172 



THE AQUARIUM, APRIL, 1895. 



THE BRAZILIAN ZEBRA FISH. 



{Heros facetus.) 



This new aquarium fish was first 

 brought to Germany by an enthusiast 

 a year ago, and was successfully projoa- 

 gated last summer. We saw the origi- 

 nal imported fish with their fry. Our 

 picture is a good representation ; we 

 reproduced it from Natur unci Haus. 



The fish attains a size of about five 

 inches in length by two inches in width. 

 The general appearance of the fish is 

 that of a sunfish ; the ground color of 



ing like fire on some occasions, resem- 

 bling those of the moss bass. 



The fish is very attractive, especially 

 when excited ; it reminds one of a her- 

 ald of the middle ages, whose dress used 

 to display the colors of their masters in 

 stripes. At other times the fish will 

 assume a very plain grayish color, with 

 only one irregular black spot on each 

 side of the body, midways and near the 

 ends of the dorsal and anal fins. Young 

 specimens show these peculiar markings 

 even more distinct than the adults. 



The Brazilian 



the body, which is entirely covered 

 with small scales similar in size to those 

 of the Paradise fish, is a brassy yellow 

 marked with a number of irregular ver- 

 tical bars or stripes of black ; the dorsal 

 and anal fins are large and long, being 

 composed of a great many rays, of which 

 about two thirds are spinous ; they 

 are black in color; at times, however, 

 when the fish is excited, the yellow of 

 the body becomes brighter and runs in 

 streaks into the black dorsal fin, mak- 

 ing this appear as if it was a continua- 

 tion of the body ; the ventral fin is col- 

 orless and transparent ; the caudal fin 

 is rounded. The eyes are yellow, flash- 



Zebra Fish. 



The habits of the Zebra fish are very 

 much like those of our Moss bass ; they 

 are very pugnacious and display the 

 same motions when attacking one an- 

 other as the Moss bass does, but their 

 point of attack is the mouth, which, if 

 they succeed in grasping, they hold 

 firmly, much like fighting male Paradise 

 fish do, until the weaker one gives up. 

 But although they fight a great deal, we 

 have not yet seen one that was seriously 

 hurt ; they seem to be on friendly terms 

 again soon after. 



Their breeding habits, too, are much 

 like those of the sunfish family. They 

 "pairojf'" during thesummerand pre- 



