The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-05-15
NEsT.suILplnc FISHES.
Some Interesting Disepvsri~s Abont cat
Fish and Other Members OF tho Finny
Tribe-

1T Is generally supposed that fishes
take no care whatever OF their young,
leaving them entireIy 10 the attention
OF natlira says Professor Theodore
GILL uf Washington .'Bnt the fact Ia
very mueb otherwise with many spe-
cies. Tile most remarkable point.
however. regarding certain kinds of
tinny creatures IN their parental rela-
tions Is thnt males do the care taking
and not tile females. Very interesting
discoveries have been recently made
with regard to the habits Of nesi-buil,i-
ing fishes, the catfish among others.
.'If you will go ont any time during
the mouth of August in this latitude,
you will see in the streans and ponds
big catfish of the common sort, each
one accompanied by swarm of small
fry. In each case the old one Is
male and he Is engaged Ia taking care
OF his offspring. If un intruder comes
near he will dash at him aud drive him
away. IL has been known for long
while that catiishes had this way OF
guarding their young. but only lately
has II been aseertained that 1t was the
papa fish which did the caretaking.
Some time back there was n pair Of
eat-fishes in one of the aquaria at the
building of the Fish Commission. At
spawning time eggs were laid. and one
of the parents kept watch over them.
not permitting the other To come near.
The young were duly hatched and
thrived, being cared for In this way
until they were big enough to look out
for themselves. Then the tish which
had stood guard was taken out aud dis
sected. the result being that IL was
found TO be the male.
I'm their native ponds aud brooks
YOU will find large broods of young
catfish as big as three-fourths of an
inch In length remaining together In
iiocks. each flock accompanied by the
male. Sometimes the latter will swim
slowly along In the center of tho flock
and Mt other times alongside. In lay
ing their eggs the parent cat-iishes
select spot where the water is quiet.
il possible protected by aquatic plants,
and there they make nest. perhaps
eight inches by six. iuclosing the
spawn. The nest has soft outer en-
velope. aud over Il the male hoyers.
forcing fresh water through the mass
by rapid Vibrations of its fins. until
after about week they are hatched.
sometimes the male catfish takes
care OF its young in still more pecu-
liar manner. There is kind found In
the sea, the eggs laid by which are rs
Dt9 hS u Dutitt lntst t80s ATE
found in the mouths of the males,
which do this to protect them. After
the eggs are laid the papn catfish takes
them into his mouth and keeps them
there until they are NIL Matched. when
they go out and take care of them
selves.
But this method Is not confined to
the catfishes. There are found in
Africa and South Africa a species
which resemble the suniish of our own
streams These .cichlids,' as they are
called, are also plentiful in Texas aud
Palestine. They are often found with
their cheeks fairly bnlging with young.
In the sea of Ghlflee the cicliliis are so
numerous that the miraculous catch Of
the lime when st. Peter tished there
might be repeated any day. it being
the manner of these fishes 10 move
about ON the top of the water in solid
masses. covering many square yards
and making noise like thai Of rain
oouriog.n