140 Lawrence M. Page, Michael E. Retzer, Robert A. Stiles 



and all were attached to plant material. Most were deposited on a twig 

 (3 mm diameter), but others were laid in the algae or on dead leaves 

 (Fig. 1C), and a few were laid on the log. 



Etheostoma (Oligocephalus) asprigene. — Five breeding (2 males, 3 

 females) E. asprigene, 35 to 50 mm SL, were captured in Cane Creek 

 (Saline system), Gallatin County, Illinois, on 9 April 1981 in fairly fast 

 water just below an artifical riffle (of rip-rap) in 20° C water. For much 

 of its length Cane Creek is a sluggish stream with clay and sand 

 substrates. At 0900 hr the following day the darters were transferred to 

 a 40 1 aquarium at INHS. Because the darters were captured over gravel 

 in current, and because some consubgenerics of E. asprigene (Etheos- 

 toma spectabile (Agassiz) and Etheostoma caeruleum Storer) bury their 

 eggs in gravel, the substrate provided in the aquarium was fine gravel. 

 Two large stones, one propped on one end to create a space beneath, 

 were also placed in the aquarium to provide the opportunity for 

 attachment of the eggs to their sides or to cluster or clump them on the 

 underside. 



By 1000 hr the males were courting the females, and by 1200 hr one 

 pair was spawning. Eggs were attached, 1 to 3 at a time, 15 to 25 cm 

 above the substrate, to the glass in the black corners of the metal-frame 

 aquarium. We assumed that the vertical position of the corner posts of 

 the aquarium simulated to the darters vertical shafts of vegetation, and 

 at 1300 hr a crabgrass plant (no aquatic vegetation was immediately 

 available) was rooted in the gravel. Spawning continued to be restricted 

 to the corners of the aquarium until about 1600 hr, and then one pair 

 moved to the crabgrass and began laying eggs on its blades (Fig. ID). 

 Once spawning on the grass began, no more eggs were laid in the 

 corners of the aquarium. Spawning continued for several hours, but 

 ended that day. Only one of the two males spawned, but with at least 

 two of the three females. 



The spawning act in E. asprigene occurred as described above for 

 E. chlorosomum. Although both crabgrass and aquarium corners are 

 artificial spawning substrates, it is apparent from the aquarium obser- 

 vations that E. asprigene is an egg-attaching species. Eggs were not 

 buried in the substrate, or clustered or clumped on the underside of the 

 available stone. The fact that eggs were not laid on the tops or sides of 

 the large stones suggests that in nature eggs are attached to living or 

 dead plant material. Other species of the subgenus Oligocephalus that 

 lay their eggs on plants are Etheostoma lepidum (Baird and Girard), 

 Etheostoma grahami (Girard), and Etheostoma ditrema Ramsey and 

 Suttkus (Strawn 1956; Winn 1958; Seesock et al. 1978). 



Etheostoma (Catonotus) barbouri. — Two nests of E. barbouri 

 eggs were found on the undersides of flat stones in a large slab-rock 

 pool in Pettys Fork (of Russell Creek), Adair County, Kentucky, on 29 

 May 1981. The first nest, found in water about 50 cm deep, contained 

 70 eggs (2.1 mm diameter) and was guarded by a breeding male (Fig. 

 IE). The second nest was found on a stone dragged up in a minnow 



