938 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



snappers ; common and salmon rockfish ; common 

 and buffalo trunkfish; cowfish; butterfly-fish; 

 rock and red hinds; trigger-fish; porgy; white, 

 gray, yellow and blue-striped grunts ; squirrel- 

 fish; schoolmaster; rainbow parrot-fish; red and 

 Spanish hogfishes; porkfish; brown and green 

 niorays; filefish; yellowtail; Bermuda chub; 

 scorpion-fish ; surgeon-fish ; remora or shark- 

 sucker; southern puffer or swellfish, and sea 

 catfish. 



All of these except the buffalo trunkfish and 

 the queen angel-fish have been exhibited before 

 in the Aquarium. Some of these will eventually 

 be placed in the new Boston Aquarium, when 

 the salt-water tanks there are completed. In 

 the meantime, they are all being cared for in 

 the New York Aquarium and a large proportion 

 will remain on exhibition here. The collection 

 was made and cared for during transportation 

 by Mr. L. L. Mowbray, Superintendent of the 

 Boston Aquarium. 



Bulletin No. 6. — Wanted, one copy. 



The Giant Salamander. — After the lapse of 

 several years, the largest species of amphibian 

 known to the modern world is again represented 

 in the collections of the New York Aquarium. 

 The species, Megalobatrachus japonicus, is a 

 native of Japan, and is a veritable giant among 

 recent amphibians, reaching a length of about 

 three feet. 



Some of the early ancestors of the group were 

 as large as alligators, but witli the exception 

 of this one all the modern species are small, 

 most of them reaching a lengtli of onl_v a few 

 inches. 



Aside from the mere fact of size, the species 

 is interesting to the student of geographical 

 distribution because its onlj^ near relative is the 

 common hellbender {Criiptohranchus alleghe- 

 niensis) of the Ohio River drainage. Evidently 

 these two species are the last representatives of a 

 group which once had a world-wide distribution. 



The specimen at present in the Aquarium is 

 about two feet long. The giant salamander 

 lives well and has even been known to breed in 

 captivity. 



