100 



aquatic JLitt 



must be separated from the parent as 

 soon as possible otherwise they will 

 surely be devoured. Their first food will 

 be the larger infusoria possibly, and I 

 have found that they incessantly nibble 

 the algse that grows in profusion on the 

 glass. When larger they should get 

 Daphne and Cyclops. Live food, how- 

 ever, I don't believe to be absolutely 



Nitella flexilis 



Courtesy of Innes and Sons 



necessary. I have raised three consecu- 

 tive broods on finely ground dry shrimp, 

 but I think they would have grown 

 faster on live food. In nature Holbrooki 

 feeds on mosquitoes and other insects, at 

 times mosquito wrigglers will be its prin- 

 cipal food. It also eats vegetable matter, 

 such as diatoms, desmids and filament- 

 ous alg?e. 



I use quite a good deal of dried shrimp 

 for all my fishes, sifting it into several 



sizes, using the coarsest for the large 

 ones and the finest for the babies. I 

 find it extremely satisfactory, and my 

 fishes seem to like it. All get a little of 

 it every day, and scraped lean raw beef 

 every other day. 



In concluding my little story of Hol- 

 brooki I suggest keeping its aquarium at 

 a moderate temperature, 65 to 70 de- 

 grees Fahrenheit, being most acceptable 

 to this hardy and attractive aquarium 

 fish. 



The generic name Gambusia is derived 

 from the Cuban word "gambusino," 

 which means "nothing;" affinis means re- 

 lated ; holbrooki, in honor of Holbrook. 



I have now in flower for the first time a 

 large plant of Sagittaria sinensis, which 

 has been growing in my 50-gallon aqua- 

 rium for the past three years. This is 

 one of the tanks that has been doing so 

 nicely by reflected light, about which I 

 wrote you some time ago. The water 

 has been maintained at about 60 degrees, 

 Fahrenheit, since last fall. Many have 

 admired the delicate little blossom. 



Another item of interest. Aquarists 

 and lovers of the terrarium are often 

 puzzled to find a food for salamanders. 

 Since early fall I have fed a dozen on a 

 ration made from equal parts of Peter's 

 and Walp's fish foods. After they 

 learned to eat it they took it as raven- 

 ously as the fishes. — J. Henii Wagner. 



Several species of European snails 

 have been introduced into this country, 

 apparently as eggs in straw used for 

 packing imported objects. It certainly 

 speaks for the creatures' resistance that 

 an egg caught on a growing stalk should 

 survive the conversion of the plant into 

 straw, the accidents of warehouse and 

 voyage, and finally hatch out on the waste 

 pile. — Guide to Nature. 



