The nursery habits of stickleback fish

The stickleback fish has the same habit of protecting its young as the snakehead fish. The difference is that the male fish is responsible for the tasks of nest building and baby care during reproduction. The breeding season of sticklebacks is from May to July every year. At this time, the male fish first builds a fish nest in the shallow water of the stream. The male fish chooses a suitable position in shallow water, picks up pieces of stems and roots of aquatic plants in his mouth, and secretes a kind of transparent mucus from the kidneys. The mucus is excreted through the ureter and condenses into solid filaments when it encounters water or air. The thin stems of aquatic plants brought in are glued and woven into fish nests suitable for laying eggs. The fish nest is spherical in shape, with an opening at the top and no roof. Looking down, you can see the eggs laid inside. The inner diameter of the nest is 30 mm, the outer diameter is 40 mm, and the height is about 25 mm. Leave an entrance and exit hole at each end of the nest. After the careful stickleback fish makes the nest, it uses its body to toss and rub inside the nest, and continuously secretes mucus on the nest wall, making the nest wall as smooth as a layer of solid fake paint.

After the male fish has finished building the nest, the female fish will be introduced into the nest to lay eggs. The female fish leaves the nest after laying eggs, while the male fish always guards the fish nest and drives away other fish that approach the fish nest. Even after the fish and the nest are caught and moved to an aquarium or other water body for raising, the male fish still hides under the fish nest or swims around the nest and is unwilling to leave the nest.

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