Though the Chaetodon has been a familiar 

 aquarium fish for half a century and was ex- 

 ported to Germany many years ago, it is only 

 in the present year that any record of their 

 breeding habits has been made, so far as I 

 am aware. An article by Mr. F. Schubert, 

 appearing in the German Magazine "Blaetter" 

 of March 3d, 1914, and reproduced in Aqua- 

 rium Notes and News for April, 1914, gives 

 an interesting account of the breeding habits 

 of this species. 



Regarding Mr. Schubert's description of sex- 

 ual coloration, I can only say that I have 

 never been able to satisfy myself as to their 

 sex, except by the distension of the female 

 when gravid. I have never been able to dis- 

 cern any difference in shape or color, and I 

 have caught them in their breeding season, 

 some females being very dark and others very 

 light and tinged with yellow. Some of those 

 that were evidently males were likewise black 

 and some quite light, with the yellowish tinge. 

 Judging by analogy, it would be expected that 

 the male would be the one more distinctly 

 marked with bands or heightened color at this 

 season, but, as Dr. Theodore Gill has nointed 

 out ("A Plea for the Observation of the Ha- 

 bits of Fishes, and Against Undue Generaliza- 

 tion," "Pro. of 4th Int. Fishing Congress"), 

 we cannot safely generalize concerning such 

 matters. 



The natural habitat of the Chaetodon is the 

 sluggish or stagnant part of creeks or ponds 

 where there are dense masses of plants, and 

 among these they have their preferences, some 

 of them probably affording better protection or 

 more abundant food supplies. At all events, 

 the seeker after them may search a long time 

 before he finds their favorite haunts. In 

 winter they will be more closely segregated 

 and will, of course, be at or near the bottom, 

 while in spring and summer they will be near 

 the surface, where it is warmer. 



Because of its habit of living in dense 

 masses of plants, with a thick, soft, sedi- 

 mentary deposit beneath, it has always ap- 

 peared to me probable that they spawned on 

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