ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



Til 



THE SPIDEK CRAB AT HOME. 



inatf the various exliihits aiirl labels, niakiiifi 

 the li^litinii; as effective as in the daytime. A 

 cluster of lights has also been placed at the 

 entrance and an electric sign indicates that the 

 building is open to the public. 



Breeding of the Octopus: Mr. L. L. Mow- 

 bray, curator in charge of the Bermuda Aquar- 

 ium, informs us that the Octopi in the Bermuda 

 Aquarium have bred during the past summer. 

 The female after laying the eggs, which are 

 in clusters somewhat similar to those of the com- 

 mon -squid, remained above them to protect them 

 until they hatched. Even the male Octopus 

 was attacked so savageh' that it was necessary 

 to remove him from the tank. i\Ir. ]\Iowbray 

 has promised us a full account of the breeding 

 habits for a later number of the Bulletin. 



Local Tuna Fishing: It may be of interest 

 to our readers to learn that the great or leaping 

 tuna. Thunnus thijunus (Linnaeus) is being- 

 taken in considerable numbers in this vicinity. 

 An account in Forest and Stream, October 1."). 

 1910, states that they are taken frequently by 

 the Swedish fishermen at Barnegat, N. J., on 

 hand lines, while fishing for bonita, etc. Speci- 

 mens weighing all the way fvoni twenty to one 

 hundred and fifty pounds have been t.iken in 

 this way. 



In the same numi)er of Forest ami Stream is 

 published a |)liotogra])ii of two tunas, one weigh- 

 ing twenty-five and the other fifty-two pounds, 

 taken with rod and reel on September .'iO. by 

 Mr. T. K. Townsend of the Asbury Park Fish- 

 ing Club. .More recently Mr. Town.send lias 

 taken another specimen weighing twenty-six and 

 one-half jjounds, which was sent to the Aquar- 

 ium to make certain of the identification. 



The tuna occurs both in the Atlantic and 

 Pacific, but the only place where it is regularly 

 fished for l)y anglers is at Santa Catalina, Cali- 

 fornia, where the well-known Tuna Club has 

 been organized. 



If the tuna is proved to occur with any regu- 

 larity on the New Jersey coast it will certainly 

 attract a great many sportsmen in search of this 

 Lin"- of ani>-ler's fishes. R. C. O. 



YOUNG THREAD-FISH. 



IX the Bulletin for March, 1910. there was 

 )iub]ished a brief reference to the thread-fish. 

 Alertis ciliaris (Bloch), together with a pho- 

 tograph of an adult specimen. The species de- 

 rives both its common and scientific names from 

 the long, lash-like filaments -^vhich are present 

 in the young, but which gradually disappear 

 with age. These structures are merely soft 

 filamentous appendages which grow from the 

 ti)3s of the first five or six rays of the dorsal and 

 anal fins. They may be connected for a short 

 distance by membrane or they may be entirely 

 free from each other. 



In the Bulletin note referred to, it was 

 stated that the streamers are sometimes twice as 



A RF-ARRANGEn LOBSTER. 



