192 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



and crowd her close on the shore, at the same time bending his 

 body in a somewhat undulated fashion with the brilliant dorsal 

 fin thrown over her back, and then with a rapid flapping of his 

 tail, which produces a rippling sound in the water, the milt is 

 apparently expelled. This operation lasts but several seconds, 

 and sometimes the participants find themselves washed on shore, 

 w^hen there is a \ery hurried attempt to get back into the water. 

 All along these banks we could hear these little ripplings and see 

 the fish wriggling back into the water. Sometimes copulation 

 would take place entirely under the water on the little shoals. It 

 did not appear that it was always necessary for these animals to 

 have a projection or some support of a similar nature from the 

 bottom to enable them to successfully accomplish their purpose. 

 In fact, they would frequently fasten alongside one another on a 

 perfectly smooth bottom, in which case the male would apparently 

 crowd the female down. I was unable to determine the manner 

 of coupling, if such takes place, of the organs of generation.- 

 Examples freshly caught would produce milt or ova, as the sex 

 of the individual may be, if they were forced out by pressure on 

 the abdomen with the thumb. The milt was purely white and 

 milky. The ova was about the size of number 4 shot, translucent, 

 and of a very pale brownish. No male organ of generation was 

 noted. The female has the oviduct extending along the front of 

 the anal fin nearly to its lower margin, and the ova could be 

 forced through it only in regular sequence. When in the water 

 the two sexes are readily recognized, as they are very distinctly 

 marked. The males are blackish, and are decidedly black in 

 contrast alongside the pale brownish females. Rather small 

 males, of about 2 inches in length, display the dark and brilliant 

 colors of the older ones. The females were frequently seen swim- 

 ming to and fro over the shallows, suddenly inclining their bodies 

 somewhat on the side so that their shining whitish abdomens may 

 be readily seen. I did not determine whether the eggs were laid 

 simply awaiting the initiative of the male. The intercourse 

 between the sexes was in some cases I noted confined to a single 

 pair, though mostly it seemed to be promiscuous. In fact, these 

 animals seemed to have nearly unlimited powers of intercourse. 



