Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Type of Fish Eggs: Strands hanging on Weeds?

Could anyone tell me what type of fish has eggs that, when laid, are in a clear "gelatinous" strand with small black sperical eggs inside; these were in strands attached to basic pond weed.

I thought I read that Fathead's laid eggs like this, but wanted to be sure.

As always, thanks for any input.

Check out this link it appears that fatheads have white embryo's so maybe you are looking at frog or toad eggs.

http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/sallen/Fathead/FHMwebsite.html

Sounds like frog or toad eggs to me...

I am real familiar with reproduction methods of the freshwater fishes. The only FW fish that I know of that lays eggs in strands is the yellow perch. Their eggs strands do not resemble those you described. You probably have amphibian eggs as the others have suggested.

Bob, thanks for that link. What I saw was different than the picture in the link, so thanks for helping me rule out the fatheads.

Torchy (& Bob and Bill), Certainly could be frog or toad eggs. Many of the strands I saw were at least 75' from any shoreline. Could that be consistent w/ a frog or toad? Also, at the same time that I saw the strands, the pond had several hundred "mature" tadpoles in the shallows. This was late May/Early June '04.

Bill, I do have yellow perch in my pond. I also added about 40 more last fall '03. I may have possibly incorrectly remembered and then described what I'd seen.

Is there a link where there may be some pictures of yellow perch eggs?

As always, thank you all.

toads due their stuff early , i have same eggs. i have no frogs living in the pond , the heron takes care of that and lack of edge weeds. the only frog i saw was a like a small bullfrog. here a couple days than gone.

Sunil,

To late in the year for perch to spawn where you're at. Has to be some form of amphibian as Bill Cody said.

Toads lay their eggs in strands, frogs in a clumpy mass. So if it's a choice between frogs or toads, it sounds like toads.

Guys, thanks for the input. I'll pretty much put that question to bed. And then on to the next mystery...

PS. Cecil, my water temps were in the low to mid 50s until about the second week in June. I don't know if that could have delayed a perch spawn. For whatever reason, the water temps stayed cool longer than normal. So far, this whole year has been a mystery at my pond!

Sunil - Perch spawning might not have been delayed but the extended cooler temps could have extended the length of the spawning period this spring. Results of this would be to see a wider range of young of the year (YOY) perch sizes compared to those of other years.

Cecil don't get mad that I "stole your thunder". I was going to ignore this question since it was addressed to you but provided an answer since it could be a short one. Please add any addtional comments you see fit. .

Low to mid fifties is plenty warm for the perch. Mine usually spawn by the time I hit 50 degrees or so. I have seen them spawn with some bits of ice still on the pond.

Sunil -- I just sent you an e-mail with a picture of a yellow perch egg mass (quite different from what you described).

I'm not smart enough to post a picture here on the Forum. :-)

Dave

Bill,

Not only did you NOT "steal my thunder," but you are welcome to even if you did. You're much more knowledgeable than I and I look forward to your responses.

Sunil wow that is cold water. Why so cool? Springs? Sounds like you should be raising brown trout or something instead.

Bill, I'm seeing all different sizes of YOY in different species. I don't know if I've seen any perch YOY yet. Truly, I haven't seen any perch at all this year in my pond. But then again, I never saw them before except for if I caught one when fishing.

Brian, just curious.. where is your pond at?

Dave, thanks for the picture. It actually does look a lot like what I saw. I believe I've incorrectly described what I saw a few months back. I think the picture jogged my memory. I hate to say this, but back when I saw the "egg cluster," I was trying to think of a way to describe it to you all to help me ID it; the only thing I could think of at the time that was similar and easily recognizable to another human male was...
well, you all know what I mean.

Cecil, my pond is partially spring fed, but also mostly fed by a mountain stream. However, now my water temps are around 75 degrees. This whole year has been different than any of the past five years that we've had the place. I did put in 5 browns, 5 rainbows, and 5 brooks this spring, but I haven't seem any of them for about 7 or 8 weeks now. As my pond stands now, any fish can come and go freely. I'm in process of changing that.

Sunil - You should be using some wire mesh conical end minnow traps (1/8", 3/16", or 1/4" mesh) to sample your small fish. I even made some traps from window screen. Many young fish species will enter the traps to help you monitor their presence.

D.Willis - Would you email me the picture of a perch egg mass. I will repay you with one of my picures. Thanks.

It's in the "ether!"

Bill, I do have a minnow trap. I'll throw it in on Saturday and see what I get.

Thanks.

Sunil,

Looks like you've solved the mystery of the egg mass but I read the other night that brown bullheads also lay their eggs in strands.

Russ

Hey Russ, I do have bullheads; I think they're black bullheads, if it makes a difference.

I would say mystery solved also, thanks to everyones input. I feel a little badly about my initial mis-description.

I did see a perch in my pond today. It was much smaller than the ones I stocked last fall '03.

Also caught a Rock Bass. Never seen one of them in my pond before. I gave him a new home on the bank....zoned "Get Eaten By Some Kind of Rodent."

I did not get the minnow trap out today though.

Thanks.

Russ - Where did you read that bullheads egg masses were laid in strands??. I would like to verify this. My references indicate this is incorrect. Yellow bullheads lay adhesive eggs that are often attached to structures in the nest, whereas black and brown bullheads lay eggs as egg masses or clumps similar to frog eggs. Brown bullhead eggs are adhesive not sure about black bullheads, but I assume they are also adhesive. All 3 species make nests where the eggs are laid.

Bill,

That statement was gleaned from the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. American Forestry Series, WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT Vol II authored by Reuben Edwin Trippensee. 1953. The information was in Chapter 24, Fresh-Water Game Fish (Warm Water), Northern Brown Bullhead, page 543. Under the subheading "Spawning" there is a sentence that reads, "The eggs are arranged in cream-colored strings."

Russ

Bill,

In my original post I wrote "strands". As noted in my last post, the book says "strings". My mistake

Russ

To All Interested. I've done a little book research on brown bullhead eggs. This is what I found.

I looked in three of my dependable fish references and this is what they say about eggs of brown bullhead eggs.

1. Freshwater Fishes of Canada. 1973. ..eggs pale cream coated w/ gelatinous mucus, adhesive and about 3mm in diameter. Gel coated eggs require manipulation and stirring by parent fish and even eggs are picked up in the mouth and ejected.

2. Development of Fishes of MidAtlantic Bight. 1978. ...eggs deposited in clusters (similar to frog eggs), mass is approx 6.4x10 cm. ..eggs often get oral agitation.

3. Fishes of Wisconsin. 1983. ....eggs adhesive and deposited in clusters similar to masses of frogs eggs. Mass attached to bottom of nest but after days of manipulation mass loosens. .... mouth manipulation...

4. I have ordered but not received a 2004 book - Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage - Ictaluridae - Catfishes and Madtoms, Volume III. If this has different information on brown bullhead eggs from what I noted above I will let you know.

The gelatin coating of the eggs evidently is an interesting feature. The coating is thick enough that the eggs will not hatch unless the eggs are strongly or roughly agitated by the parent/s even to the point of mouth manipulation by the parents.

Thank you.