Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-07-24
FISH AND FISH EGGS
SOME MARveLS OF THE TRIBES OF
FINS AND SCALES.
Natures Happy Provisions For RE-
stricting Observation-Disclosures Tint
build Fortresses wherein to breed
Their Young.

strictiDg ReprOduction-EcIs Tint
build Fortresses Wherein to breed
Their Young.
That oblging person who for the bene-
fit Of science volunteered to count the
eggs of a Goldfish found himself confront
ed with n remarkable proposition. 1t Is
said that he first attempted to count them
after having hardened the roe in a pre-
servatve, but as this evidently was the
work of years and would in all probobil-
ty become a heritage in his family, to be
completed in some future generation, he
compromised by counting a spoonful and
by careful estimate so reached logical
conclusion and gave to the world the fact
that the Goldfish would If all its eggs
Matched and came to maturity have given
birth to 100000 young.
1t is very evident to the statistical and
mathematical mind that if all these cod
FISH lived and oil their descendants and so
on for five or six years that the Atlantic
ocean would become clogged by Goldfish,
Atlantic liners would be stopped in mid
ocean, and the resultant plague would
sweep the world Of its human inhabit-
nnts. This dreadful fate Is happily avert
ed by nature, who provides so delicate IN
adjustment that the supply of fish is ap-
parcntly equal to the demand.
Nearly all fish deposit eggs by the mil
lions, the number being extraordinary.
The moment they hatch they constitute
the food for predaceous fish. Sardines.
behring's, mackerel and countless small
fish feed upon their own spawn, and as the
young grow they become the prey OF myr-
lads of fish, birds and seals, so that the
survival Of the millions produced repre-
sents but a fraction Of the original de-
post.
The methods of fish protection and d.
mnution present an interesting subject,
but in investigating the former one is at
once struck with the fact that in almost
every instance the mother deserts her
progeny, leaving them to the care Of the
male. Many of the fish, as the mackerel,
swordish and others, deposit their eggs
in the open sea, where they float along,
the prey OF various animals. Others de-
post them upon the bottom, and among
the latter are many which erect struc-
lures Of various kinds-barricade or
forts, as it were-for their protection.
An interesting illustration of this has
lamprey eel built a veritable fortress. This
was of rocks or stones, some being bali
as large as a brick, heaped up in the form
of dam fifteen or twenty feet in length
and three or four in height. How the fish
brought the stones together was a mys-
terry until the act was observed by some
one. The eels forngcd up stream and.
grasping a stone in their suckerlke
mouths. lifted themselves from the bot
tom with wriggling motion. allowing
the swift current TO carry them down to
the heap, where the stone was dropped.
If stone was found too large for one,
two lampreys would lift it from the bot
tom and allow 1t to be carried down
stream to the fortress. In this aggregation
of rocks the eggs of the lamprey were de-
posted, and about them the young were
reared, so escaping their many enemies.
A number Of fish conceal their eggs in
piles of stones which are heaped up in
this way. The dace is one, the pile or
heap being very small. The stone toter is
another example. The latter fish retains
the castle year after year. The visitor to
Westminster park, in the center of the
st. Lawrence. will find by careful search
in the immediate vicinity piles Of stone
three and a half feet in height, some
reaching so near the surface that the
writer touched the top of the nest, and a
boat would run into it. The crevices af-
forded every possible security for the
young fish
Among the ingenious methods for car
ing for the young and protecting them is
that in vogue by the lump fish. The ven
trial fms form small suckers in the fish,
and by them the young cling to the par
ent often almost covering il and undoubt-
eddy weighing it down. When the fish Is
swimming. followed by countless num-
bers il presents so singular an appear
ance that it is called the hen and chick
ems"
In one Of DR.. Livingstone's works on
Africa he refers to the legend or belief OF
the natives that a certain small fresh wa
ter fish carries its eggs and young in its
mouth. This was considered a mere story
of the natives, but later investiga ton
showed that this was a habit Of the fish
Professor Agassiz discovered n fish in the
Amazon which carried not only the eggs
In its mouth, but the young, and they re-
manned packed away in its checks until
they were literally forced out. The writer
has observed the mnle stickleback take its
minute young into it's mouth, hold them
for few seconds and, approaching the
nest, literally blow them into 1t, repeating
this day after day until the young were
too active to be controlled. a fish COM
mon in the Sea of Tiberus takes its
young into its mouth and holds them so
long that often the Gills are pressed out,
giving the fish a ludcrous appearance.
The instances where fish endeavor TO car
ny their young or eggs are many. \ cat
fish Mt the time OF egg laying presses its
lower surface upon the eggs. which I'D
here to il. ultimately appearing to be de-
moves along, and here they remain until
the fish are Matched.
The male of the little sea horse receives
the young into a pouch and holds them.
and one of the pipehsh has n similar ar
rangement, though not so perfect. little
fish in the Amazon seizes root or vine
hanging in the water, attaches refuse ma
terial to it and in the interstices conceals
its eggs. which remain there until they
are Matched. In these ways the young
FISH are protected from the many enemies
that are looking for them.
But when the eggs are Matched then
they become victims. In many instances
they are decimated by their own kind.
and few escape compared with the num-
Der Matched, and II nature were not so
prolific many tribes would soon become
extinct.-New York Times.
-y
Self Appreciation.
"Krng Lear is great character" re-
marked the friend.