of 
The purple-striped gudgeons in my 
aquarium, on which the following notes 
are based, are about five inches long. 
They have become the parents of be- 
tween one thousand and two thousand 
children during the breeding season of 
1913-1914. ‘They first bred in 1912, and 
were then three years old. There was 
but one spawning in that year, and as a 
result of it, I have sixteen yearlings from 
one and one-half to two inches in length. 
These have all the color markings of the 
adult fish, though the males are some- 
what lighter in color than the females. 
In October, 1913, the coloration of a 
pair of my gudgeons became intensified, 
which indicated approaching fertility. 
Accordingly, they were placed in an 
aquarium which had been prepared for 
them during the previous autumn, and 
judiciously fed, but otherwise undis- 
turbed. The tank was of glass, with 
perpendicular sides, and measured thir- 
teen by fourteen inches on the surface of 
the water, which was thirteen inches 
deep. To make conditions as natural as 
possible it was well supplied with water- 
weeds and pond-snails, and the anchorage 
for the plants was composed of shell-grit, 
sand and humus, no clayey matter being 
introduced . 
Early in the breeding season (15th No- 
vember) the female deposited her first 
batch of eggs on the glass side of the 
aquarium, and others again on the 18th 
and 27th of December. In the following 
month, January, 1914, she spawned on 
the 7th, 17th and 30th, and now in March 
she has her tenth lot of eggs. 
October the male has been tending the 
Since lasr 
6 a eh a SO ewes 
Breeding Habits of 
Krefftius adspersus, the Purple-striped Gudgeon 
l ALBERT GALE 
Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 
fe 
RITES a IS 0h 0 8 OE ES Oh OR a SE OE SE 
ad eos Ose, 
various batches of eggs for ninety days. 
The following observations are based 
on one spawning only, that of February 
17th. The details were obtained twice 
each day, at 9 A. M. and 9 P. M., with 
occasional intermediate visits. ‘The even- 
ing visits were most instructive, being 
made by the light of two or three candles 
placed on the side of the aquarium Oppo- 
site that on which the eggs were depos- 
ited, which clearly illuminated them, as 
well as the movements of the parent 
fishes. 
On the 15th and 16th, the male made 
preparations for the deposition of the ova 
by removing confervoid growths and all 
foreign matter from the selected site. 
These he carefuly cleared away with his 
mouth. Meanwhile the female lurked in 
the weeds on the far side of the aqua- 
rium. At g A. M. on the 16th she vis- 
ited and inspected the site. Approving 
of it, she placed herself in a horizontal 
position by it, her abdomen lying at an 
angle of about 45 degrees, so that the 
genital papilla had free play to eject the 
ova on to the glass. Her position also 
gave me a clear view of her every move- 
ment. When his mate had settled her- 
self, the male drew near, and took up a 
position about one inch above her. His 
head pointed in the opposite direction to 
hers, and his abdomen lay at right angles 
to the prepared site; his genital papilla 
was immediately above that of the 
female. 
On the morning of the 17th, the first 
ovum was emitted, and immediately 
afterwards, two others followed. ‘These 
were conjoined by a fine hair-like film, 
