PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER FISHES. 489 



ent is never far distant." Budgett kept many of the fry for several 

 weeks, but " could not get them to feed and eventually they all died." 



THE I :MBRIDS, OR MUDFISHES. 



The pairing and oviposition of Mudfishes or Umbrids has not been 

 observed in America, though I had some for months under observa- 

 tion, but P. Carbonnier appears to have succeeded in mating them and 

 observing the behavior of a parent fish to the eggs and young. The 

 fact, however, has been imiversally overlooked owing to his mis- 

 naming of specimens. He called them '' la Fondule {Fundida cypri- 

 nodonta. Cuv.)," but no such name appears in any of Cuvier's works 

 and the fish in question was evidently not a Fundidiis^ and there is lit- 

 tle, if any, doubt that it Avas the common Mudfish {XJunbra fygmcua) 

 occurring around New York. The reasons for this identification are 

 given in Science for December 21, 1906. The article by Carbonnier is 

 in the Buletin Mensuel cle la Societe d'Acclimatation for November, 

 1874 (pp. 665-674). It seems that the female fish there described 

 watches over her eggs " with a tender solicitude " during the fort- 

 night of " incubation." "' Elle ecarte et emporte avec soin tons les 

 sediments terreux qui })ourraient etre une cause d'alteration," etc. 

 For full details the original article should lie consulted. The identi- 

 fication here made should be confirmed by observations on living 

 fishes. The habits of the species are of unexpected interest. 



Fig. 7.'i. — An Ophiocephaliil, OphioKphulu^ a/ricanus. After Steiudachuer. 

 THE uriIl(»CEPHALJl)S. OK SNAKEHEADS. 



The old Romans had a Avay of (expressing incredulity by reference 

 to nature, but they were not always happy in so doing. Horace took 

 as the acme of improbability the existence of a black swan — rara avis 

 in terris; yet all the swans of Australia are black. Seneca would 

 " go a-fishing in the sea," and contrasted with such a natural course 

 another: ''There are many things in this place will come into thy 

 minde, which a man may term after a merry sort, both incredulous 

 and fabulous, that a man should go and fish with his pickaxe and not 

 with nets and hookes." 



Rut with pickax and si)ade may tlie ()phio('e|)hal()i(l fishes be 

 sought in India. The bed of a pond or even a river that appears to 

 KM 1905 35 



