PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH- WATER FISHES. 



481 



Fk;. C3. — Hyper opUushehe. Front view. 

 After Gcoffroy Saint Hilairc. 



Some of the Morinyricls, especially the kaiiiiunie. are ([iiite i)ug- 

 nacious. Those in the Ee:vptian Zooloofical (xardeiis '" fight a i>Teat 

 deal ainoiio; themselves, and several individuals which died from 

 time to time durino^ 1903, it is believed, had been killed by their 

 comrades, but latterly these fights have been less frequent.*' They 

 still continued, however, during 11)05, 

 and five were killed in the last year. 



All the Mormyrids in the Giza gar- 

 dens were fed on •"finely chopped-up 

 earth worms," which they soon learned 

 to look for daily. After nightfall the 

 kannume especially becomes " very ac- 

 tive, searching energetically for food. 

 When the light from a match or lamp 

 falls on them, their eyes shine very remarkabl}^, sometimes white, 

 sometimes gleaming red." 



The Mormyrids a[)pear to be mostly more or less nocturnal in a 

 state of nature, but in captivity most of them soon learn to feed by 

 da^dight. The representatives of the Mormyrops anguiUoides, how- 

 ever, '" are of very retiring habits, and spend most of the day hidden 

 under the rock work of the tank, only coming out to feed at dusk." 

 " It is interesting to see " the kannume "' searching the bottom of the 

 tank, examining every stone and cavity with their long snouts, for the 

 pieces of chopped-up earthworms which are daily put in for them to 

 feed on." 



They are by no means tenacious of life, ))ut die quickly after being 

 taken from the water, and Fritsch had great difficulty in keeping 



them, alive long enough for 

 his experiments with them. 

 In fact, he could not keep 

 them over more than two or 

 three days at most. 



The nesting habits of a fish 

 supposed to be a species of the 

 family {Hyperop'tsuH hehe) 

 were observed by J. S. Budgett 

 in 1000. The ptirent scoops out 

 a depression of the bottom of 

 a swamp, lajdng bare rootlets 



Fii;. 04.— Eggs from nest supposed to be that of 

 Hyperopisus bcbe. After Budgett. 



of grasses growing in such 



situations, antl to such rootlets 

 the eggs are attached. ^ The eggs are slighth^ oval and small, being 

 about 1| millimeters in diameter and of a yellowish color but semi- 

 transparent ; they are hatched in alxnit four days. The embryos 

 " are then provided with four large cement glands situated on 



