Fanned out fish nests

During my field trip to Viera Wetlands (March 31 post), Charlie Corbeil pointed out "fish nests" in the water near the banks of the ponds. These were circular indentations in the sand, about a foot in diameter, and if you were patient, a fish would swim in and hover over the nest/bed. I tried several times to take a decent photo of a fish and a nest, but between my old camera and the reflective water (not to mention my amateur photography skills), I did not succeed.

Friend Wayne was at the Wetlands and Click Ponds the other day and sent some great photos of fanned out fish nests that have been revealed by the low water levels (no rain in 26 days, darn it, but a good photo op). I did some research, and here's what I learned. It seems that the nests are "fanned out" by male fish. The female fish then spawns (lays her eggs in the nest). The male returns, fertilizes the eggs, drives away the female, and protects the nest until the eggs hatch and the fry are about an inch long. Apparently, this is common with such fish as bass and bream. I didn't find much scholarly information on this one - most of the data centered around fishing hints and the psychology of catching pregnant fish (one fellow compared a spawning bass to his sister-in-law). Wayne noted that when he was a boy in North Florida, Usually we could smell the beds when fish were laying eggs--they had a strong, fishy smell. Sometimes we would fish the beds, but usually the fish at the center of each bed would either ignore the bait or try to chase it away.

Wayne also sent along an interesting blog link (see Links below) with a good post about a pond with fish beds. The author was more successful than I in getting a couple of photos with fish swimming over the nest. (If any of you have a good picture of a fish over his nest, I'd be delighted if you'd share it with us.)

I'm worried about what will happen to the eggs in those nests now above water - perhaps the water reclamation folks will put enough water in to cover them again. (Will that help? Fishermen - I can use some help here.) Meanwhile, many thanks to Wayne for his photos and data.

Links:
Fish and Frog - Turtle and Blog