254 THE BIOLOGY OF THE SEA-SHORE 



has watched the spawning of Coitus huhalis in tanks at the 

 Millport Biological Station. At the end of January a female 

 was seen to deposit her eggs on a stone. They were then 

 fertilised by the male who never went more than a few inches 

 away for five or six weeks. During this time no other male 

 was tolerated in the neighbourhood of the stone. Later 

 on, a second female spawned on the same stone and the eggs 



Fig. 15. — Butterfish {Centronotus gunnellus) protecting eggs. 



were fertilised. The male was brilliantly coloured and 

 swam about excitedly during fertilisation, several times 

 darting at the female and half engulfing her head in his 

 mouth. Still later a third female laid her eggs on the same 

 stone. All three died a few days after spawning. 



In connection with the care of the ova as practised by 

 members of the genus Cottiis a case of an interesting kind has 

 been recorded by Meek (19 15), in which an immature female 

 of one species (C. huhalis)^ in a tank, assumed guard over 

 the eggs deposited by a female of a related species (C. 

 scorpius). Apart from this, and from the nest-building 

 forms which we are now about to discuss, other records of 



