NATURAL HISTORY OF AMIA OALVA LINNiEUS! 79 



On one occasion the circles were thus continued until the neighborhood of the nest 

 on all sides had been explored. Usually before this happened the male returned 

 to the nest with the female, or the female returned while the male was on the nest 

 and the circling movements were then resumed. Several times the male came to 

 the surface, giving out bubbles of gas on the way. He then thrust his whole head 

 out of water and appeared to gulp in air. The female did this once. The fish 

 while circling had their mouths slightly open. Although we were near enough to 

 put our hands on them, they took no notice of us at any time. The movements of 

 the fish lasted one hour and twenty minutes. Some time before this the female 

 failed to return to the nest, but the male remained on it or near it. We then took 

 the eggs. During this operation the male remained near and several times made 

 a savage dash at my hand, once butting it with his head. The eggs were found to 

 be in early precleavage and cleavage stages. Among them were a good many eggs 

 of the original brood, showing well-developed embryos. This is clearly a case of a 

 nest used twice and containing eggs in widely different stages. The male parent is 

 probably the same for both broods. During the above spawning movements two 

 other males were seen near the nest, but neither came to it." This account is taken 

 directly from my note-book. (See also Dean, '98.) 



On three occasions Peters, the fisherman, was able to watch the spawning. 

 This occurred once at noon in bright sunlight, while he stood on a stump at the base 

 of which was the nest, and again between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. In both cases the water 

 was clear and he could see all the details of the behavior of the fish. His account 

 agrees with my own observations, but I add some details : 



"The female lies at the side of the nest. When the male approaches her 

 from the front he opens his mouth and takes hold of her snout, both upper 

 and lower jaws. He doesn't bite, but takes hold gently (Peters described this 

 as kissing). Meantime the female lies quiet, moving only her fins. The male 

 then passes his head beneath that of the female and stops thus for an instant, 

 or passes on at once. As he passes on he turns in a circle either toward the centre 

 of the nest or toward the edge. If he turns toward the centre of the nest he makes 

 a small circle and swings his tail up over the back of the female. If he turns toward 

 the edge of the nest his tail sweeps beneath the head of the female. This is kept 

 up for fifteen or twenty minutes. The male then approaches the female and lies 

 by her side, his snout a little back of her pectoral. All his fins and his tail are in 

 vibratory movement. The female lies quiet, moving her dorsal and paired fins, 

 but not her tail. She lists a trifle to one side, but the male remains upright. These 

 positions are maintained for fifteen or twenty seconds, and when the fish separate 



