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One Emotions of Fishes 



ALBERT GALE 



Ro^al Zoological Socieb? of New South Wales 



Have fishes sensibilities akin to those 

 of warm-blooded animals? We know 

 they have the natural feelings of love, 

 courtship and matrimony. If we watch 

 fish that are under the confinement of 

 an aquarium during the connubial season 

 we see they are actuated in precisely the 

 same way as are warm-blooded animals. 

 Each sex has its rivals in greater or less 

 degree, and the period of courtship var- 

 ies ; sometimes it is lengthened into days, 

 at other times it is "love at first sight." 

 When there are several fish of one vari- 

 ety in the tank, and the sexes are not 

 equal numerically, some are left un- 

 paired, and the unfortunate ones are very 

 soon worried and bitten to death. This 

 is a trait with paradise fish. As a rule 

 these are monogamous, although on one 

 occasion I saw a case of polygamy. 

 Where fish live solitary lives their matri- 

 monial traits differ from those of gre- 

 garious fish. Gold and other carp are 

 communal. Two male zebra fish (Cich- 

 lasoma facetum), when separated one 

 from the other by a sheet of glass only, 

 will for days be striving for a combat. 

 By their pugnacious characteristics we 

 know they have the capacity of hatred 

 and malice. Should they by any chance 

 get together, then begins a struggle for 

 the mastery. First they view each other 

 from a distance with every sign of enmity 

 and rancour, approaching each other 

 with open mouths. They soon become 

 interlocked, the one is held by the upper 

 and the other by the lower jaw ; it then 

 becomes a tug-of-war to the finish, unless 

 there be a means of escape. That they 



are sympathetic with their own young 

 there is ample proof. When in captivity 

 they are timid and fearful, even when 

 generation after generation have been 

 reared in captivity. We have seen them, 

 when disturbed by a sudden noise, remain 

 for a moment or so motionless, tremble, 

 then sink to the bottom, gasp for breath, 

 and with fins quivering literally die of 

 fright. 



In an aquarium the most interesting 

 functions of fish life are lost to view if 

 the law to "replenish the earth" be neg- 

 lected. For without the patient investi- 

 gation of the laws relating to procreation 

 and the perpetuation of species, all writ- 

 ten language relating thereto fails to en- 

 lighten the observer of nature's most in- 

 teresting processes, how she works out 

 her hidden secrets and at the same time 

 reveals to the student how she "replen- 

 ishes the earth." 



Discrepancies exist between what is 

 written and what is seen. Darwin, in his 

 work, "The Descent of Man," says "carp 

 (Cyprinidae) appear regularly to follow 

 the practice, rare in the animal kingdom, 

 of polyandry — when a female carp comes 

 amongst the males she is immediately 

 pressed closely by a male on each side, 

 and when they have been in that position 

 for some time are superseded by two 

 other males." 



Carp are gregarious, and their court- 

 ship and marriage are carried on under 

 communistic conditions. Darwin ob- 

 served their gregarious habit only, but 

 did not attempt to verify the necessity or 

 otherwise of a male fish on each side of 



