Fish Reproduction
Largemouth Bass • Spawning From mid-April to mid-June, they construct nest shore in water from 1-15 feet deep. • They prefer silt-free sandy or gravelly bottoms, but they will use any type of bottom. • Male clears a nest by fanning off silt from gravel or aquatic plant roots, guards the eggs, and then may remain with the young fish which remain in school for 2-3 weeks
Rock Bass
•Spawning Usually in May and June when water temperature are 60-70 degrees. Spawning is similar to other sunfish species. •Females deposit up to 10,000 eggs in a nest, often with more than one female using the same nest. •Males remain over the nest to fan the eggs and maintain water flow over eggs until they hatch in 3-4 days
Smallmouth bass • Spawning occurs in May to early June when water temperature is 55-65 degrees. Nest are built gravel or hard bottom substrates in 2-20 feet of water. • The female lays between 2,000 to 15,000 eggs. • The male guards the nest and the fry for a short time. • Young smallmouth feed on zooplankton and insect larva.
Spotted Bass •Spawning during mid-April to mid-June. Nest are constructed on a rock or gravel substrate near cover. •Males construct nest allowing the females to lay between 1,100 and 47,000 eggs. •Males guard the eggs and fry.
White Bass •Spawning occurs in late April into May when the fish move into the tributary streams or reef areas of lake Eire and near shore in larger lakes. •Females broadcast their eggs into the water where they are fertilized by the males and then settle to the bottom and adhere to hard surface. •The eggs will hatch in approximately 2 weeks.
Bluegill • Peak spawning occurs in mid-May to mid-June, when water temperature are 65-70 degrees. Nest are usually built in water 1-4 feet deep on sand or gravel bottom, or on other bottom substrates, even in heavily vegetated areas. Typical building nest in large groups, or beds. • Males select an area and sweep out a saucer shaped nest with their tails. • The females then lay between 10,000 to 60,000 eggs in the nest which are guarded by the male. • The eggs usually hatch in about 5 days.
Bowfin • Spawning occurs from April-June. A nest is made by the male. He its off vegetation and brushes away loose material with his tail, fins, and leaves a circular area of roots, sand or gravel for the eggs. • 2 or more females generally deposit eggs in the same nest. • The eggs hatch in 8-10 days during which period the male guards the nest. He stays in the vicinity and accompanies the young who move about in a compact school unit they are 4 inches long.
Buffalofish •Spawns in April-May
Brown Bullhead •Spawns in May-June. Nest are made by hollowing out a circular area in the mud. The nest vary from one to several feet in diameter. •Eggs are relatively large and number from 50-500, or even more, per nest. •After hatching, an adult will attend a school, of black colored young for quite some time.
Yellow bullhead • May or June is spawning time when it will burrow in a hallow on the bottom just a little bigger than fish itself. • Sometimes it will choose a hole of burrow under the bank for its nest. • Up to 700 eggs have been found in a nest. • The males guards the eggs and the newly hatched young for a short period of after the newborn fish have left the nest and schooled.
Carp •Spawning in shallow waters during April into June. •Eggs are scattered in vegetation, debris, roots in 1-4 feet of water. •Large females lay between 1000,000 and 500,000 eggs.
Channel catfish • Spawning begins when water temperature reach the mid-70s. • Nest are secluded in natural cavities, banks, and burrows. • Nest are presumably excavated and guarded by the male.
Flathead catfish • Spawning occurs when water temperatures reach 70 degrees. Nest are built in dark secluded shelters such as natural cavities, undercut banks, or near large submerged object. • Male stands guard over the eggs, aerating them using his fins. He also watches over the small young.
Black Crappie • Spawning occurs during May and June. They nest on the bottom in and around brush, rocks, or vegetation in water between 1 and 5 feet deep. • Males construct a nest by fanning out small depressions. • Females then lay 5,000 to 30,000 eggs in the nest.
Creek Chub •Spawns in May. •With its mouth the male digs a pit just above a riffle and drops the sand and gravel upstream, thus forming a ridge which in extreme cases may be 15 feet long. •Spawning takes place in the place in the pit and the eggs are later covered with sand or gravel by further nest building activities by the males. •Males fight with other males.
Freshwater Drum •Spawning in spring to late summer; usually peaks in July when water temperatures reach 70 degrees. •Eggs are buoyant and float near the surface of the water. •The term “drum” refers to the purring sound which it usually makes and can be heard underwater for its mating call.
American Eel •All eels spawn in sea
Longnose Gar • Spawning occurs in May and June, and at that time quiet shoal waters are visited. • Female slightly 3 feet long, yielded 36,5000 eggs.
Gizzard Shad •Spawning begins in May and is finished by early summer.
Golden Shiner •In summer it lays adhesive eggs on aquatic plants over roots, or in algae.
Lamprey •Move upstream in spring to spawn in riffles where males dig out circular areas by removing stones with their mouths. •Young are spent 5 years as blind larvae and live in the mud of the stream bottom. •Number of eggs laid by various species varies from 1,200 for some of the non-parasitic species to 11,000 for sliver lamprey and as many as 236,000 have been counted in the sea lamprey.
Bluntnose Minnow •Spawns between late May and August. •Average nest contains about 2,500 eggs. •Males are used in defense of the nest and eggs which are deposited on the underside of a stone, broad, or similar object near the shore.
Fathead Minnow •Spawns between late May and August. •Average nest contains about 2,500 eggs. •Males are used in defense of the nest and eggs which are deposited on the underside of a stone, broad, or similar object near the shore. •Similar to the blunt nosed minnow.
Muskellunge •Spawning usually in April when the water temperature reaches the low 50s. •Eggs are dropped on soft shallow bottoms where they adhere to vegetation and other derbis. •Females will drop as many as 200,000 eggs. Reproduction in Ohio is limited to non- existent.
Yellow Perch •Spawning occurs from mid-April to early May. •Eggs are deposited in adhesive bands over vegetation or on the bottom with no car given by the parents.
Chain Pickerel •Breeding takes place in the early spring with water temperature 50 degrees or above. Spawning grounds are weedy areas close to shore, sluggish inlets, or even flooded lowlands. •Eggs and milt are shed by a female and one or more males as the spawners swim about in a meandering path. •Eggs are adhesive and stick to vegetation or bottom during incubation, a period lasting for a 7-10 days depending on water temperature.
Grass Pickerel •Breeds in the spring, usually in March and April, and sheds its eggs in the shallows. •It also has been known to spawn in the fall.
Northern Pike • Spawning soon after the ice-out in late February or early March. • It moves in tributary streams to spawn. • Females spread between 15,000 to 75,000 eggs freely into vegetation areas. • As the eggs settle they adhere to vegetation, rocks, sticks and other derbis until they hatch un about 2 weeks.
RedHorse Sucker • Spring spawner. • Many run the streams after the first thaw although not necessarily spawning until a mouth or so later. • Adaptable of spawning along the shores of lakes or in quiet pools of streams although normally fast water and gravel bottom is preferred .
Chinook Salmon •Spawns from August-November. •Early fish are bright, deep-bodied, and immature. •May travel hundreds of miles to spawn.
Coho Salmon •Spawning period extends from November-February but most salmon are through spawning by the end of December. •Adults die after spawning.
Sauger •Eggs are scattered over gravel or other rocky substance in the spring. •Females lay between 10,000 to 50,000 eggs. •The eggs are adhesive and stick to vegetation, sticks, and stones until they hatch in 10 days or more.
Brown Trout • Reproduction takes place in streams in the fall months and frequently in the same general areas as that of brook trout. • Spawning habits are similar to the other members of the Trout family. • Eggs are approximately 1/5 inch in diameter. • The incubation, period of eggs is 160 days at 35 degrees and 41 days at 50 degrees.
Lake Trout •It breeds in fall over gravel or rocky bottoms in depths varying from 100 feet or more in the Great Lakes. •No nest or redd is built by the females as is the case with other members of the trout family. •Spawning occurs in groups of one or more females and several males, the eggs being scattered over suitable bottoms. •Eggs are about 1/5 inch in diameter settle down against the rocks. •The incubation period is 166 days at 37 degrees and 49 days at 50 degrees.
Rainbow Trout • Similar to the other members of the trout family. • One difference is that 2 males usually spawn with a female instead of 1.
Lake Sturgeon •Spawning in April or May. Requires river or lake habitats with clean cobble to boulder substances for spawning. Preferred spawning depth in between 2 and 15 feet. •Females reach sexual maturity at 20-25 years of age and carry 4,000-5,000 eggs per pound of body weight. •Individuals will only spawn once every 4-7 years.
Green Sunfish •It spawns in April to late July. •It makes a circular nest, fanned from sandy silt or gravel, or even sometimes form hard clay.
Redear Sunfish •Spawning usually during mid-May through June when water temperatures are 65-75 degrees •Preferred spawning locations are 1-4 feet of water with sand or gravel bottoms, or any other bottom substance and deeper water.
Walleye •Spawn throughout April when water temperature is 4050 degrees. •Eggs are scattered over gravel or reef areas of Lake Eire or in the riffle areas of tributary streams. •Females can lay as many as 4000,000 eggs. The eggs hatch in about 10 days.