Breeding Viviparous Poeciliids 



HARRY W. BALLEISEN 



•b — 



— *f 



) 

 ) 



The prevalent method in breeding live- 

 bearing fishes is to place the female in 

 a small, thickly planted aquarium. At 

 birth the young drop to the bottom and 

 later rise to the surface seeking con- 

 cealment among the plants about the 

 surface. The disposition of the parent 

 fish seems to differ with the species. 

 Some give little attention to the fry if 

 well fed, permitting them to grow up in 

 the same tank without danger, while 

 others have been noted to devour the 

 new-born fry as fast as expelled. Prob- 

 ably in all cases a number are lost, de- 

 pending upon whether the female has 



i 



been well fed during confinement 

 Losses are apt to be greater in a small 

 aquarium than in a large one. 



During the past ten or fifteen years 

 several styles of "breeding compart- 

 ments" have been proposed and have 

 possessed merit. The best seems to be 

 the all-glass slot-in-the-bottom cage, 

 which is designed to hang in the water 

 from the side of the tank. Its disad- 

 vantage lay in its small size, but as it is 

 not now obtainable we need not go 

 further. On the same principle is the 

 compartment about to be describe 1, 

 which has the great advantage of being 



