JOHNNY DARTERS. 2/ 



as is scarcely found elsewhere in the animal world 

 excepting on the heads of frogs. The same tint 

 shines out on the branching rays of the caudal fin, 

 and may be seen struggling through the white of 

 the belly. The blotches nearest the middle of the 

 back become black, and thickly sprinkled every- 

 where are little shiny specks of a clear bronze- 

 orange. In the aquarium Diplesion is shy and 

 retiring, — too much of a fine lady to scramble for 

 angle-worms or to snap at the *' bass-feed." She 

 is usually hidden among the plants, or curled up 

 under an arch of stones or in a geode. 



We never tired of watching the little Johnny, or 

 Tessellated Darter {Boleosoma nigrtim Rafinesque). 

 Although our earliest aquarium friend, — and the 

 very first specimen showed us by a rapid ascent 

 of the river-weed how ** a Johnny could climb 

 trees," — he has still many resources which we 

 have never learned. Whenever we try to catch 

 him with the hand, we begin with all the uncer- 

 tainty that characterized our first attempts, even 

 if we have him in a two-quart pail. We may know 

 him by his short fins, his first dorsal having but 

 nine spines, and by the absence of all color save a 

 soft yellowish brown, which is freckled with darker 

 markings. The dark brown on the sides is ar- 

 ranged in seven or eight w-shaped marks, below 

 which are a few flecks of the same color. Cover- 

 ing the sides of the back are the w^avy markings 

 and dark specks which have given the name of the 

 *' Tessellated Darter; " but Boleosoma is a braver 

 name, and we even prefer " Boly " for short. In 

 the spring the males have the head jet-black ; and 



