Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-01-08
PAPA CATFISH.

Vie Makes F1imseH Useful in Resrine Hie
Onspring-
EFT is geHeTally supposed thai fishes
take no care whatever of their young,
leaving them entirely so the attention
of nature" says Prof. Theodore Gill, sf
Washington But the fact Is ve1y
much otherwise with many species
Ehe most Remarkable point, however,
Eegsrding certain kinds of fnuy
creatures in their parental relations is
Shas males DO the care taking, and not
the females Very interesting discoE-
cries havs been recently made with re-
gard eoshe habits of nest-buildinG fishes,
che catfish among others
''Sf yos viii &c out any time during
Che month OF August in this latitude,
yozs will see IN the streams and ponds
big catfish of the common sort, each
one accompanied by swarm of small
&y- In each case the old one Is a male
and he IS engaged in taking care of his
offspring. St aE intruder comes near
he will dash AZ him and drive him away
1t has been known for long while that
catfishes aad this way of guarding their
young, but only lasely has 1t been as
eerSained that it was the papa catfish
which did the sase saking- Some time
back cheers was a pair of catfish in one
of the aquaria at the building of the
Fish Commission AZ spawning time
eggs were laid and one of the parents
kept watch over them, not permitting
Che other &c come near The young
were duly Matched and thrived. being
cared for En ehis way until they were
big enough % look out for themselves
Then the fish which had stood guard
was taken QUE and dissected- the result
being that 1t was found to be the male
I'm their aative ponds and brooks
you viii find large broods of young cat
fish as big as Shree-fourths of an inch in
length remaining together in hocks,
each flock accompanied by the male.
Sometimes the latter viii swim slowly
along in the center of the flock and at
other times alongside In laying their
eggs the parent cathshes select a spot
where the water is quiet If possible
protected by aquatic plants, and there
they make nest perhaps eight inches
by six, inclosing the spawn The nest
has soft outer envelope, and over il
the male horers, forcing fresh water
through the mass by rapid vibrations Of
its fins, until after about q week they
are Matched
Sometimes the male catfish takes
care of its young in a still more peculiar
manner. There is q kind found in the
sea, the eggs laid by which are as big
as bullet These eggs are found IN
the mouths of the males, which do this
to protect them After the eggs are
laid the papa catfish takes them into his
mouth and keeps them there until they
are all Matched, when they 60 out and
take care OF themselves
ssBut this method is not confined 70
the catfshes- There are found In At
RIGA and South Africa species which re-
sem bles the sunfish of our own streams.
These 'cichlids,' as they are called, are
also plentiful in Texas and Palestine
They are often found with their cheeks
fairly bullying with young In the sea
of Galilee the cichlids are so numerous
that the miraculous catch of the time
when St Peter ished there might be
repeated any day, it being the manner
of these fishes TO move about on the TOP
of the water IN solid masses, cogerine
many square yards and making . noise
like that of rain pouring. "IChicago
Evening Journal