ZOOr/^GIC'AL SOCIETY BUIXETIN. 



641 



THREAD FISH. 

 Photo by F. W. Hunt. 



would furnisli some employment to the natives 

 during the season when there is no work avail- 

 able ; the skins would represent considerable 

 value, and the flesh would be available as food. 

 The muskrats would also furnish a supply of 

 food to the blue foxes, which are taken there in 

 abundance for their very valuable skins. The 

 natural food supply of tlie foxes has always 

 been limited at certain seasons of the year. As 

 the muskrat could do no harm in any way, the 

 Bureau of Fisheries has favored the plan of in- 

 troducing it. 



A large muskrat is about two feet from nose 

 to the end of the tail. The tail is hairless and 

 flattened laterall}' ; it may be useful for swim- 

 ming but so far as I have observed, the swim- 

 ming is done with the hind feet, without any 

 motion of the tail. 



Like the groundhog, the muskrat is credited 

 with being a prognosticator ; when muskrat 

 houses in the marshes are built larger and 

 stronger than usual, it is said to indicate a 

 severe winter. An ordinary sized muskrat 

 house is about five feet in diameter and projects 

 from two to four feet above the water. Its 

 doorways are all under water. 



PRIVATE AQUARIUM. 



A letter has just been 

 received from Capt. J. A. 

 M. Vipan, who has a pri- 

 vate fresh-water aquarium 

 at S t i b b i n g t o n Hall, 

 Wansford. England. It 

 states that there are ster- 

 1 e t s now living in the 

 building which were r e - 

 ceived in 1 888 ; golden orfe 

 and mirror carp received 

 in 1883; Protopferus (the 

 African dipnoid fish) re- 

 ceived in 1897 and other 

 interesting species. These 

 are probably the best rec- 

 ords in existence for fishes 

 in captivity. The temper- 

 ate tanks are unheated ex- 

 cept in winter; the warm- 

 water tanks are kept at 

 75° to 78° Fahrenheit. 

 Capt. Vipan has also had 

 remarkable success in 

 breeding exotic species in 

 captivity. 



THE THREAD FISH. 



ONE of the most grotesque of the fishes 

 which visit our shores in the summer time 

 is the thread fish, {Alectis cilaris). It is a 

 southern form, generally common in Florida 

 and large specimens are used for food. 



In the young the dorsal and ventral fins are 

 excessively elongated and filamentous but be- 

 come shorter with age. In some specimens the 

 filaments keep growing even after portions have 

 been broken off, sometimes being about twice 

 as long as the fish itself. 



The thread fish is wonderfully iridescent and 

 presents a variety of rainbow tints as it changes 

 position in drifting about the tank. 



A few specimens are taken in the lower part 

 of New York Bay nearly every summer, some 

 of which come to the Aquarium. The species 

 lives well in our tanks during the summer, but 

 has not yet been carried through the winter. 



No specimens have been secured since the new 

 water system was put into operation at the 

 Aquariinn, and it is hojied that the coming sum- 

 mer will bring specimens which can be kept to 

 better advantage than heretofore. 



