THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM 



is a poor swimmer and cannot resist currents, remaining 

 for the most part stationary, attached by its tail to grasses 

 or seaweeds. Its comparatively large air bladder is an im- 

 portant factor in its equilibrium. If this is pricked to let 

 out a bubble of gas the size of a small pinhead, the fish falls 

 to the bottom, where it must remain until the wound is 

 healed and a new supply of gas secreted to enable it to 

 rise. There are about thirty-six species, mostly tropical, but 

 one extends north to Cape Cod, and this queer little fish 

 was exceedingly abundant in local waters last summer 

 (1916). 



Part of the wall space in the gallery is utilized for ex- 

 hibiting color prints prepared by the United States Fish 

 Commission, representing American food and game fishes 

 and fishes of the Hawaiian Islands and the West Indies. 



The small tanks in the center of the gallery contain the 

 Mexican swordtail, the Indian gourami and other fishes. It 

 is interesting to see the gouramis utilize their filamentous 

 fins as organs of touch. 



During the appropriate seasons there is maintained at 

 the Aquarium, as a fish-cultural exhibit, a hatchery in which 

 millions of young food and game fishes are produced for 

 the enrichment of the fishing waters of New York State, 

 the fish eggs for this purpose being supplied by the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries. 



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