs or young, and 

 my first thought was that the ])arent had 

 destroyed them. My attention was at- 

 tracted by the queer actions of one of the 

 fish -it the further end of the a(|iiarium, 

 where the day before I had noticed him ex- 

 cavating a dee]) hole at the base of one of 

 the water plants, the fish was turning side- 

 ways and j)eering into the holi- with first 

 one eye thi'ii with the other, in a comical 

 manner. \\'itli the aid of a reading glass 

 I discoverd a black mass ot liltle wriggling 

 fishes in the bottom of the hole. 'I'he liltle 

 C'hanchitos kepi up a eoiistaiil wriggling 

 motion but were unable to swim, and seemd 

 to be helpless and entirely de])cndeiit upon 

 the parent fish for care and protection. 

 While one of the ))art'nt fish was constanlly 

 guarding the little tellows the other fish 

 was busily engaged in excavating d<'cp 

 holes in the sand in difitreut parts of tlu- 

 acjiiarium, and once or twice a day the 

 little fishes were tranferred to a new loca- 

 tion, the old fish carrying several ol" them 

 at a time in their mouths like cats carrying 

 their kittens. 



