THE AQUARIUM BULLETIN 



41 



invite comparisons. Day by day some 

 one learns exactly what kind of food 

 is required by each species and how 

 often food should be given. Next 

 may be the consideration of how to 

 keep the water of the tank sweet and 

 clean, and what plants help most 

 toward that end. "What fishes may 

 safely be kept in the same aquarium?" 

 is another practical question, and 

 "How are young fish born?" is some- 

 thing that everyone wishes to have 

 explained. 



Most of our beginners think baby 

 fishes come from spawn or eggs, but 

 one visit to the Museum usual clears 

 up the fallacy. Then there is 

 excitement in 1 o o k i n g for the 

 youngest fishes just born alive. It 

 is not always easy to find them, so 

 closely do they resemble the color of 

 their surroundings, and so readily do 

 they "take to cover" in the fine green 

 undergrowth provided for the pur- 

 pose. But every difficult)' that pre- 

 sents itself to the real little naturalist 

 is sooner or later surmounted. The 

 little eyes become sharper; the minds 

 grow more discriminating, and the 

 questions have a more searching char- 

 acter. The desire to have aquaria at 

 home is no longer to be resisted, and 

 then the Museum lends its help in 

 stocking home aquaria. Every such 

 aquarium inspires its owner with new 

 questions which keep Miss Ruth busy. 



In another issue of THE AQUAR- 

 IUM BULLETIN we will tell about 

 some of the lessons that have been 

 learned from aquatic animals other 

 than fishes. 



*(The Children's Museum is located in Bedford 

 Park on Brooklyn Avenue between Prospect Place 

 and Park Place and may be reached by St. 

 Johns Place car to Brooklyn Avenue. Fulton 

 Street or Bergen Street cars or Fulton Street 

 "I/' to Tompkins Avenue, or via Nostrand 

 Avenue and Tompkins Avenue cars to Prospecl 

 Plate. Editor. ) 



Interesting Minnows 



By J. T. Nichols 



of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, New York. 



The carp or minnow family is 

 perhaps the largest group of fresh- 

 water fishes in the world. Its num- 

 erous species, including the domestic 

 goldfish, are spread throughout the 

 Old World and North America. They 

 are mostly small fishes which can be 

 kept successfully in aquaria. 



These fishes have no teeth in the 

 mouth, their place being taken by 

 those on the pharyngeal or throat 

 bones. A minnow from the fresh 

 waters of Western China which the 

 writer has recently examined at the 

 American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory has the jaws hardened, and 

 although toothless, bearing a peculiar 

 superficial resemblance to the fused 

 teeth of a Swell-fish (Tetrodon), it 

 is otherwise a very beautiful and 

 interesting fish with scales very small, 

 and the thick body covered with large 

 black spots. 



We have a species with similar 

 mouth in America, Cochlognathus 

 from Texas; and Exoglossom, the 

 cut-lip minnow, found from Lakes 

 Ontario and Champlain to Virginia 

 has a very peculiarly formed lower 

 jaw. If such fishes were kept in 

 aquaria, it should be possible to learn 

 how they make use of their peculiar 

 structures. Surely, they do make 

 some use of them. 



A further interesting article on the 

 breeding of Scalare will appear in the 

 November number. It tells of the 

 great success of a successful breeder 

 and the reasons for his previous 

 failure. 



