The betta splendens Siamese fighting fish of Thailand has an unusual way of making a nest and raising a family. The beautifully colored male does the work of building the nest. He goes to the surface and, after sucking in air, blows out a bubble coated with mucus, usually under a leaf floating on the water. He repeats this, adding bubbles next to the previous ones, until he is well on the way to building a nest. Then he might take breaks to eat and to look for a female betta. If he succeeds in winning the attention of a female, she may help finish the nest.
Once she starts laying eggs, each egg that she lays drops to the bottom of the body of water they are in. The male swims after each egg, picks it up in his mouth, and blows it into the bubbly nest, sometimes helped by the female.
The male guards the nest until the babies, called fry, hatch, one to three days later. If an egg falls out of the nest, he picks it up and returns it to the nest. Once they hatch, the tiny fry are on their own.
Our next fish, the stickleback, has its name because its back has spines that stick up sharply. These spines make them hard for would-be predators to eat.
Like the Siamese fighting fish, these fish also have an unusual method of nesting. The male builds a nest using plant material that he finds and glues together using mucous that comes from his kidneys. This is usually done in a slight depression on the bottom in shallow waters. He then swims through the gathered material to create a sort of tunnel. After the nest is finished, he looks for a female and coaxes her to the nest to lay her eggs. Several females may be enticed to lay eggs in the nest. Once the nest is full, the male fertilizes the eggs and takes over their care. He fans them constantly to give them the air they need, and he defends them from enemies until they hatch, seven or eight days later. Then he continues his care of them for another few days, trying to keep them near the nest where he can protect them.
Just like these two kinds of fish, the Lord has provided for children to have parents to watch over them. He lovingly tells children to obey their parents, as our opening verse says, because their parents are wiser than they are. Sadly, not all children have parents who love and care for them, but such children can be sure that God cares very much about them, and He says, “I will never leave [you], nor forsake [you]” (Hebrews 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)). Earthly parents, even if they love us very much, never love us as much as God does.
Did You Know?
Stickleback have spines to deter would-be predators.
Messages of God’s Love 9/8/2024