64.8 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



parent males is still liviiifi; 

 and has reached a larger 

 size than any sea horse 

 ever kept in the Aquarium, 

 being six and a half inches 

 in length. 



Our observations appear 

 to indicate that the female 

 sea liorse arrives at matur- 

 ity in less than one year, 

 a n d dies after the first 

 spawning. 



The latter point i s o f 

 course not yet demonstrat- 

 ed, but a hundred more 

 small sea horses procured 

 during the past summer, 

 h a V e grown rapidly and 

 will afford ample material 

 for further observations as 

 t o breeding habits next 

 month. 



THE OCTOPUS. 



OUR efforts to acclim- 

 atize the octopus in 

 the Aquarium h a v e 

 not been crowned with suc- 

 cess. Specimens have been brought from Ber- 

 muda each summer, only to be lost within a few 

 days. It was believed that the new system of 

 pure sea water would make the conditions of 

 captivity for the octopus, such, that our trouble 

 would come to an end. but the experiences of the 

 past summer showed that the hope was in vain. 

 In the tanks of the Bermuda Aquarium, the oc- 

 topus lives and thrives as well as it appears to do 

 at Naples, and our specimens have been derived 

 from stock inured to captivity in Bermuda. Our 

 stored sea water is pure and is kept at the proper 

 temperature, while our specimens have been sup- 

 ))lied with live crabs, just the kind of food they 

 like. They have been carried in large trans- 

 jjortation tanks on the steamer, supplied with 

 flowing sea water during the voyage and have 

 been under the care of Mr. Mowbray who has 

 had abundant success in keeping them in cap- 

 tivity in Bermuda. 



As most of the animals of each .shipment died 

 during the voyage, and the survivors arrived in 

 New York too weak to feed, it is now apparent 

 that the cause of the trouble lies in the system 

 of transportation. 



Fishes brought to New York from Bermuda 

 usually arrive in good condition, and losses on 

 board the steamer are trifling. The difficulty 



OCTOPUS IN THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM. 



The picture shows a weakened specimen. 



Photo by L. B. Spencer. 



may rest with the galvanized iron shijiping 

 tanks, which while satisfactory for fishes, may 

 be all wrong for the octopus. The fish remains 

 suspended in its natural element in the tank, but 

 tlie octopus clings with all its suckers to the 

 sides. It is possible that it thus absorbs some- 

 thing injurious from the metal walls of the tank, 

 and in view of this possible source of injury, 

 the next season's sliipments will be made in 

 wooden tanks painted with asphaltum, which has 

 been found a safe coating for wooden troughs 

 used in the hatching of fish eggs. 



The octopus is a prize exhibit in any aquarium 

 where it is kept, and should be represented in 

 our collections — especially as tliere is no serious 

 difficulty about the capture and feeding of speci- 

 mens. With live spiny-lobsters, crabs or mus- 

 sels as bait, it is often taken in the large wicker 

 fish traps used everywhere in the West Indies, 

 but in Bermuda it is usually captured by divers, 

 who seize it with their hands. The use of the 

 fish-trap requires time, and the octopus may be 

 killed by morays or rock fishes entering the trap. 

 It would not venture into a trap already con- 

 taining any large fish. 



It is frequently caught with hook and line, 

 but when hauled up clings so tightly with its 



