576 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
the larger fish ahead was a female and the others males, though I was 
unable to capture any of them at the time in order to confirm my 
opinion. This agrees, however, with the statement of Hessel (1881, 
p. 872), who says: 
Two or three or more of the male fish keep near the femaie; the latter swims more 
swiftly on a warm, sunny morning, keeping mostly close to the surface, followed by 
the males. 
The Germans cali this ‘“‘streichen,” or running spawning. Other 
writers agree in this matter, so I shall speak of the larger fish as the 
Carp spawning. A female followed by a number of males. 
female and the smaller ones as males, for convenience in description. As 
they goalong, the males each appear to be crowding and pushing in to get 
as near to the female as possible, those behind often seeming to nose 
under and displace the ones ahead of them. This often gives the appear- 
ance of more or less of a struggle, and is accompanied by consider- 
able splashing. After a time they come to rest, and four or five line 
up parallel to one another, as represented below, one or two males 
being each side of the female. 
They remain quietly in this way 
for a short time, perhaps one to 
two or three minutes, when one 
of them, presumably the female, 
starts forward and the others 
follow as before. While they 
are quiet, some of the fish of the 
group may not form in line with 
the others, but swim about in 
the vicinity, falling into line 
again as the procession moves 
forward. 
I was unable to tell at what 
moment the actual spawning 
took place, though I observed that at times one of the males would 
work forward beside the female until they were swimming nearly side 
by side, when he would turn somewhat on his side and bring his ventral 
side close under the female. At such a time the body of the male 
usually shook with a sort of quick vibrating movement (though this 
was not always observed to be the case), and it was then, too, that 
the most violent splashing of the water occurred. It is probably at 
this time that the eggs are laid and fertilized. Here again my 
Carp spawning. The fish at rest. 
