How does a goldfish put her eggs on the underside of a lily pad?
It would, of course, be rather risky to leave those precious eggs on the top of a lily pad. Out in plain sight, they would be spotted and gobbled up by birds and bugs, frogs and other hungry enemies. They are safer on the underside of the leaf but placing them there poses a problem. A mother goldfish solves this problem without instruction. When she is almost ready to lay her eggs, she selects the shady underside of a lily pad. If there is no lily pad in her pool, she chooses the widest waterweed she can find. Then she sets about cleaning a spot, the very spot where she intends to place her eggs. She does this job with her mouth, nibbling and nozzling until the underside of the leaf is clean of algae, slime and other dirty debris. Mr. Goldfish, by the way, is nearby supervising operations. This is very important, for later he has a duty to perform and without his help, all Mrs. Goldfish’s nursery activity would come to nothing. When the cleaning job is done, the papa fish is not surpri
