NANFA-- a breeding brook stickleback

Bonnie Ullmann (ullmann_at_uoneuro.uoregon.edu)
Thu, 28 Sep 2000 11:09:54 -0700

Wow! That must have been very very cool. Admirable guys, aren't they?
They are really on top of the nurturing. I've never seen mating of
3-spines in the wild just in the tank. But, boy, I would not want to
get in their way when they are defending their nests. I feel sure
they would take me on!
bonnie

>
>
>Yes, they are handsome; when the male is in breeding condition, in contrast
>to other stickleback species, turns dusky green to black; all of the males I
>saw were a vivid black, instead of red bellied like the other species. The
>bony plates are minute and are only along the lateral line. I got a unique
>birds' eye view of a male guarding his nest; I happened to find one right
>under the edge of a steel pipe which justted from the roadside where a
>roadside stream-irrigation ditch crossed the road and ran along the edge of
>my neighbors' property. I could lay down lengthwise on my belly and observe
>the male circling the nest with the tiny babies swimming around near it; he
>even chased away another fish that was approaching from further inside the
>pipe. I first noticed him because I happened to look down there and see him
>turned sideways hovering near his bird-like nest built at the top of some
>plants. I didn't recognize what kind of fish he was at first because of the
>odd angles in which he was turning his body and the fact that it was somewhat
>dark. He seemed to be inspecting his nest from all angles. That was the first
>and only time I have witnessed this behaviour in the wild and I feel
>fortunate because of it.
>
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/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
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/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
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/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org