62 David J. DeMont 



been guarding the nest remained absent during golden shiner spawning 

 but returned shortly after their activity had ceased several minutes later. 

 No antagonistic behavior of male bluegills toward golden shiners was 

 observed, although threats and attacks directed at juvenile bluegills and 

 other nesting males were frequent. 



On 17 May 1980, a sample of the substrate from the nest in which 

 shiners had spawned was carefully transferred to a petri dish filled with 

 pond water for examination in the laboratory. This material (fibrous 

 roots of shoreline vegetation) contained 71 adhesive eggs. Twenty-four 

 eggs were dead and cove/ed with fungus while the remaining forty-seven 

 contained developing embryos. Forty-five larvae hatched from the vi- 

 able eggs during the next two days. Twenty-four (53%) were golden shin- 

 ers and the remainder were Lepomis sp. (presumably bluegills since a 

 male bluegill had been guarding the nest). Dead eggs were not 

 identifiable. 



The environment provided by bluegill nests might be expected to 

 reduce egg and early larval mortality of golden shiners. The clean sub- 

 strate would help insure adhesion of the eggs and reduce the chance of 

 their being lost in pond sediments. Ideal conditions for golden shiner 

 spawning obtain when rising water levels in spring inundate shoreline 

 vegetation. The stems and leaves of this vegetation provide clean sub- 

 strate for the adhesive eggs (Guidice et al. 1981). In Yates Pond the 

 surface level falls in spring. The only available spawning substrate is 

 provided by aquatic macrophytes such as smartweed and spatterdock, 

 Nuphar luteum, but these are usually heavily encrusted with periphyton 

 and microinvertebrates. Therefore, the clean substrate in the centrarchid 

 nests would be expected to be attractive to spawning golden shiners. 



Parental care by the male bluegill would also provide advantages to 

 the golden shiner eggs and prolarvae by protecting them from predators 

 and insuring a nearly constant supply of aerated water. The obser- 

 vations of Kramer and Smith (1960) in Lake George, Minnesota, sup- 

 port the contention that these expected benefits are real. They found 

 that golden shiner reproduction was most successful in successful bass 

 nests. In bass nests that had been prepared but unused, golden shiner 

 eggs disappeared shortly after spawning. Also, golden shiner young-of- 

 the-year were more abundant in summer bag-seine catches in Lake 

 George in years in which the percentage of bass nests used by golden 

 shiner adults was greatest. 



It would be interesting to know what effects this spawning behavior 

 has on the reproductive success of centrarchids. In Yates Pond, larval 

 and early juvenile bluegills have been frequently observed schooling 

 with golden shiners of similar size. This activity could afford the bluegill 

 some protection from predators. On the other hand, increased egg den- 



