98 Ray E. Ashton, Jr. 



prey, pausing frequently and putting its snout to the substrate. When 

 within striking distance, ca. 2 to 3 cm away, the animal would stop, 

 apparently watching the prey. At the slightest movement the mudpuppy 

 would engulf the prey with a rapid pharyngeal intake similar to that 

 described in Gyrinophilus (Bishop 1943; Cooper and Cooper 1968). A 4 

 cm earthworm or 3 cm fish would be totally and instantly engulfed, then 

 swallowed. Larger prey were often regurgitated and re-swallowed two or 

 more times before they were ingested whole. When larger prey was 

 taken, the mudpuppy would return to its retreat before regurgitating 

 and swallowing occurred. Fish were swallowed tail first. There was no 

 indication that the mudpuppies had difficulty with fin spines or the 

 sharp operculum of Etheostoma. The largest Notropis swallowed was 

 ca. 4 cm long. Fish were captured at night as they settled on the bottom. 

 The mudpuppy would stalk the intended prey, "freezing" each time the 

 fish moved, until it was within striking distance. 



Courtship. — Courtship was observed only once, on 8 March 1979. 

 The female (146 mm SVL) had been in captivity three months. The male 

 (106 mm SVL) was released into the tank within two hours of capture. 

 Within twenty minutes after the male was introduced courtship was in pro- 

 gress. Initial contact between the two was not observed, but apparently 

 began at the female's retreat rock. The courtship took place within a 1 

 m 2 area and continued for nearly an hour. The female was first observed 

 crawling slowly over the substrate with the male following ca. 2 to 4 cm 

 from her tail. The male would frequently touch its snout to the surface. 

 When the female stopped moving, the male moved forward and positi- 

 oned its snout just behind the rear leg of the female. During this initial 

 pursuit the female's gills were distinctly flared while the male's were held 

 close to the neck (Fig. 1). 



The female remained motionless, and the male moved across her 

 body at the base of the tail. Once their bodies were parallel, the male 

 began to stroke or rub the female with his chin. Stroking began on the 

 top of the head, and the male moved his chin posteriorly along the 

 female's neck and mid-dorsum, then back to the head. This stroking 

 movement occurred twelve times in five minutes. Each time the male's 

 chin came into contact with her neck or head, the female would raise 

 her head from a position parallel to the substrate to an angle of 30 

 degrees or more; her body was held rigid. At this point the gills of both 

 animals were flared and rapidly pulsating (Fig. 2). The entire chin- 

 rubbing phase lasted a total of 18 minutes with actual rubbing occurring 

 sporadically at intervals of a minute or more. The stroke pattern 

 shortened in length to where the male's chin moved from first behind 

 the head onto the neck region. During this and subsequent phases, the 

 female remained motionless and kept her head slightly erect. 



