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Spawning Clasps And Gamete Deposition In Pebble Nest-Building Minnows (Pisces : Cyprinidae), Mark Henry Sabaj
Spawning Clasps And Gamete Deposition In Pebble Nest-Building Minnows (Pisces : Cyprinidae), Mark Henry Sabaj
Master's Theses
Spawning in five species of North American cyprinid minnows (Rhinichthys a. atratulus, Exog/ossum laurae, Semotilus atromaculatus, Nocomis leptocephalus, and N. micropogon ) are analyzed on videotape filmed in Virginia and Maryland streams. Behaviors are chronologically resolved into a sequence of categories (Interim, Approach, Alignment, Run, Clasp and Dissociation) exemplary of a successful spawn as defined by the clasp. The categories are used to describe spawning behaviors in each species. In all species studied, a successful spawn is a female initiated event effecting the clasping response of a male.
The species-specific pattern of male-female interactions not only reflects the coordination of …