284 SMITHSONIAN MISCELI.ANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



to eat and ascended continuously to the surface to inhale atmospheric 

 air. 



VIII 



Zolotnitsky found that they did not require great care and that 

 they soon accommodated themselves to new conditions. He used 

 the water of the Black Sea freshened with a little fresh water. At 

 first they were very wild and timorous, and whirled round and 

 round in the aquarium "like autumn leaves driven by the wind;" 

 several were killed by dashing against the glass sides in attempts to 

 escape. They soon became accustomed to their owner's presence, 

 however, and in a fortnight were so tame that they would approach 

 the hand containing flies and shoot them off into the water. 



The chief difficulty experienced was in supplying them with the 

 requisite food. They will never eat dead insects and it is no easy 

 matter to secure a liberal supply of living ones, especially during 

 winter. Zolotnitsky (87) discovered a method of securing a supply 

 of ants by wetting a stem or blade of grass with sea-water and in- 

 serting it into an ant's nest. The ants were so much attracted by 

 it that they would not leave it and could be carried thereon as desired. 

 In winter the active larvae of mosquitoes were obtained and these 

 were eaten by each fish ; each larva, it must be remembered, should 

 be alive and they should be fed one at a time. 



IX 



Five well-defined species of the genus Toxotcs are known and 

 these are most readily distinguishable by the number of fin rays, size 

 of scales, and coloration. The most generally distributed and best 

 known is the Toxotes jaculator. The specific characteristics of that 

 form here given contrast with those of the others. 



The dorsal fin has only four spines, the scales are of medium 

 size (28 to 30 in a longitudinal row). The color is distinctive of 

 the species ; the ground-color is silvery, and on it are six transverse 

 velvety black bands alternating with citron-yellow areas ; the fins arc 

 mostly clear yellow, but the dorsal has a black spot and the anal is 

 more or less black. The popular Siamese name, Pla-kat, or Tiger- 

 fish, alludes to a certain analogy between its color and that of a tiger. 



All the species are of rather small or medium size, about 5 or 6 

 inches long, but some individuals of the common Archer, Toxotes 



