Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-01-24
ALL ABOUT FISH.
PAPA FISHES TiIAT TAKE CARE OF
THEIR LARGE FAMILIES.

Professor Theodore GIN, Of tn" m H.
s"ni,n INSTITUTE, Tells ii :"'rfn -
Ways f II, c fish and ~ ii
That Yr.mg Tor'h '.Erir N"un, 4 sc.
ut is g,.er.l l., supI POSED th,t
take no care Whatever of their Y an @.
leaving h,.a enlircI, to the attention
OF nature, a d Prore .sor 1heo lore Gil
of IN Sm ti,souian. But the fact /
very u,uch Otherwise with many specie
The most remarkable point, however,
regud nE certain kinds Of fnny or at
urrs ~ their areutal relat ON, Is tia,
males do tn, care taking AID not the f.
ttules. Very interesting di-coNcrin
have upen recently made W it. regard {,
the aalil, Of nest bul.di s fishes, tt1r
c.;l.an am NJ others.
Ii you viii go cut any tine dur.-.
the mon i Of August i'll TN 5 iati'ut".
ven " i'll see in the 5. cams and ond
X catfish of the common sort e"C"
one accompanied by Il swar,n of S "a"
fry. III each case the Old one is Il mai'
and he Is engaged in tax. Z care of h
offspring If an lntruIe c1,tcs n"ar he
will dash at tim and drive Iln away.
1t has been known for Il long While t.ai
c5tii7hra had lhis way of guard ny Ihrl
Young. Lul only lately has it heen as-
crrlai ed tt,al il was the papa fish wiIc
did the care taking So.,e tine b#cI
there WAS a par If catfish i'll one
the aqu ia at the budding of the liz
comm.ssi n. A spawning time egg
were laid, and one of the parents kep
watch over them, not !erm.tI tie
other to come near. The y"ul1 We
duly Matched and thrivyd, beng carc''
for in this way until they were by,
enough TO look out for tEense.v.:.
Then the fish which had stood 3 'a'
was taken out and di-ScCt, d, the rc IT,.
being that it was found TO Ue the mai.
"In their native pom Isand hroons You
will find lar.c br,o Is uf yoln% c til Ia
as biz as tlr e-.our,lIs If an inch Ii
length remaining together III tloc $,
each flock accompanied y the male.
Sometimes the la ter Viii swim sow.
along in the center If tie ii ok and Il,
other times alongside. In lay ing then
eggs the parent cat ahrS select Il sp Il
where the alter is quiet, if p, ihie pr
tees d 10y aquatic plan 5, ANA therr thc|
make II nest, perhaps inches ~ g. liz
closing the spawn. 1nlS nest has It aoi.
outer envelope ard over it the nal
hovers, forcing fresh water through til
mass by rapid Vibrations of its 1ins unii
after about week the, are ha'caed.
Sometimes the III catfish take,
care of its youn IN a al... more pccu'iI
manner There is Il kind III Il i'll the
sea the eggs l;,id ~ wnica ar Il big t
a small bullet Ihese ca.,s axe foun,t i'll
the mouths of the males, " hch do this
to project th,m. After the eggs are
laid the para c.tfisA take them into hi
mouth and keeps them there until the,
| are all In G ed. when tncy go cut an
| take care of tn selves
But this method is not confined
| the ca;Gs hes. There are found il Airic;,
and South America Species winch 70
| semble the sunlisa OF our oWn rramr.
| These 'c'chlids, IS they are r"!t q, alr
| also plentiful in Texas aud Palestine
| Tney are often found wi h their cheek
fairly Iulg,ng vita young. Ia the Sc,
| # GiiiIre the c.chIids are so numerous
| that the miraculous catch OF tie til,
when ST. Peter lisMcd there n.ighy be re
Uratcd any day, it being the manner OF
| thee fishes to III y" aLou! on top Of th"
| water in sold masses. covering man.
quare yards and nat.inS IA noise like
that Of rain pouring.
THE common slntish also takes care
! of its eggs as do other 81 ecies of It's
| family which are !eculiar to NORTH
| America, such as the black bass, rock
Lass, and crapp;e. In the 81 ring a pair
of these fishes will come near shore,
and carefully clear away a ci.cu al
spot foot or two in diameter, renov
ing all tie weeds and stones. In this
clearing the female iays her eggs, and
| the male Immediately takes charge,
lowering over the nest and driving
away all intruders. This continues
until the baby fishes are atched and
a! lie to take care OF themselves.
The pipe fishes, which are found
every sea, save where it is very Cold,
also take care of t!!eir young, and i'll
very curious manner. The new laii
eggs are taken charge of by the male,
which has Il sort Of TO. on each side Of
its body Beneath these flaps he keeps
the eggs until the young are Matched
and sufficiently grown to take care OF
themselves. In the group which in
cludes the sea horse the male has a
| pouch under its tail, wherein it re ains
the eggs until the little fish have been
hatched for a day OF two, at the end o.
| which time they make their way ouy
and do their own foraging.
"In the case of all these species of
fishes which take care Of their young a
curious adaptation of natural law to
circumstances is found. Those which
take the greatest pains in shetering
their offspring have the fewest eggs,
| perhaps less than one hundred at a lay.
| On the other hand, other sorts of fishes
which pay not t. e slightest attention to
their young prodac, liu..dreds Of thou
sands and even millions at Il single lay
| The extreme in the other direction is
found in the gigantic ray known as
! the devil fish If uthein waters, which
grows to be 90 feet in W idth. IL bears
but single young one at Il birth, the
mother retaining it inside her body until
it has grown to be four feet broad The
youthful devil f,h, coming into the
world so big, is in little danger from any
enemy, and one at birth is enough to
keep up the stock. There are very
many kinds of fishes which a e called
'yiviplrous' because they bring forth
their young alive Three fourths of the
sharks are of that nattI e.