20 



Aquatic liitt 



azure blue in addition to the orange ones ; 

 but I may be mistaken about this. My 

 Louisiana field notes are not at hand at 

 this writing; but I remember that in them 

 I had drawings of both the male and fe- 

 male of this elegant little butterfly of a 

 fish." 



Another fish of the genus, M. formosa, 

 from Mexico, is a nice aquarium speci- 

 men, but is inferior in color. The body is 

 greenish gray, with yellow cross-stripes ; 

 abdominal region, metallic blue; dorsal 

 and caudal fins dull yellow with dark 

 markings. In contrast to M. latipinna, 

 the males are smaller than the females. 

 Breeding habits, temperature and food 

 requirements the same. 



Nobody Works But Father 



Nobody works but father. 

 He's on guard all day — 



Fins in constant motion, 

 Keeping foes away. 



In the black bass family the male se- 

 lects a nesting place and then seeks and 

 escorts to it a mate. From 3000 to 

 10,000 eggs are laid, after which the 

 mother bass is driven away, never to re- 

 turn or to know her progeny. 



Father bass takes a position immedi- 

 ately over the nest, constantly fanning it 

 with his fins and ever watchful for in- 

 truders. This vigil continues for ten days 

 to two weeks, while the eggs are develop- 

 ing and hatching, and for a few days 

 thereafter while the young are getting 

 ready to try their fins. Woe unto the 

 sucker or other enemy which appears too 

 near to the nest! The faithful paternal 

 guardian darts fiercely after it and at- 

 tempts to rip it open with his dorsal fin. 

 By this means, unless he is attacked by 

 overwhelming numbers of carp or caught 

 by the angler, the father bass is able to 

 hatch his brood and care for them until 

 they scatter for food. 



The eggs of the basses cannot be arti- 

 ficially manipulated, and for its supply of 

 such fishes the Conservation Commission 

 must accordingly depend upon the vigi- 

 lance of father bass. The spawning time 

 of all fishes is governed by water tem- 

 perature. In normal seasons, in New 

 York waters, the basses do not leave their 

 nests before July 1, and in late seasons 

 the male bass may be seen hovering over 

 his nest until well past the middle of 

 July. 



Let us, therefore, give father bass a 

 chance to do his bit in food conservation 

 by working for an extension of the close 

 season until July 1, and let us refrain 

 from fishing over the spawning beds 

 whenever we find him guarding his nest. 

 even if it be during the open season.. — 

 New York State Conservation Com- 

 mission in American Field. 



I have just read the article on the red 

 bellied newt in the August number. I 

 have had them for years, but they nevei 

 bred. One pair I have kept with para 

 dise fish, and sometimes with goldfish 

 the latter being nipped and abused should 

 they become inactive or ill. The middle 

 third of my bay window has been ce 

 mented and converted into a swamp, with 

 plants, mosses, frogs, turtles and newts 

 Some time since the ordinary newts 

 crawled out and kept themselves under 

 flower pots or damp moss. A few days 

 ago the red-bellied newts deserted the 

 water almost at once for the more con- 

 genial "swamp." It seems therefore that 

 they will stay in a tank only when no 

 more atractive surrounding meets their 

 eye. — William Lcland Stozvell, M. D. 



Wired plate glass is better than ordi- 

 nary plate for the bottoms of small 

 aquaria. 



