"f V- 



The butterfly fish, Pantodon buch- 

 holzi, is not as well known as most 

 aquarium fishes to aquarists, because it 

 has not yet been bred in captivity. Back 

 in 19 14 I had one spawn, but the eggs 

 all turned white, presumably because not 

 fertilized. 



This odd fish is the only true fresh- 

 water "flying fish," though its flights 

 consist more of leaps — volplaning, to use 

 a term of the aviator — of twenty or 

 more feet above the surface of .Lake 

 Tchad in West Africa, in pursuit of 

 flying insects upon which it feeds. It 

 also occurs elsewhere throughout equa- 

 torial West Africa — Niger, Congo, Ga- 

 boon, Cameroon and probably other sec- 

 tions. At the present time I am the for- 

 tunate possessor of a fine pair, the fe- 

 male of which is the largest and came 

 to me from a friend who had kept her 

 in solitary confinement in a small aqua- 

 rium for about a year. The male was 

 one of five owned by the New York 

 Aquarium, and I was lucky enough to 

 secure him in an exchange deal. 



My pair do not "scrap," as have most 

 other specimens I have had. On the 

 contrary, they preserve an attitude of 

 "watchful waiting" for any juicy meal- 

 worms, flies or cockroaches which I may 

 pass to them, and as long as the female 

 gets first pick all goes well. They will 

 not eat, and apparently cannot see, any 

 live food unless it floats on the surface, 

 and then it must move to interest them. 

 The prey being cxcceptable, the fish 

 glides under the surface by means of 

 a gentle movement of its tail, causes not 

 a ripple that might warn an insect of 



<TKe j 



BUTTERFLY FISH I 



1 



WALTER LANNOY BRIND, F. Z. 5. \ 



danger, seizes it, and with two or three 

 gulps, swallows it whole. 



I breed meal-worms for my butterfly 

 fish, and, as is well known, they have 

 biting jaws which might cause discom- 

 fort to the insides of a fish if swallowed 



Pantodon buchholzi 



whole. The fish seem to know all about 

 this. When a worm is seized, if it be 

 a large and husky one, it is held sub- 

 merged until drowned, and then swal- 

 lowed. Again it may take the worm 

 tail first, crunching the head as it passes 

 between the powerful jaws. The end 

 of the lower jaw is hooked and fits into 

 a corresponding notch in the upper one, 

 affording a vice-like grip. 



In color the species is like an owl — 



