Hall (1965) defined an ideal spawning bout as a "sexual bout in
which gametes were released with an apparent economy of effort and
with little male or female aggression." Few actual spawning bouts follow
the exact fonn of the ethogram presented below, but its purpose is to
describe qualitatively the basic stages of the bout. The units which comprise
the ethogram are relatively easy to identity and are presented in
order to facilitate description of the patterning of reproductive activities
in B. ttplendens and should not be confused with the "acts" of Russell et al.
(1954) or any other specific neurobehavioral units.