PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER FISHES. 



529 



they do in the case of other Hshes and that the I'aniily in which they 

 are (•ond)ined is a natural one. So far as the ventrals are involved, 

 the gourami is one of the intermediate types, having all the rays but 

 the outer filamentary one much al)breviated. 



Each of the genera whose ovipositing habits are known has its own 

 special method for the elaboration of the nest. The simplest of these 

 nests is that formed l)y the Trichogaster fasciatus,' next to it is that 

 of the fish of paradise {Macropodus viridi-am-'atus) . That of the 

 gourami is the most complex. A notice of the first can alone be 

 given here. 



THE RAINBOW FISH. 



The Trichogaster fasciatus (generally named Col'isu culgaris in the 

 ]3opular accounts of it) has a Avide range in the waters of India. The 

 ground color is greenish above, light beloAv, and fourteen or more 

 oblique orange bands traverse the sides, but besides these are brilliant 

 colors which have gained for the fish the English name rainbow 

 fish and the French equiv- 

 alent poisson arc-en-ciel. 

 It sometimes grows to a 

 length of about 5 inches, 

 but those of an inch and a 

 half are the most common. 

 The first and best account 

 of its nesting was given by 

 Paul Carbonnier in 1875. 

 Here is a translation which 

 was originally published in 

 the Annals and Magazine of Natural History for February. KSTC). 

 The next year (187(5) the author's son, Pierre Carbonnier. gave later 

 observations in the Bulletin de la Societe d'Acclimatation (p. 11-21). 



The i-ainbow fish is met with, in the tanlvs and ditches of the country watered 

 by the Ganges. Its length never exceeds 4 centimeters. It is one of tlie prettiest 

 of known fishes. One is agreeably surprised with the exuberance of colour that 

 nature has bestowed upon this little animal : but its most unportaut peculiarity, 

 from a scientific point of view, is its ukkU' of nidifir-ation. 



As the spawning time approaches, the male, sjircading bis luilliant liiis. plays 

 round the female, showing her his bright colours; with his long ventral filaments 

 he pats and touches her in all directions, until, overexcited by his caresses, she 

 takes to flight. I believe that all these graceful movements of the male fish, 

 a.ll these amorous ])roeeedings, influence the i)hysical 'condition of the female 

 and aid the maturation of the ova. 



The male fish then conniienccs tlis' preparations for oviposition. Seizing a 

 little conferva in his mouth, be carries it to the surface of the water. The 

 plant, from its greater density, would fall iiack very rapidly to the bottom ; but 

 our little worjvinan sucks in a few bubbles of air. wliicli he divides and places 

 iumiediately beneath the plants so as to prevent them from descending. He 

 repeats this process several times, and thus, in the first day tortus a floating 



Fig. 98.— The Rainbow fish (Trichogaster J'<isciatus). 

 After Day. 



