07-01-2016, 08:27 PM
[#0000FF]A lot of those wounds are not from rocks or sharp sticks. While cats do not have BIG teeth, they do have some raspy teeth...and a strong bite. Males chomp on each other while fighting. And they also use their biting ability to "persuade" females to drop a few eggs in the nests they have built.
What a lot of folks don't realize is that each female may deposit eggs in several nests before she is spawned out. It is not a one male and one female thing for catfish spawning. The male establishes a suitable nest...after fighting for it with other males. Then a succession of pregnant girls come by to check out the maternity ward. If satisfactory, they drop a few future kids and go looking for another hot daddy cat.
This helps insure that there is a larger number of nests and less chance of any individual nest or area suffering a major catastrophe that will wipe out the entire spawn.
But it also ensures that there is a lot of competition for nest spots and mama cats. That competition gets brutal and the fish will wear the scars for a few months afterward.
You always hurt the one you love?
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
What a lot of folks don't realize is that each female may deposit eggs in several nests before she is spawned out. It is not a one male and one female thing for catfish spawning. The male establishes a suitable nest...after fighting for it with other males. Then a succession of pregnant girls come by to check out the maternity ward. If satisfactory, they drop a few future kids and go looking for another hot daddy cat.
This helps insure that there is a larger number of nests and less chance of any individual nest or area suffering a major catastrophe that will wipe out the entire spawn.
But it also ensures that there is a lot of competition for nest spots and mama cats. That competition gets brutal and the fish will wear the scars for a few months afterward.
You always hurt the one you love?
[/#0000FF]
[signature]