FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



251 



MALE AMIA GUARDING NEST. 



The eggs hatch out in the course of about a 

 week, the length of time varying notably with the 

 temperature of the water. The larvae pass their 

 first few days deep in the nest, where they attach 

 themselves to debris by means of curious sucking 

 disks developed on the under side of their snouts. 

 In the course of another week or so, the young are 

 probably herded together by the male fish, who 

 leads his flock of young to various points in the 

 neighborhood in search of food. This peculiar 

 "nursing habit " of the male is known to continue 

 until the young fish attain a length of several inches. 

 During the later spring it becomes a common sight 

 to see the male fish accompanied by a dense swarm 

 of young, the latter appearing dark in color, and at 

 first sight tadpole-like. 



The foregoing description of the nesting of Amia 

 may perhaps best be understood by reference to the 

 accompanying figures, 1 and 2. In the first of these, in Figure 1, is shown a typical 

 nest. This is located among very dense rushes, and the water in which the eggs lie 

 is scarcely eight inches in depth. The rushes are flattened down to form .the 

 bottom of the nest and they are covered by 

 thickly deposited eggs. The present photograph 

 is taken from a nest which was quite open to 

 the sunlight. In Figure 2 is pictured a nest which 

 occurred in deeper water than the preceding. 

 This too is shown in an altogether natural con- 

 dition. Its depth is over two feet and its diameter 

 over a yard. The bottom has been largely freed 

 from rushes, these having been actually bitten 

 off by the fish. Fresh cuts were apparent on 

 the bases of rush stalks that were taken from 

 this nest. In Figure 3 a surface view of another 

 nest is shown, in which, again, the surface has 

 not been disturbed A clear space enables the sun- 

 light to enter the nest. The nest, shown in Figure 

 4, has evidently been carefully prepared; its circu- 

 lar outline was of almost mathematical accuracy. male amia guarding nest. 



