FISH BROUGHT TO HAW AH 409 



raised. Mr. Alvin Seale, an assistant of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, was 

 chosen to do the work, and with an advance of $500 started in July, 1905, from 

 Stanford University to the southern United States. He proceeded to Seabrook, 

 near Galveston, Texas, where he found top minnows in large numbers. They 

 were swarming in all the stagnant waters at sea level, as well as in various 

 ditches, ponds, and standing pools. Mr. Seale found that mosquitoes were very 

 plentiful about Seabrook, but after careful study he convinced himself that they 

 did not breed at all extensively in the bodies of water containing the fish, but 

 in temporary and artificial breeding-places such as isolated pools, tubs, and tin 

 cans, not accessible to fish. Dr. Jordan had advised the collection of fish of the 

 following genera : Mollinesia, Adinia, Gambusia, and Fundulus, all members 

 of the family Poeciliidae, the top minnows. Mr. Seale made careful examina- 

 tions of the stomach contents of the minnows of the genera recommended by 

 Dr. Jordan. These stomach contents were found to consist largely of larvae of 

 various insects including those of mosquitoes, of the Qgg masses of mosquitoes, 

 of minute Crustacea, and of some vegetation. The fish of the genus Gamhusia 

 were found to be the best insect feeders. Careful experiments were made, using 

 10-gallon milk cans, in order to determine the conditions under which the fish 

 could be successfully transported to Hawaii. These experiments included ob- 

 servations on temperature of the water and on changing the water, and it 

 was ascertained that the best results could be obtained by transporting them 

 in water of the normal temperature. The three most abundant species, 

 Garribusia affinis, Fundulus grandis and Mollinesia latipennis were then 

 collected and about 75 were placed in each can, a 20-gallon tank full of 

 water being taken along as a supply reservoir. Mr. Seale left Seabrook on 

 September 4, 1905. On the journey the fish were fed sparingly every morning 

 at 8 o'clock on prepared fish food, finely ground liver or hard-boiled eggs. At 

 half -past nine half of the water in each can was draAvn off from the bottom, thus 

 cleaning the cans by removing uneaten food and excrement. An equal amount 

 of fresh water was added. At noon the cans were aerated by means of a large 

 bicycle pump, a sponge being tied over the end of the hose to separate the air 

 into fine currents. At four in the afternoon, two gallons of water were drawn 

 off from the bottom and two gallons of fresh water put in, and the aeration was 

 repeated just before bedtime. Careful tests of water at each place of changing 

 were made by experimenting with two fish. At El Paso, Texas, there was so 

 much alkali in the new water that the fish were killed ; at Los Angeles and at 

 San Francisco, the water was good. Twelve fish died between Galveston and 

 San Francisco, and 15 between San Francisco and Honolulu. Honolulu was 

 reached on September 15, 1905, with a loss of only 27 out of approximately 450 

 fish. On arrival the fish were placed in the four breeding-ponds prepared for 

 them at Moanalua near Honolulu. The fish thrived in all of the ponds almost 

 equally well. They were protected by screens from predatory fish and from 

 being carried out to sea by freshets. In an official bulletin, issued July 25, 1907, 

 Mr. Van Dine reported that the fish had multiplied rapidly and that from the 

 few hundred introduced several hundred thousand had been bred and dis- 



