Pelvic Filaments of Lepidosiren

Abstract

IN the last paragraph of their letter, Messrs. Cunningham and Reid state, “The male in the burrow is free to visit the surface at the necessary intervals...” This is what I deny. The male is not free to visit the surface but must remain on guard over the young. All who have collected Lepidosiren material agree that the male guards the offspring. Prof. Agar¹ has written: “The eggs are placed at the end of the burrow, and the male lies in the passage leading to it, ready to defend his home with his powerful teeth—as I proved unintentionally on my own person, by putting my hand into a burrow from which I thought that the male had been driven out. I quickly drew it out again with my little finger cut open.” In the next sentence, Prof. Agar continues: “The devotion of the male lungfish is truly admirable, for he stays in the nest the whole time, from the moment the eggs are laid till the young are ready to leave the nest, a period of about seven weeks.”