The nests are fashioned with great care by the female, sand and silt being 
fanned out from between the pebbles by the fins, and other objects removed by 
the mouth ; or ifthe nests are on muddy ground, as is occasionally the case, they 
may be paved with sticks and leaves. The male then joins the female, and bites 
and presses out the roe (which may amount to a quarter of her weight) while she 
lies on her side, an operation lasting two or three days. Thereafter the male 
scatters the milt over the eggs, and both parents stay by the nest preventing the 
approach of spawn-eaters during the eight to ten days required for the hatching 
process, and subsequently protect the fry, covering the nest and aerating the 
water in it with their fins for the three or four days during which the young 
remain in the nest before making off for the deep water. In spite of the vigi- 
lance of the parents many depredators, such as frogs and sunfish, get opportunities 
of making havoc with the fry. 
By the end of the first year the fish are four inches long, and are mature at 
two years, when they measure from eight to twelve inches in length, but spawn 
much later than older individuals. They gain about a pound a year in weight 
thereafter, till they reach the limit of weight of the adult, which is from six to 
eight pounds for the large-mouthed species and four to five for the small- 
mouthed. 
Of the other members of the same family there may be mentioned. the 
Grass or Calico Bass, (Pomoxys sparoides), the Rock Bass or Red Eye (A m/loplites 
rupestris), and the common Sunfish, (Lepomis gibbosus.) 
The first of these is distinguished by its very long anal fin, (the formula is 
D. VII or VIII, 15; A. VI, 17 or 18,) and occurs in quiet, clear ponds, with 
grassy bottoms to which its colour is assimilated. It attains occasionally a weight 
of two pounds, but is not such a game fish as the preceding. The remaining 
species are of smaller size, the Rock Bass differing from the Sunfish in its larger 
toothed mouth, and in having six instead of three anal spines. 
All the Centrarchidz spawn in the spring like the Bass, and seem to have 
the same habits of looking after the fry. There appear to be four or five species 
of Sunfish (Lepomis) within the Province, but their distribution is not well 
understood. 
Unlike the preceding families the SERRANID constitute a characteristically 
marine group, and there are only a few forms which live in brackish or fresh 
water. Both of the species which have been reported from Ontario belong to 
the genus Roccus, viz., the Striped Bass, (rock-fish of the Atlantic coast) Roceus 
lineatus, and the White Bass, Roceus chrysops, an exclusively fresh-water form. 
The former can hardly be regarded as a native of the Province ; it ascends 
the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec, and has been taken at the mouth of the 
Niagara River, but is essentially a brackish water form, and is regarded as the 
best marine game-fish. The latter is, on the other hand, common in the Great 
Lake Region, and attains a weight of from one to three pounds. They were 
formerly stiilcommoner in Lake Erie, so as to be of commercial value and not only 
ot interest to the sportsman ; their disappearance is probably due to the multipli- 
cation of pound-nets, but is not regretted by fishermen as they were very de- 
structive to whitefish spawn. 
Si ‘eS 3, 
ae ENE US ers 
