I tossed that possibility out there simply because I watched the 4 male RES in my aquarium really curtail eating as the days got longer this spring and the urge to spawn got closer. My lone female in the aquarium actually picked up the pace as she became gravid.
I seined a male RES in full spawning colors off a bed at the end of June whose belly was very concave. I am pretty sure that he had spent great amount of time in the last month defending his bed rather than foraging for food. IMO the urge to reproduce can at times override the urge to eat. In my pond there are very few potential spawning areas and only a few of my RES actually get to spawn, or they have to take turns on a small number of beds. I had very low water levels at ice out this year and could only find eight old RES beds from last year in the entire pond.
Last edited by Shorty; 09/17/14 02:34 PM.
