Cynolebias Bellottii 



WALTER LANNOT BRIMD, F. Z. 5. 



As far as our collections of fishes in 

 America are concerned, Cynolebias 

 bclottii is an exceedingly rare fish, in 

 fact, I don't believe a specimen still per- 

 sists alive. To the best of my knowledge 

 the fish has only appeared in collections 

 in and about New York City, and that 

 some time since. Mr. J. Arthur Osborn, 

 one of the "old-timers" of the Aquarium 

 Society, New York City, was one of the 

 proud owners, and it was in his home 

 that I had the pleasure of seeing the 

 species for the first time. He didn't suc- 

 ceed in breeding it, nor did others here, 

 but "overseas" the aquarists were more 

 fortunate. 



The male is a beautiful shade of indigo 

 or sea blue, darker on the back. Over 

 this ground color are numberless sky-blue 

 or pearly gray spots ; a vertical black 

 stripe runs from the top of the head 

 downward through the eye to a point 

 below. Dorsal fin, dark blue ; anal, metal- 

 lic blue-green. Vertical stripes of dark 

 gray cross the body, with spots of same 

 color on the dorsal and anal fins. The 

 female is garbed in modest grayish- 

 brown, shading to white beneath. The 

 anal and dorsal fins are much smaller. 



Instead of depositing its eggs on water 

 plants, as in the case of its allies in the 

 genera Rivulus and Fundulus, this fish 

 buries the eggs separately in the sand, 

 the male standing on its head and boring 

 the holes in the bottom with his snout ! 

 The female approaches, with trembling 

 and fluttering movements on the part of 

 both sexes, and protrudes her oviduct, or 

 egg-depositing tube, whereupon both dart 



) 



\ 



) 

 I 

 } 

 ) 



I 



, 4 



upward through the water and down 

 again to the hole, wherein the female de- 

 posits a single egg. This the male 

 promptly fertilizes and then covers with 

 sand. From fifteen to twenty eggs are 

 thus stowed away daily, with intervals 

 of eight to fifteen minutes, for perhaps 

 eight to ten consecutive days. If the 

 adults are well nourished a similar period 



Cynolebias bellottii 



of sexual activity will commence a week 

 hence. Thereafter a temperature of 75 

 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit should be main- 

 tained ; other than for the fry and during 

 breeding activities, 70 degrees will be 

 sufficient. 



Schneising, who bred the species, 

 claimed that it took six months for the 

 eggs to hatch, but that is most unlikely. 

 He doubtless figured from the time his 

 first eggs were deposited, and they may 

 have been infertile. The concensus of 

 opinion places the period of incubation 

 at from seven to eight weeks, with a 



