Mat 18, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



291 



v^irwy- 



THE PARADISE FISH. 



THE paradise fish is a representative of the family 

 Macropus. These fish have very large fins, less deve- 

 lopetl in the female. The brownish colour of the upper 

 side changes into a greenish gray on the lower side ; the 

 markings consist of changeable yellowish green, or blue 

 and red cross- lines. Their length is from eight to nine 

 centimetres. 



Very little is known of these fish in their free life. 

 They are universally kept in activity in China, and treated 

 as our gold fish, but are more easily propagated in a limited 

 space. 



They are better adapted for household pets than other 

 fish of this class, as they can live in a much less quantity 

 of water, and can remain out of the water for twenty 

 minutes and more without injury. Giraud brought one 

 hundred of these fish from China, and, although during the 

 tedious journey he was not able to give them sutEcient 

 room or the necessary care and nourishment, twenty-two 

 of them lived. 



Benecke says that "in May of the year 1878 he obtained 

 a pair of paradise fish. They were placed in a basin con- 

 taining about forty litres of waters. They immediately 

 went to work to devour the small crawfish and larv.-e of 

 insects which had been placed in the vessel After these 

 ■were consumed two crawfish, water fleas, and mussels were 

 put in. The mussels they had not received before, and 

 evidently had never eaten them, for at first they only took 

 hold of the little animals and then released them with a 

 shake of the head, but after a day or two they only ate the 

 mussels, leaving the water fleas placed in the ha'sin unmo- 

 lested. One day no mussels could be obtained, and they 



ate greedily not onlj' small but very large angle worms, 

 from five to eight centimetres long and two millimetres 

 thick. They always rejected the intestines of the worms. 

 When the worms were put in the basin, as they were taken 

 from the ground, they would shake them two or three 

 times, then let them go, then throw them around in the 

 water, in order to shake oft' the dirt before eating them. 

 If the worm struggled, they would sling it against the 

 water plants or the sides of the basin. 



About three weeks after the fishes were received the 

 male began to build a nest. For this purpose he would 

 come up to the surface of the water, take his mouth full of 

 air, thrust it under the water, forming small bubbles of film 

 like spittle, and continue thus to build a layer of these 

 bubbles lianging quite firmly together, adding new layers 

 until it was completed. 



About twenty-four hours after the spawning, the germ 

 may be perceived in the pale yellow yolk of the egg — a day 

 later the heart begins to beat — twelve or eighteen hours 

 after the young, imperfect fish escapes from the egg ; it is 

 similar to a small tadpole. In eight months it is full 

 grown. So long as the fish needs parental care the male 

 devotes himself to it. As soon as the young fish starts 

 away he hastens after it, seizes it with his mouth, swallows 

 it, and spits it out into the nest of foam. They care 

 specially for the sick and feeble ones. As soon as the 

 young fish no longer needs his assistance he forsakes it, 

 without appearing to have any interest in its fate, and has 

 no hesitation in devouring it. 



The young subsist at lii-st upon the foam of the nest, 

 later upon small animalcules not visible to the naked eye, 

 and finally upnn the same food as the parents. — From 

 Brehm's Thierkbdi. 



