16 



THE AQUARIUM BULLETIN 



Collecting Fish Under Difficnlties 



By Her:\ian Rabenau 



(Mr. Rabonau recently made his second excur- 

 sion in the interest of The Brooklyn Aquarium 

 Society, Inc., for the collection of Southern Wild- 

 fish to be used in the scientific study of the 

 Society.) 



Once a man gets the "Aquarium 

 Fever" he generally lets his enthusi- 

 asm carry him further than he 

 originally intended and, at times, 

 unpleasant experiences result. 



Having made one very successful 

 trip in the interest of The Brooklyn 

 Aquarium Society, Inc., for the 

 collection of specimens of wildfish 

 from Southern waters, for their use 

 in scientific study and exhibitions, I 

 was naturally elated to receive another 

 assignment. I concluded to go in the 

 cool Spring and to take in North 

 Carolina. 



Because of the concentration of 

 varied geographical conditions at the 

 upper headwaters of the different 

 streams, and the consequent variety in 

 species, I decided to make a round 

 trip that would embrace as much 

 territory as possible. 



Going first to the upper branches of 

 the Santee River in North Carolina, 

 I found mostly sandy river beds. 

 These branches are fed by cool 

 springs ; after each rain, however, the 

 water is yellow from clay sediment 

 with which the country is overlaid, 

 the rocky formation being from four 

 to ten feet beneath. 



Following up a branch of the Santee 

 River, the Catawba, great changes 

 were found, new bridges having re- 

 I)laced those washed away by floods. 

 The smaller tributaries, however, con- 

 trary to expectation, were clear and 

 shallow. 



Inquiring of a small boy if there 

 were minnows in the brook, I was told 

 that the druggist was selling them at 



ten cents each but I was disappointed 

 to find that the fish were comuKm 

 goldfish, carassiiis uiiratiis. However 

 the druggist, a Mr. Davis, proved of 

 great assistance by granting me 

 storage space for my paraphernalia. 



During the next few days I became 

 acquainted with the nearby brooks but 

 found specimens scarce, most of the 

 fish having been swept away during 

 the floods. 



As warmer weather approached, 

 however, specimens became slightly 

 more plentiful and I filled one can 

 with them and expressed it to Brook- 

 lyn, preserving in alcohol one of each 

 class. 



Never having seen a person collect- 

 ing fish in this manner before, the 

 natives viewed me with astonishment 

 and apprehension and finally verified 

 my statements by communicating with 

 the New York authorities. My next 

 blow was advices that my fish had 

 died enroute to New York, the reason 

 for which later proved to be the un- 

 suspected presence of wood alcohol, 

 instead of grain alcohol, in the coating 

 of the can used. 



Next going beyond Asheville, N, C, 

 to a point some 6000 feet above sea- 

 level, I learned of an aquarist, a Dr. 

 Von Rok, a philanthropist who main- 

 tains a beautiful conservatory with 

 pools, aquatic plants and goldfish. In 

 this territory I found only Blacknosed 

 Dace and a variety of Sculpins, 

 Coitus ictalops. 



I next left for Shausville where 

 I had collected on my previous trip. 

 I was here received by a Mr. Taylor 

 who lent me every aid. In this 

 vicinity were small ditches inhabited 

 bv minnows from shoals of which I 



