Snorkeling Rivers and Streams by Keith Williams
Author:Keith Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2019-12-20T00:00:00+00:00
This was a creek chub. Chubs are another member of the minnow family. They are the architects of the stream. They create mounds of clean gravel for spawning, and other species, such these common shiners, take advantage of it. The males grow horn like tubercles on their heads in the spring. We really aren’t sure of the purpose the tubercles serve. It may be to attract a mate. Maybe the male with the most horns wins the female. Or it might be to spar with other males. I have seen two chubs headbutt each other for the prime spot to construct a nest. Or maybe our poor attempts at defining their role and trying to understand the chubs’ world and life through the lens of our reality falls way short of their true purpose. Regardless, watching male chubs build mounds is one of the most amazing feats to witness in our natural world. I once watched a chub construct his mound over 2 days. It started with bare bottom. He picked stones nearby and started to pile them between two large moss-and snail-covered boulders. He swam from his nest, mouthed a few rocks on the bottom until he found the right sized one he was looking for, carted it back to his mound, and spit it out. As his mound grew, he had to travel farther from it to find building materials. I watched this male carry a rock that was half his body length and likely weighed more than he did as his tail vigorously beat the bottom, body tilted at a 45-degree angle toward the surface, to make it back upstream to the mound. After he had a good mound started, a female showed up, and he spawned with her. Their fertilized eggs settled into the crevices formed by the rocky substrate he created. Then he rapidly gathered and placed another layer of gravel on top to prevent these eggs from being eaten by marauding suckers.
Chub building his mound.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Sea Survival Handbook by Keith Colwell(1788)
Fatal Storm by Rob Mundle(1783)
Deep by James Nestor(1778)
Breath by James Nestor;(1753)
The River by Peter Heller(1693)
Lonely Planet Australia by Lonely Planet(1667)
Discover Australia by Lonely Planet(1582)
Iced In by Chris Turney(1575)
Lonely Planet Maldives (Travel Guide) by Planet Lonely & Masters Tom(1423)
One Girl One Dream by Dekker Laura(1351)
Ten Degrees of Reckoning: The True Story of a Family's Love and the Will to Survive by Hester Rumberg(1342)
Looking for a Ship by John McPhee(1316)
Lonely Planet Australia (Travel Guide) by Lonely Planet & Lonely Planet(1306)
Chicken Soup for the Ocean Lover's Soul by Jack Canfield(1287)
South with the Sun by Lynne Cox(1219)
The Wave In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean(1214)
Marlinspike Sailor's Arts and Crafts by Barbara Merry(1204)
Diver Down by Michael Ange(1191)
The Golden Rules: 10 Steps to World-Class Excellence in Your Life and Work by Bob Bowman & Charles Butler(1159)