Mass of Fish Eggs ?

I noticed this curious round mass in the center of one of the fish nests. I think its a mass of fish eggs. It is lying on top of the rocks making up the fish nest. I could be wrong.

Black Fish trapped in a puddle

This picture was taken in early August of 2026. The Bosque River is dry in many places. There are some stretches of the river that still contain water. This picture shows one of them. This shrinking, but still large, puddle contains hundreds of small fish. Most of them appear black. I don’t know what kind of fish they are. Although the black fish dominate the population there are other types of less abundant fish present. I hope there is rain soon. If not this puddle is going to completely dry up. A friend of mine identified these fish as Catfish.