96 



aquatic Kite 



spring-brass wire and wooden handles of 

 convenient length — twelve to fifteen 

 inches. Goldfish should be handled in 

 the broad, shallow type A; tropical and 

 natives species in B ; form C is similar, 

 but has a triangular loop. The deep fun- 

 nel D should be avoided. Fine bobbin- 

 ette is the best material for the bag. 



Egg Congestion 



J. LOUIS TROEMNER 



Last autumn I lost a very good Calico 

 Telescope goldfish, death having been 

 caused by egg congestion ; she was egg- 

 bound, in common parlance. The fish 

 was hatched in May, 191 5. Before she 

 was a year old she began to "fill out" 

 with eggs, and in June, 19 16, her roes 

 were so heavy that she began to pitch 

 slightly to one side, as is so often the 

 case. Although I tried all the tricks 

 usually resorted to in such cases, I could 

 not induce the fish to spawn. I was 

 afraid to attempt stripping her, for, 

 although I have seen it done, I have 

 never undertaken it myself, and I rather 

 feared that the fish might be injured. I 

 consulted one of our local aquarists, 

 thinking there might be some method of 

 relief that I had overlooked, but he as- 

 sured me that little could be done to 

 relieve the condition, and that it would 

 be safer to let nature take its course and 

 me my chances. That was about July. 

 The fish lived throughout the summer, 

 but did not spawn, and in November I 

 found her dead, almost in a normal posi- 

 tion, but still slightly pitched to one side. 



I opened the fish and carefully re- 

 moved the roe. The body, without the 

 roe, weighed 13 grams and 650 milli- 

 grams ; the roe alone weighed 10 grams 

 and 850 milligrams. Note the compari- 

 son. The eggs were almost half of the 

 total weight of the fish, and this develop- 

 ment was at its' height in July, the fish 



then being just a few months over one 



year old. 



— -*- — 



The favorite "Guppy," Lebistes reticu- 

 latus, was exhibited in competition at a 

 recent meeting of the Chicago Aquarium 

 Society. The championship and blue rib- 

 bon was won by Fred G. Orsinger; red 



Lebistes reticulatus 

 The Rainbow Fish or Guppy 



ribbon, William Hitchcock ; white rib- 

 bon, Fred Buchholz, Jr. Judges, Floyd 

 S. Young: and St. Elmo Linton. 



While goldfish and some others can 

 adapt themselves to water 100 degrees F. 

 on one hand and to 33 degrees F. on the 

 other, only asking that the change be 

 gradual, it should not be overlooked that 

 the high temperature is apt to caus<- 

 grave complications resulting from putre- 

 factive conditions within the intestines of 

 the fishes and in the water. Cold water 

 has a greater power to retain oxygen. 



The woman who constantly carries 

 around a magazine is not always a great 

 reader. Sometimes the magazine — un- 

 less it happens to be Aquatic Life — 

 contains her embroidery silk. 



