Abstract
IN a previous communication1, it was stated that field observations suggest there is a regular downward flow of water through the gravel beneath the river-bed at the sites favoured by salmon and trout when making the spawning redd. The course of these subsurface currents, as experimentally determined in the laboratory in a 6 ft. × 1 ft. artificial stream pool, was described. It was found that the maximum flow occurs in the vicinity of the mound of gravel usually present near the lower end of a spawning pool, that is, where redds are commonly found. The present spawning season offered an opportunity of testing the behaviour of a pair of gravid trout introduced into the experimental pool. Normal ‘courtship’ behaviour was observed and spawning took place. Ova (425) were deposited in, three pockets, all excavated within the predicted area, the site of the initial cutting being just below the apex of the gravel mound, where the strongest sub-surface flow had been found to occur; 100 per cent fertilization resulted. In a second experiment with another gravid pair, three pockets of ova have been again deposited in exactly the same site.
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Stuart, T. A., Nature, 172, 407 (1953).
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STUART, T. Spawning Sites of Trout. Nature 173, 354 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/173354a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/173354a0
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