420 



PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER PISHES. 



burrow, and as the waters completely dried up it remained in the 

 mud, breathing air by means of an air hole." It, however, appeared 

 to make nothing so specialized as the cocoon secreted by the Pro- 

 toptere. 



As a rule, the Lepidosiren is a sluggish animal and wriggles among 

 the dense vegetation which it afl'ects. It acts as if it were almost 

 blind, " merely distinguishing light and shade,'' and is very sensitive 

 to vibrations in the water. "A remarkable point '' also, at least of 

 the 3'oung, was o1)served by Kerr. '' During the night the black 

 chromatophores all shrank up, so that the creature was of a nearly 

 ])ure white with round yellow spots."" With the return of daylight 

 the characteristic color is resumed. "At dawn the creatures are still 

 jjale. but gradually darken, until about sunrise the normal deep 

 color is re-attained." 



Fig. 12. — Views of two dry-season burrows of Lepidosiren. After <!. Kerr. 



The Lepidosiren is carnivorous and feeds mainly on " marsh 

 snails," or gastropods of the family of apple snails or Ampullariids, 

 one of which grows as large as a man's fist and has a dense shell which 

 the powerful teeth of the Lepidosiren are well fitted to crush. It 

 by no means confines itself, however, to mollusks, for specimens 

 have been " caught with a hook baited with fish," so that the Lepi- 

 dosiren occasionally at least feeds on fishes. Vegetable matter, too, 

 was found " in the alimentary canal of the Lepidosiren together with 

 the remains of the snails," but Doctor Bohls thought it " probable 

 that this may have been swallowed accidentally and not as food." 

 Kerr, however, thought that it deliberately fed " on masses of con- 

 ferva'." "During the rainy season, life being easy and food ex- 

 tremely abundant, the Lepidosirens eat voraciously; fat is stored up 

 in great quantities in their tissues. This is especially the case in the 



