Observations on the Breeding Habits of Ameiurus nebulosus

Abstract

ALTHOUGH the bullhead, or horned pout, is one of the most common of our fishes, but little was known of its breeding habits until Professor Birge, several years since, discovered the nests and eggs and made some interesting observations on the behavior of the fishes during the spawning period. The earlier naturalists had given us hints as to the breeding time, but these suggestions were little more than indefinite surmises, partaking of the character of the following remarks by Thoreau: 6The horned pout are dull and blundering fellows, fond of the mud, and growing best in weedy ponds and rivers without current. They stay near the bottom, moving slowly about with their barbels widely spread, watching for anything eatable. They will take any kind of bait, from an angleworm to a piece of tin tomato-can, without coquetry, and they seldom fail to swallow the hook. They are very tenacious of life, ' opening and shutting their mouths for half an hour after their heads have been cut off.' They spawn in spring, and the old fishes lead the young in great schools near the shore, seemingly caring for them as the hen for her chickens. A bloodthirsty and bullying set of rangers, with ever a lance in rest, and ready to do battle with their nearest neighbor. While the observations made by Professor Birge have never been published, some of the facts have been given me in a private letter, from which I have permission to quote. Professor Birge writes: 1 The bullheads on which I made my observations made their nests in a shallow bay with sandy bottom, in water not more than two feet in depth. Some of the nests were in water not six inches in depth; hardly deep enough to cover the male while sitting on the eggs. This bay was overflowed land and contained numerous stumps, which had become hollow in the