92 



aquatic JLitt 



vegetable matter and small infusorians. 

 It has been stated that very young fish 

 will follow a female to catch the young 

 as they are liberated. 



Another food crustacean is Cypris, 

 though it is not as desirable as Daphnia. 

 It has a hard bivalve shell and in conse- 

 quence is sometimes called the hard-shell 

 water flea. Its movements are slow, and 

 even either in swimming or crawling over 

 the bottom. The young are developed 



Drawings by Author 



in a brood pouch, but, unlike the Daphnia 

 are not fully mature when expelled. It 

 multiplies even more rapidly than 

 Daphnia. 



Every aquarisf knows Cyclops. It will 

 appear in most any aquarium that has 

 been standing for a time without fishes. 

 It has a long, tapering body, ending in 

 two thin, sharp appendages ; a single eye 

 in the centre of the head ; two long anten- 

 nas used for propulsion. The female 

 bears two egg-sacs, each containing about 

 twelve eggs. The young mature in 

 about fifteen clays, and themselves bear 

 eggs. The female will develop egg-sacs 

 every few days. 



The fairy shrimp, Gamarus, rarely ex- 

 ceeds half an inch in length. In struc- 

 ture it resembles the ordinary shrimp, 

 being a more highly organized crustacean 

 than the others discussed. It has two 

 ways of moving through the water, swim- 

 ming and hopping, although it usually 

 swims. The large ones are very destruc- 

 tive to young fishes, but the young 

 shrimps serve as good fish food. 



It i^ regretted that space does not per- 

 mit a discussion of more of these inter- 

 esting little animals. There are so many 

 that it would take a large book to describe 

 and illustrate them. It is to be hoped 

 that these articles will arouse interest in 

 the many minute forms of aquatic life 

 that heretofore the aquarist has only re- 

 garded as food for fishes, neglecting to 

 study them from other than an economic 

 standpoint. 



The Essex County Aquarium Society, 

 Newark, has elected the following officers 

 for the year : President, Max G. ITam- 

 merschlag; vice president, G. W. Ludolf ; 

 treasurer, Dr. William Bachmann ; secre- 

 tary, William Feldman, 214 Runyon 

 street, Newark, N. J. 



The society celebrated its first anni- 

 versary on February 3d with a smoker- 

 entertainment. Twenty new members 

 were initiated. The meetings are held 

 on the first and third Friday of each 

 month, at the Newark Turn Yerein Flail, 

 186 William street, Newark, N. I. 



At the January meeting of the Boston 

 Aquarium Society, Chief Deputy Game 

 Warden Orrin C. Bourne delivered a lec- 

 ture on the work of the Fish Commission 

 of Massachusetts. The talk was illus- 

 trated by lantern slides of the various 

 fishes of the State, and scenes showing 

 methods of culture and distribution. — 

 Walter H. Chute, Secrctarx. 



