May 2024 • Nebraskaland 41
and the female inside. During the spawning act the male's
anterior ventral surface darkens. As they circle in the nest
the male remains upright, but the female tilts her dorsum
away from the male and, leaning to one side, rubs the ventral
surface near her genital pore in a quick 'vibrating' movement
against the side of the male near his anal fi n. As they circle
together, the female tilts into this spawning posture every
60-100 sec. As contact is made, eggs and presumably milt are
deposited (Miller, 1963). Spawning sessions varied in length
from 15-90 min."
Yep. That's exactly what I saw.
I'd always assumed females simply came to the nest and
deposited their eggs, and the male fertilized them. I had no
idea there was some lovey-dovey stuff going on down there.
Game and Parks fi sheries biologist Daryl Bauer summed up
that aspect of my observation in simple terms. "You've got to
coax her into laying the eggs," he said.
"Like anybody else, I get zoned in on fi shing for them and
catching them. But sometimes it's just really interesting
to stop for a second and watch them. It's similar to
A female bluegill turns on her side and rubs against a larger male in an egg-fi lled nest among a tangle of sticks,
photographed in a backwater of a former Elkhorn River channel at Red Wing Wildlife Management Area in Antelope County.
