ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



929 



Evermann, in their Report upon the Fishes of 

 North and Middle America, list about three 

 thousand live hundred species. Since the aj)- 

 pearance of this work a number of additional 

 species have been described. How many fishes 

 yet remained unknown, how man}' of those listed 

 are pure synonyms or should be classed merely 

 as variations, cannot be known until many more 

 years of study liave been given to the subject. 



Mr. W. W. Henshaw, Chief of the Biological 

 Survey at Washington, lias recently published 

 an estimate of the probable immber of species 

 of vertebrated animals in tlie world {Science, 

 Sept. 6, 1912, p. 317) as follows: 



Mammals 7,000 



Birds 20,000 



Crocodiles and turtles 300 



Lizards 3,300 



Snakes 2,400 



Frogs and toads 2,000 



Salamanders 2U0 



Fishes 12,000 



Total 47,200 



As Mr. Henshaw points out, such estimates must 

 necessarily be little more than guesswork, ex- 

 cept, perhaps, in the birds and mammals which 

 are better known than the other groups. In 

 view of the fact that some three thousand five 

 hundred fishes are listed for North American 

 waters north of Panama, the total of twelve 

 thousand for a world estimate appears rather 

 small. To be sure, many species, especialh' of 

 the ocean waters, are very widely distributed, 

 and many undoubtedly yet remain to be placed 

 in synonymy. Yet, when one considers the vast 

 regions of the earth — central portions of South 

 America, Africa and Asia, the islands of 

 Oceanica and depths of the ocean, in all of 

 which the fish fauna is very imperfectly known 

 — it would seem tliat Mr. Henshaw's estimate is, 

 to sav the least, a verv conservative one. 



NEW MEMBERS 



June 6. 1,')12, to October S, 1912 



ANNUM. MEMBERS 



Mrs. C. C. Aucliincloss, Mrs. H. K. Pomrov. 



Mrs. Alvin W. Krech. II. C. Koehler. 



Mrs. Frederick H. Eaton, Arthur B. Hunn, 

 Mrs. Joseph Palmer Knajip, Sidney J. Jennings, 

 Mrs. E. LeGrand Beers, James Timpson, 

 Mrs. Del.ancev Kane, Maunsell S. Crosbv. 



Dr. J. H. O'Connell, M. M. Hansford, " 



Mrs. Augusta Booth, Theodor A. .Simon. 



Baroness R. de CirafFenried. 



THE GARDEN POOL AND THE 

 MOSQUITO 



IT IS a matter of common knowledge that 

 many species of small fishes have a fond- 

 ness for the larvae of the mosquito as an 

 article of diet. The result of this is that open 

 streams and ponds where fishes thrive never 

 produce large numbers of this irritating and 

 often dangerous pest. Unfortunately for 

 humanity the mosquitoes are not as particular 

 where they live as fishes are, and will thrive 

 in many places unfitted for fish life. Appar- 

 ently no puddle of water is too small or too foul 

 to breed mosquitoes, while fishes, even catfishes 

 and carp, have their limits. Anj^ temporary 

 nuid-hole Iiolding water for a couple of weeks 

 may yield a plentiful crop of mosquitoes, and 

 even a tin can, before it has time to go dry after 

 a heavy rain, may furnish enough to cause a 

 household considerable worr}'. 



The rain barrel can be covered, the tin can 

 emptied, the jjuddle drained or oiled, but wliat 

 about the fountain and tlie lily pool, which, 

 even in the heart of the city, is maintained for 

 the beauty and interest, and apparently also for 

 the mosquitoes it affords? The garden pool 

 cainiot be oiled like the stagnant marsii pool. 

 To do so woukl destroy its beauty; to drain it 

 dry enough to kill tlie mosquitoes would also 

 mean tlie killing of the plant life contained in 

 it. The one solution of the problem is the in- 

 troduction of small fislies in sufficient numbers 

 to destroy the wrigglers. 



Without question, the best fish for this pur- 

 pose, all things considered, is the goldfish. The 

 common variety of goldfish is hardv and well 

 suited by centuries of cultivation for life in such 

 pools. Tliey are easily obtained from dealers 

 in fish and aquarium supplies and will stand 

 shipment in a small amount of water better than 

 most any other ordinary fish — and "commons" 

 are cheap. A few small specimens introduced 

 into a pool will be sufficient to keep the mosqui- 

 toes in check, for it has been shown by abundant 

 evidence that the young goldfishes will select 

 the wrigglers for food, even in the presence of 

 various sorts of prepared fish foods. 



In the fall, when the water is turned off to 

 drain the pool, the fish may be transferred to 

 indoor aquariums, or tliey may be returned to 

 the dealer and a new suijply jjurchased the fol- 

 lowing s])ring. The lily ))ond and fountain 

 sliould not be permitted to become a nuisance to 

 the household and the neighbors when the addi- 

 tion of a few common goldfisjies will not only 

 remove the mosquito larvae before they trans- 

 form, but will at the same time render the pool 

 much more attractive. 



