HABITS OF CRYPTOBRANCHUS ALLEGHENIENSIS. 2$ 



She went away a short distance but repeatedly returned and was 

 repulsed in the same manner. Another small specimen (afterwards 

 found to be a male) joined in the attack, but was also seized and 

 repulsed ; once he effected an entrance, whereupon a struggle 

 ensued beneath the rock, as was shown by the water becoming 

 turbid. The intruder withdrew. 



The large female returned to the attack. She was seized with 

 a firm grip, which lasted several minutes, during which the com- 

 batants rolled over and over, and sometimes drifted with the 

 ventral surfaces uppermost. When released, the female swam 

 away for a rod or more, and did not return. 



The large male returned to the rock, but kept his head exposed, 

 as if watching for another attack. Sometimes he held his head 

 erect in an aggressive attitude like an angry snake, although it is 

 possible that this was only a movement preliminary to rising for 

 air. At my approach, he assumed this apparently threatening 

 attitude, contrary to the usual custom in such cases of remaining 

 motionless, or withdrawing under the rock. 



All the specimens concerned were captured. The rock was 

 overturned, and beneath it was found a cavity containing a large 

 mass of eggs which were immediately swept down stream by the 

 current. When collected they were found to number nearly 600, 

 m first and second cleavage stages. 



Another small male and a small Nectiirus were also found 

 under the rock, but not in the cavity containing the eggs ; they 

 were on the side most remote from that occupied by the large 

 male. Presumably their presence had escaped his attention, 

 occupied as he was with his enemies. 



The large male had a greatly swollen cloacal region, and his 

 struggles when handled caused milt to exude from the cloacal 

 opening. The stomachs of all the specimens excepting the small 

 male found under the rock (the Nectiirus was not examined) 

 were found to contain eggs; the large male contained 23 eggs, 

 the female 22, and the small male 10. In the case of the female, 

 strings of eggs protruded from the mouth and from the branchial 

 aperture. Since the female was found by examination to be a 

 spent one, and spent females at this date were rare, it is very 

 probable that the eggs were laid by her. Even while I was 



