780 
FOREST AND STREAM. [May 18. 1907. 
until hatched. But we now know that many 
marine species deposit their eggs at the sur¬ 
face of the ocean, where they float until in¬ 
cubation is complete. In 1864, Prof. G. O. 
Sars, of Norway, first discovered that the eggs 
of the codfish floated at the surface. Since 
then the investigations of Prof. Alexander 
Agassiz and Mr. John Ryder have added 
largely to our knowledge of floating eggs. 
Among the fishes which produce floating eggs 
may be mentioned the cod, mackerel, bonito, 
cpsk, haddock, many of the flounders, etc. 
A very curious and interesting contrivance 
for causing eggs to float at the surface which 
otherwise would sink to the bottom, is that re¬ 
sorted to by the beautiful paradise fish of 
China. The male fish constructs a floating- 
raft by expelling from his mouth bubbles of 
air coated with a fatty secretion, which, col¬ 
lecting on the surface, cling together until a 
raft of viscid scum several inches in extent is 
formed. After the eggs of the female are de¬ 
posited and fertilized on the bottom in the 
usual manner, the male collects them in his 
month and ejects them into this frothy re¬ 
ceptacle, which he keeps in constant repair, 
and preserves its buoyancy by additional fatty 
bubbles until the young are hatched, which 
occurs in two or three days. Another method 
for floating the eggs is that of the lophius, or 
goosefish. The eggs, numbering some 50,000, are 
inclosed in a ribbon-shaped, gelatinous mass 
about a foot wide and forty feet in length, 
which floats at the surface until the eggs are 
hatched. 
Among the fishes which produce adhesive 
eggs are the little black-head minnow ( Pime - 
phales promelas), and the goldfish. The male 
blackhead deposits the fecundated eggs singly 
upon the underside of leaves of water-plants, 
and watches them unceasingly until hatched. 
The eggs of the goldfish are deposited singly 
upon the weeds and mosses in a similar man¬ 
ner by the male fish. 
The eggs of the yellow perch, are held to¬ 
gether in narrow strips or ribbons of a glu¬ 
tinous character. Adhesive eggs of other 
species as the black bass, sunfish, catfishes, etc., 
are deposited in masses in shallow nests or de¬ 
pressions on the bottom, and still other species 
deposit their spawn in variously shaped adhesive 
masses upon water-plants, roots and submerged 
obj ects. 
The eggs of the myxine or hag are oval in 
shape, enveloped in horny cases and provided 
at each end with short filaments terminating- 
in triple hooks, by which they attach them¬ 
selves to each other, and probably to foreign 
objects. 
Perhaps the most curious and bizarre of all 
fish eggs are those of the oviparous sharks 
and rays, which are quadrangular horny cap¬ 
sules or cases, two or three inches in length, 
with long filaments at the corners, which coil 
about seaweeds and other objects. These 
horny cases, in the Port Jackson shark of the 
Pacific, are twisted into a spiral form. 
In some of the flying fishes the eggs are en¬ 
tirely covered with delicate filaments, which 
entwine with each other, and they are thus 
held together in considerable masses; and in a 
similar way the eggs of the gudgeon (Menidia 
notata), of the Chesapeake Bay, are held together, 
there being four long and slender threads at¬ 
tached to one side of each egg. 
The male stickleback builds a cunning, basket¬ 
like nest between the upright stems of water 
plants, into which he induces his several wives 
to deposit their eggs, which he watches until 
hatched. Some of the fishes of the Gulf Stream, 
notably the Antennarius, build a kind of nest 
among the floating seaweed; also the snakehead 
fish (Opkiocephalus ), of India, and a small cat¬ 
fish ( Callichthys ), of South America, construct 
nests of bits ofi water weeds, in which the eggs 
are deposited and carefully tended by the male 
fish. 
Among the fishes which carry the eggs in var¬ 
ious parts of their bodies until hatched may be 
mentioned the marine catfish ( Galeichthys felis ), 
of our southern coasts. The female deposits in 
a slight depression in the sand from ten to 
twenty yellowish-white eggs as large as ordinary 
grapes, which are fertilized by the male and then 
taken into his mouth and placed between the 
leaves of the gills, where he retains them until 
the young are hatched and able to take care of 
themselves. At this time his pharynx is enor¬ 
mously distended, presenting a very curious and 
comical appearance. 
Louis Agassiz, during his journey up the 
Amazon, discovered a species that incubated its 
eggs in the mouth, and Dr. Lortet relates some 
very interesting observations on the similar 
propagation of a spepies ( Tilapia simoms), be¬ 
longing to Lake Tiberius in Palestine. The fe¬ 
male deposits about two hundred eggs in a 
shallow excavation, which are first fecundated 
by the male and then taken into his mouth,' one 
after ihe other, where they are retained in the 
buccal cavity, distending the cheeks in an ex¬ 
traordinary manner. The eggs hatch in several 
days, when the young fishes are pressed one 
against the other like the grains of a ripe pome¬ 
granate. The mouth of the father becomes so 
distended that his jaws cannot meet, presenting 
a very strange appearance. Some of the young 
continue to develop among the folds of the gills, 
others have their heads turned toward the mouth 
of the parent and do not quit the sheltering 
cavity till they are about four inches long. 
Prof. Jefferies Wyman described a singular 
contrivance of a species of armored catfish 
(Aspredo) , of South America. The male fish 
is provided, during the breeding season, with a 
numerous series of little stalks on the under sur¬ 
face of the abdomen, upon which the eggs are 
received and carried until hatched. 
In the well known sea-horse ( Hippocampus ) 
a pouch is developed in the male, under the tail, 
in which the eggs are placed and finally hatched, 
the young escaping through a small opening in 
the anterior part of the pouch. In the pipefish 
(Siphostoma ) a similar pouch is developed in 
the male for the same purpose, but is formed by 
a fold of the skin from each side of the trunk 
and tail, the free margins being united in the 
median line. In another allied fish ( Solenos - 
toma) the inner borders of the ventral fins of 
the male unite with the skin of the body and 
form a large pouch for the reception of the eggs, 
where they are retained by numerous filaments 
arranged along the ventral rays. 
In another queer species, called the lumpsucker 
(Cyclopterus lumpus ), the male digs a pit be¬ 
tween the stones of the bottom of shallow por¬ 
tions of the sea in which the female deposits 
several hundred thousands of eggs, which are 
tenderly watched over by the male until they are 
hatched, when the young attach themselves by 
their suckers to the body of the male, who carries 
them about with him until they are able to care 
for themselves. 
It is worthy of notice that, in every instance 
mentioned of the eggs being guarded and cared 
for, or transported in various receptacles on the 
body of the parent, it is the male fish that per¬ 
forms these various duties. The part of the fe¬ 
male in the reproduction of its species seems to 
end with the deposition of the eggs. In this 
connection it is refreshing, if not amusing, to 
note the fact that within the past year or two 
there have appeared articles in various periodi¬ 
cals, wherein certain persons have been named 
as having "discovered” that it is the male black 
bass that builds the nest and cares for the eggs 
and young. That it is always the male who 
attends and protects the eggs and young fish is 
a fact that has been known to naturalists for a 
century at least. James A. Henshall, 
U. S- Bureau of Fisheries. 
Fly Magnet and Disgorger. 
An English inventor has brought out a little 
device intended to be carried by the angler in 
his kit. It is made of steel and is about four 
inches long. One end is widened, flattened and 
split for a quarter-inch, for use as a disgorger, 
while the other end is pointed and flattened, so 
that the eyes of hooks that have been clogged 
with shellac may be cleared. The point also 
serves as a magnet for picking up small eyed 
flies. 
New England Angling and Anglers 
Boston, Mass., May 11.— Editor Forest an 
Stream: During the past week eastern an 
southern Maine waters have been clearing of ic 
in rapid succession. Rangeley, Moosehead an 
the Square Lake waters are still hard and las 
but the two former are confidently expected t 
clear by May 15, and the latter by the 20ti 
Cobbossecontee, the Belgrade lakes, Maran; 
cook, Sebec, Tunk Pond, Cathance, Auburn ai 
Green lakes are open. The ice left Grand Lai 
May 6, and to all these waters parties have gon 
From many localities in Maine and New Ham; 
shire reports of good catches are coming 
and the outlook seems promising. 
The salmon fishing along the Atlantic coa 
starts in the Penobscot River. Then the No 
Scotia fishing begins, and salmon anglers a 
now leaving for the provinces. Col. Samuel . 
Decker, of Cambridge, and Robert Burlon, 
Boston, left on May 10 for the Clyde Riv 
district in Nova Scotia. They have fished t 
gether for many years. They have been goii 
to Newfoundland for the last four seasons, bj 
determined to try Nova Scotia this time t 
a change. Salmon and sea trout fishing 
usually excellent in the region they are to vis 
Another angler who thoroughly knows No 
Scotia fishing is Mr. H. B. May, of Needhai 
Accompanied by his niece, he leaves next we 
for the Kempville district, which, he. sa. 
affords as good fishing as can be found in t 
province. Mr. May spent nearly three mont 
in this region last year and had the best of spi 
with both trout and salmon. 
C. F. Danforth and E. M. Gilmore have ji 
returned from a trout fishing trip in New Ham 
shire. Out of Jenness Brook Mr. Gihnc 
landed twenty trout in one morning, and frc; 
Pine River the next day he took twenty-tv 
Mr. Danforth’s catch, I understand, was fu 
as large. 
Mr. W. E. Baldwin, of Arlington, has ji 
returned home from a three months’ trip 
Florida. He fished in the vicinity of Fc 
Myers and expresses himself as more th 
pleased with results. In one day he landed fc 
tarpon ranging from 40 to 80 pounds. As so 
as the present amazingly bad New Engla 
weather settles into something decent, 1\ 
Baldwin will leave for Maine to spend a cou 
of months fishing for trout and salmon in 
Rangeley and Belgrade lakes districts. Anotli 
Boston man recently home from Florida 
Mr. J. K. Souther. He has fished the neiglib 
hood of Altamonte Springs for many yea 
Big-mouth bass fishing is his favorite sport 
southern waters, and he has kept at it per: 
tently for a long time. He, too, is waiting 
better weather to leave for the White Mo 
tains, where he will spend several weeks w 
his friend, Former Mayor Perry, of Somervi 
Mass., fishing the Wildcat and other fruii 
mountain streams. 
The "Gleason Party,” consisting of F. E. 
Goodwin, of Boston; Herbert W. Hayes, Wa. 
C. Grant, Milton Murray, Chas. Tucker, 1 
Rollins and H. E. Gleason, all of Brookline, 
Boston on Friday last for a ten days’ trip 
Lake Maranacook, Maine. Reports n 
reached them that salmon are being taken fr 
this water. Mr. Gleason had a very succes 
trip to the same waters last year, and there! 
has a right to feel confident. 
A small party at Tunk Pond, Maine, maci 
catch in one morning of eighty salmon.t 
weighed, collectively, 35 pounds. This farms 
a record that will be hard to beat this seas 
Massachusetts trout streams continue to ' 
nish good records. At Ashburnham, Herl 
Harris, of Watertown, accompanied by tl 
others, in one day’s fishing landed 14. n :j 
and 9 trout each resoectively, the largest weij 
ing a pound and six ounces. From a br 
near Walpole, Mass., Mr. George Henry cj 
tured eight good-sized fish, and in the s; 
district Mr. Walter Metcalf, of Boston, out ( 
leased stream, took thirteen nice trout. 
Henry Fisher, of Scranton, Pa., confesses 
some experience in fishing Pennsylvania wat 
He believes it is going to be a hard matte 
find a game fish that can outdo the stunt:- 
