The Splashing Salmlet 



WALTER LANNOY BRIND, F. Z. S. 



CONHMffimm 





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The dainty, active, little Splashing 

 Salmlet, Pyrrhiilina filamentosa, was first 

 introduced as an aquarium fish by the 

 famous Rossmaessler Aquarium Society, 

 of Hamburg, late in 1905, having been 

 imported by them direct from Para, Bra- 

 zil. The scientific name means "red- 

 finned" and "thread-bearing," and refers 

 to the color and the elongated fins. A 

 remarkable feature is the absence of an 

 adipose or fat-fin (a small rayless fin 

 situated betwen the dorsal and caudal), 

 which is usually present on fishes of the 

 Characin group, of which our subject is 

 a member. The slender appearance of 

 the fish is very much accentuated by the 

 fins. The color of the body is silverv, 



olive on the back and white beneath. The 

 colors are very delicate and pearly — al- 

 most translucent. A horizontal black 

 stripe runs from the edge of the gill- 

 cover forward through the eye to the tip 

 of the snout. The dorsal and caudal fins 

 are flame-colored, the inner margin yel- 

 lowish, the outer fiery red, which gives 

 the fish its attractive appearance. A wild 

 male fish will reach a length of three 

 inches ; the female, two and one-half 

 inches. Aquarium-bred specimens sel- 

 dom attain more than two-thirds the size 

 of the wild fish. 



The Salmlet is very active, and espe- 

 cially so during breeding time, which 

 brings us to the most striking character- 



