ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 89 
pect to see them following their parents about 
and searching for food, which should be the 
same as that used for baby goldfishes. 
CuROMIDE 
Tue Briack-Banpep 
A specimen of Black-banded Chromide (Cich- 
lasoma nigrofasciatum) from Brazil lived in the 
Aquarium laboratory for a year or so. A fish 
of exquisite coloration, it is nevertheless of an 
inordinately pugnacious, not to say ferocious, 
disposition. The male, in the breeding season, 
changes his rich brown coat for a deep black, 
beset with turquoise gems, and his pectoral fins 
become suffused with red. The breeding habits 
of this fish are the same as those of the red 
chromide. 
Tue Mouru-Breeper 
Haplochromis strigigena is an_ interesting 
mouth-breeder of the diminutive size of one and 
three-fourths inches, which comes from Africa 
and Egypt to delight the eye of the American 
aquarist, who knowns it also by a former name 
—Paratilapia multicolor. 
The colors of the fish are brown, burnished 
gold and blue, the male having a red-tipped anal 
fin. 
As in all mouth-breeding species observed 
from Africa, it is the female that carries the 
eggs in her mouth during incubation, the young 
in early infancy swimming back again for 
safety. The eggs are first laid in a hollow 
scooped in the sand, and then picked up by the 
female, whose mouth becomes distended to ac- 
commodate them. No food is taken by mouth- 
breeding fishes while the eggs are hatching, but 
fortunately for this little fish it is not obliged 
to abstain from food as long as are some large 
fishes of similar habits, the young, which may 
number from one dozen to six dozen, hatching 
in two weeks or less. It is customary among 
fishes for the male to care for the young when 
they receive any care, and the little male of 
this species resents very bitterly the assumption 
of maternal duties by his spouse. First being 
an anti-suffragist, he takes the next logical step, 
and when his mate gathers up the eggs, be- 
comes a wife-beater. At this juncture solitary 
confinement is the very best thing for his soul. 
Unfortunately it is necessary to remove the 
mother, too, when the young become free-swim- 
ming, for, forgetting her maternal instincts, 
sacrifice and all, she will make a meal off them. 
Live foods are best if procurable, but the 
young of this species will sometimes take arti- 
fical foods. The adults, which are hardy in 
captivity, appreciate a meat or fish diet, but will 
take foods similar to those prescribed for the 
rainbow fish. 
Cuaracin FisHes 
One of the species lays its eggs out of water 
PyRRHULINA 
A curious fish whose eggs are hatched out of 
water, is occasionally brought from South 
America—Pyrrhulina filamentosa. Gracefully 
formed, though not brilliantly colored, it is 
prized chiefly for its peculiar habit of fastening 
its eggs an inch above the water, where the 
male keeps them moist by squirting water upon 
them at frequent intervals. Luckily they hatch 
within two days, or his exertions might become 
wearisome. Once the eggs are hatched and the 
fry- drop down into the water, the parents take 
no further care of them. 
The species here pictured, P. australis, though 
a near relative of P. filamentosa, and strongly re- 
sembling it in other ways, lays its eggs in the 
water like other fishes. 
*GOBIES 
A large and yaried family of fishes, com- 
prising 600 species, found in both fresh and 
salt waters, ranging from half an inch in length 
to three feet, and among which are some of 
the Walking Fishes. Most of the gobies kept 
at the New York Aquarium inhabit warm, 
brackish water; but the hardiest of our gobies 
is 
THe SLEEPER 
These beautiful fishes, ranging from the Caro- 
linas to Brazil and the West Indies and also 
found on the Pacific Coast, thrive better in 
standing fresh water than in brackish water, 
though they have the disadvantage of out-grow- 
ing the home aquarium. They also come as near 
to eating their owner out of house and home as 
a fish very well can; and they are happiest in 
muddy water. But their lovely colors—rich 
shades of blue and yellow—compensate for 
most of the disadvantages. 
Just why the fish is called Sleeper (Dormita- 
tor maculatus ) is not quite clear, but it has two 
unusual habits, either of which may have given 
rise to the name. When first taken into captivity 
it has a trick of fainting from fright whenever 
a person moves before the tank or disturbs the 
water in it, and will lie on its back gasping for 
some time. An occasional specimen will die of 
fright, but as a rule sleepers recover from this 
habit after a few months in captivity and speci- 
mens well acclimated to confinement never faint. 
The sleeper also has a way of poising itself in 
the water for a considerable time as though medi- 
*For Walking gobies, see Walking Fish. 
