102 



ftquatk ILitt 



the same tank, and in ten days it is dead. 

 Let us analyze its symptoms before it 

 leaves us : restless swimming about the 

 aquarium ; vigorous taking of food only 

 to reject it; bowel trouble; hemorrhagic 

 streaks of blood in tail or the other fins, 

 etc. Is this scurvy? Most decidedly, for 

 the cause and symptoms are too similar 

 to those of the infant to be mistaken. 

 Yet I have never seen it described as 

 such in any book touching upon the dis- 

 eases of goldfish. The little sufferer now 

 becomes the victim of parasites, other 

 complex symptoms arise which need not 

 be mentioned here, and if not promptly 

 removed to salt water it soon becomes but 

 a memory of its former beauty. 



The remedy is prevention, and preven- 

 tion means the use of some sort of live 

 food during the winter. Ground earth- 

 worms have advocates. Some claim suc- 

 cess by feeding a live oyster. A few of 

 the little white worms, Enchytra, fed 

 daily, is a typical ration. It is easy to 

 raise them. Other food may not be stop- 

 ped, but do feed them a few of the white 

 worms daily as a relish. They will give 

 that "something" to your little finny 

 friends which causes them to grow with 

 health and vigor. 



The feeding of some live food will not 

 save all the young goldfish, but it will 

 prevent this scurvy which is the cause 

 of the heavy mortality. Moreover, I con- 

 sider that the breeders of goldfish shouVl 

 instruct their customers in the use of live 

 food and thereby stop this everlasting : 

 "Yes, I have had goldfish, but they all 

 soon died." 



The Fiery-Black Minnow 



If there is anything in names, then that 

 of Notropis pyrrhomelas should attract 

 the aquarist. Thus far it seems to have 

 escaped, at least we find no mention of 

 it in aquarium literature. This minnow 

 comes from the Catawba and Yadkin 



basins of North Carolina, and is said to 

 be quite abundant. Dr. Hugh M. Smith, 

 in his "Fishes of North Carolina," de- 

 scribes the coloration as follows : Males, 

 steel blue above, the scales darker-edged, 

 belly abruptly milky white ; head, pale 

 reddish ; muzzle, upper lip and iris, Ver- 

 million ; dorsal fin, vermillion anteriorly, 

 a black spot posteriorly, with a milk- 

 white tip ; caudal with broad black pos- 

 terior margin, next to which is a wide 

 vermillion crescent, base of tail, pale; 

 anal and ventral fins with white pigment ; 

 females duller. 



It would seem from the description 

 that the fiery-black minnow would be a 

 very desirable addition to the growing 

 number of American fishes now used by 

 aquarists. It is comparatively small, 

 hence desirable in that respect, reaching 

 a length of three and one-half inches. 

 Dr. Smith says that "it is probably the 

 most beautiful of the minnows, the bril- 

 liant red, black and white making a sharp 

 contrast. The males retain their colors 

 until autumn, and possibly throughout 

 the year." Aquarists who are in a posi- 

 tion to secure fishes from the Carolinas 

 would do well to endeavor to obtain this 

 very attractive species. 



Daphnia in Lake Mendota 



The Daphnias occurred in patches of 

 irregular extent and shape, perhaps 10 

 by 50 meters, and these patches extended 

 in a long belt parallel to the shore. The 

 surface waters were crowded by the 

 Daphnias, and great numbers of perch 

 were feeding on them. The swarm was 

 watched for more than an hour. The 

 water could be s^en disturbed by the 

 perch as far as the eye could reach. 

 * * * On this occasion the number was 

 shown to be 1,170,000 per cubic meter 

 of water in the densest part of the 

 swarm. — Birgc. 



