ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



933 



The morning before my arrival at the lake, 

 Mr. Thomp.son liad taken three hundred thou- 

 sand eggs. The Yellowstone trout yield on the 

 average not more than one thousand eggs, so to 

 secure the above number it had been necessary 

 to strip at least three hundred females. After 

 fertilization, the eggs, which are orange in 

 color and about the size of small peas, are 

 placed two or three layers deep in wooden trays 

 with a wire screen bottom, .md the trays arc 

 set in running water. 



The eggs when in this condition do not stand 

 transportation as well as they do after the em- 

 bryos have ])artially developed, so they are kept 

 at the lake until they are eyed, that is, until tiie 

 eyes af the developing embryos are visible as 

 black specks in the eggs. In this condition thev 

 may be shipped, with proper care as to tem- 

 perature and handling, to any part of the world. 

 For transportation from the lake the trays arc 

 packed in ice in the shipjiing crates and hauled 

 by express wagons sixty-five to seventy miles to 

 the nearest railroad station at Gardiner. Mon- 

 tana. From here they go by rail, usually to tlie 

 United States Fisheries Stations at Bozeman, 

 ^lontana, and Spearfish, South Dakota, for fur- 

 ther hatching, or they may be shipped else- 

 where. All that is required is that the eggs be 

 kept moist and the temjierature low. 



The eggs received at the New York Aquarium 

 make, first, the long drive out of Yellowstone 

 Park, then a twenty-five hundred mile trip by 

 rail. On their arrival the trays are again placed 

 in running water, maintained at a proper tem- 

 perature, and the )5rocess of development, which 

 has been delayed by the cold during the shiji- 

 ment, goes forward again to its comi>letion. 



Up to the period when the 3'oung fishes are 

 planted in streams and lakes to look after tliem- 

 selves, the work of tlie fish culturist, the jiroduet 

 of modern scientific methods, is far more certain 

 of its results than is the work of tlie agriculturist 

 or horticulturist. When our visitors view tlie 

 black-spotted trout hatched and reared in the 

 Aquarium, we beg that they will recall not 

 merely the long journey, but also the scientific 

 studies that have made possible such results. 



THE ORANGE FILEFISH 



ONE of the most unique fishes of our fauna 

 is the Orange Filefish (Aliitera schoepfi), 

 known also by a variety of local names, 

 such as foolfish, leather-jacket, hambag-fish, old 

 maid, living skeleton and sunfish. The name 

 filefish is derived from the serrated character 

 of the dorsal spine, which is somewhat like that 



.I.VWS OF ORANGK FILEFISH 



of the trigger-fishes, to which the species is 

 closely related. The term foolfish was un- 

 doubtedly applied on account of the peculiar 

 facial expression, and the actions of the fish in 

 swimming tend to strengthen the application. 



The color of the adult fish is usually a light 

 orange overlaid with irregular brown blotches, 

 but a great amount of variation is observed, and 

 sometimes when the brown is wanting the fish 

 has a startling resemblance to an animated 

 omelet. The filefish, along with the trigger- 

 fishes, has been cited as an example of warn- 

 ing coloration, their striking hues being supposed 

 to signal the fact that the flesh is poLsonous. 

 The scales are very small and covered with sharj) 

 prickles which give to the skin a texture not 

 unlike the shagreen of the shark. 



In form the fish is very deep and extraordi- 

 narily thin so that the prominent features of the 

 skeleton are often observable externally, and the 

 common name living skeleton is rather appro- 

 priate. The upper part of the head is remark- 

 ably retracted so that the eye is situated almost 

 under the dorsal S))ine and above and ]iosterior 

 to the gill ojjening and the jiectoral fin, while 

 the latter is anterior to the hinder end of the 

 very oblique gill opening. The lower jaw is 

 protruded to such an extent that its teeth are 

 directed strongly backward. 



The position of the small moutli is such tliat 

 the fish must assume very unusual ]iositions in 

 feeding. In nature they find their food about 

 jiiles. rocks and in similar situations, and they 

 feed upon corals, hydroids, bryozoa, mollusks, 

 Crustacea, seaweed, etc., which they cut up by 

 means of the sharp, incisor-like teeth. Only 

 when the food is above them can they take it in 

 a horizontal position; if it is in front of them 

 they must turn obliquely downward, while if it 



