The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-09-16
FATHER CATFISH GOOD HUSBAND
Sees That Spawn Is Matched and Re-
Iieves Mamma of Maternal Duties.

Sees That Spawn Is Matched and Re
lieves Mamma of Maternal Duties.
People who labor under the impress
| sion that fish have only sense enough
TO stay under water and gulp down the
tempting bait thrown to them are sad
| ly off on their calculations" remarked
Kansas City man who spends all oil
his spare time either catching or study
ing fish "There are fish which are
possessed of a great deal Of good horse
sense, as the saying is, and some fish
have wonderful judgment. Take, for
instance, our common old satfish, and
study him awhile. They are bull
headed, but they have sufficient sense
to build nest for their eggs and care
fully watch their young when they
are Matched out.
IF you will go out at any time dur
ing the month of August in this lati-
tude you will see in the streams 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 in taking
care Of his young while the mother
fish floats around and takes things
easy, not having the care OF her OFF,
spring to interfere with her pleasures.
The male catfish is more thoughtful OF
his frau than are a great many men.
Should an intruder come near the lit
tie cattishes there will be trouble, for
the daddy fish is all ready to do bat
tie for them.
How did we find out that the male
fish dc the caring for the young? Easy
enough. We simply put pair OF cat
hsh-male and female-in an aquarium
and watched the results. At spawning
time eggs were laid, and one of the
fish kept constant watch over them.
When the eggs Matched and the little
fish began to frisk about, the same old
fish looked after them, not permitting
the mate TO come near them, and this
continued until the little fellows grew
large enough to take care of them
selves. We then took the fish which
had so carefully guarded and cared for
the young and dissected it, and the re-
suit was that it proved to be the male
fish
F'This fact we have found to be true
in the habits of other fish. The cat
fish, when in their native ponds and
brooks, always find quiet place in the
water near the bank to lay their eggs,
building a nest in the sand and COW
ering with a thick spawn. The male
fish will hover around the nest and
rapid vibrations of its fins. This con-
tinues for a week or ten days-not
longer-when the eggs hatch and the
father fish at once assumes his duties
as caretaker of the young fish.
'The common sunfsh also takes care
of it's young and eggs, as do other
species Of it's family peculiar to North
America, such as black bass and crop
pie. In the early spring a pair of these
fish will come near the shore and care
fully clear away circular spot foot
or two in diameter, removing all the
weeds and stones, and in this clearing
the female lays her eggs. This done,
the male Immediately takes charge,
lowering over the nest and driving
away all intruders. This he continues
to do until the babies are Matched and
able to hustle for their own living.
''In the case of all fish which take
care of their young, curious adapta-
ton of natural law to circumstances is |
found. Those which take the greatest |
pains and care in sheltering their Off
spring have the fewest eggs, perhaps |
less than one hundred at lay, while, |
on the other hand, those species of fish |
which pay not the slightest attention
to their young produce hundreds Of |
thousands and even millions of eggs at
A single lay. The extreme in the other |,
direction is found in the gigantic devil
fish of southern waters, which will
grow to 20 feet in width The devil
fish bears a single young one at
birth. The youthful notwithstanding
nto the world four feet broad-is so
big that ii is in little danger of an
enemy. There are many kinds of fish
which bring forth their young alive"
Kansas City Star