aquatic JLitt 



67 



in the greater transparency of the fins, 

 and in the tendency of the interspaces to 

 become yellowish. 



Breeding females are consistently pal- 

 lid, a pale dirty straw, showing, if at all, 

 but mere traces of bars. Even the tiny 

 dots may be scarcely discernible. The 

 abdominal wall appears salmon-pink, the 

 color extending from the gills to the 

 vent. When the eggs have been expell- 

 ed the color has vanished, indicating that 

 it was incidental to fertility. In spent 

 females there is a slight deepening of 

 color, the dots appearing and becoming 

 confluent. Females are uniformly more 

 chunky than the males. The wide di- 

 vergence in the colors of the sexes (di- 

 morphism) while breeding is in marked 

 contrast to the sunfishes proper (Cen- 

 trarchidae), which develop little if any 

 differences in coloration at any season. 



Last summer a pair was segregated 

 in a tank that had been allowed to be- 

 come messy, and intentionally so. The 

 usual rubbish accumulated, Algae flour- 

 ished, but the water remained sweet and 

 was probably more pure than that in the 

 stagnant ponds frequented by the pigmy 

 in nature. At times the male was highly 

 colored, while the female waxed fat and 

 grew lean, but nothing eventuated. The 

 others, placed elsewhere, fared likewise. 



During September a 20-gallon tank 

 was released by the removal of its fishes 

 to other quarters, so it became the habi- 

 tat of the pigmies. This aquarium has 

 been standing for a long time, more than 

 a year, and as a result is rather unsightly. 

 Perhaps a dozen plants of Cryptocoryne 

 griffithsi are surrounded by thickets of 

 Sagittaria, with here and there a little 

 Nitella, Tillaea, Elodea and some other 

 things, with a luxuriant growth of fila- 

 mentous Algae (Vaucheria, etc.) be- 

 twixt all. Strewn over the sand is con- 

 siderable debris, mostly decaying and dy- 

 ing leaves, for the plants show lack of 



nourishment. But altogether the condi- 

 tions probably simulate closely those to 

 which Elassoma is accustomed. 



Until the middle of December nothing 

 unusual was noted. About this time two 

 males took up stations at remote ends 

 and were in rather good color. A num- 

 ber of females were obviously gravid. 

 As by common consent the spots selected 

 for nests were avoided by the others, 

 including the females, in fact it was 

 rather unwise to approach. If an in- 

 truder did appear, it was greeted by a 



^0^: : 



Eggs of E. zonatum 



courageous little warrior with color flash- 

 ing, and one short dash was sufficient. 

 One of the sites was amid a dense growth 

 of Algae and nothing could be observed 

 other than that the male was constantly 

 there ; certainly there was no attempt to 

 form a nest. This instance leads me to 

 believe that under certain unfavorable 

 bottom conditions no attempt may be 

 made to clear a space, if indeed this is 

 not the normal method. The other nest 

 was more in the open. This was a space 

 two inches in diameter and surrounded 

 by plants of S. subulata ; the observer's 

 side was fairly free from Algae. While 

 I did not see the operation, the rubbish 

 was cleared and heaped about the peri- 

 phery, but not with the nicety of Bupo- 

 motis gibbosus, as much flocculent matter 

 was allowed to remain. This stage 

 reached, the male at various times was 

 observed making obvious efforts to at- 

 tract a female, indulging in most amus- 

 ing gyrations for such a "stiff" and 

 usually sedate fish. During these plays 

 the body assumed the most intense col- 



