127 



Aquatic Mtt 



shown in the accompanying cut; and, as 

 for its general anatomy, that is a large 

 subject, one much in need of treatment 

 and at the hands of the comparative anat- 

 omist. Even when Jordan and Ever- 

 mann issued their great work on the 

 "Fishes of North America," they were 

 quite at a loss to present the exact rela- 

 tions of some of the fishes supposed to 

 be related to the Scombroidei. The re- 

 lationships were not known, and for the 

 reason that the anatomy of the forms 

 in question was not known. 



All the mackerels are carnivorous by 

 nature, and the few species in the genus 

 are of wide distribution. They are sought 

 for food by man in all parts of the world 

 where they occur; and as they generally 

 swim in immense schools, they are fre- 

 quently taken in large numbers at a time. 

 The word Scomber is from the Greek, 

 and is a very old term for a mackerel. 

 An adult specimen of the Common spe- 

 cies averages about 18 or 19 inches in 

 length. They are extremely abundant 

 on both coasts of the Atlantic, ranging 

 southward to Cape Hatteras on our side, 

 and to Spain in Europe. 



Marbled Salamander 



(Concluded from page 125) 

 eat prior to this time. The following day 

 the Amblystoma was offered worms 

 again and refused. On December 3rd a 

 housefly, half stunned, was placed in 

 front of this salamander and was im- 

 mediately accepted. On December 5th the 

 salamander was out all day, but the next 

 two days it remained under cover. Then 

 it came back to its old place of feeding 

 (a smooth stone) and was offered a 

 meal worm 1 0-4 inches long but refused 

 it, taking another \]/a, inches. 



During the two weeks following it 

 was unavoidably neglected, but at the 

 end of the period it quickly disposed of 



another worm. On January 8th it ate a 

 worm almost half as long as itself, hav- 

 ing a difficult task to swallow it. From 

 this date to the time of writing both in- 

 dividuals have been in a state of semi- 

 torpidity, due to sudden changes in tem- 

 perature. At no time during the day 

 was temperature lower than 57 degrees, 

 Fahrenheit, recorded in the vivarium, 

 but during the night it no doubt fell con- 

 siderably due to open windows. These 

 salamanders have been in continuous 

 good health ever since they were taken. 

 Altogether they have made decidedly pic- 

 turesque as well as interesting pets and 

 are quite tame, coming up to the stone 

 upon which they are usually fed and 

 showing other evidences of intelligence. 



News Notes 



The Reading Aquarium Society gave 

 its annual duck dinner in connection with 

 the regular meeting and exhibition in 

 December. Black telescopes were ex- 

 hibited in competition for prizes, the 

 first being awarded to Mr. Kershner, the 

 second to Mr. Hepler, and the third to 

 Mr. Hermansader. 



At the annual meeting of the Mil- 

 waukee Aquarium Society the follow- 

 ing officers were elected for the ensuing 

 year: President, Henry O. Bossert ; 

 rice-president, W. R. White; treasurer, 

 Carl Bauer ; recording secretary, W. O. 

 Bechor ; corresponding secretary, H. A. 

 Fechtmeyer ; Custodian, L. Koszolka ; 

 librarian, Jacob Merget. 



During the latter part of May the Chi- 

 cago Aquarium Society will have a pub- 

 lic exhibition in the Art Institute. The 

 exhibits will be arranged to emphasize 

 the nature-study idea, and in other ways 

 depart from the average "aquarium 

 show." 



Jingo C. Nelles has again been elected 

 ] (resident of the Ridgewood Aquarium 

 Society, a tribute to his efforts to advance 

 aquarian interests. 



