8 Oe at a a at 1 a 
Fc es 
3 : Rt 6 0 6 9 5 0 i 6 9 Oe Ss Ss Se 
Fundulus heteroclitus 
me mmo me es es eo ms em mes 
The accompanying photograph shows, 
slightly more than natural size, a male of 
Fundulus heteroclitus with one abnormal 
eye. The protrusion is as prominent as 
in many of the so-called “telescope” 
goldfish. The specimen was taken from 
a small tidal stream emptying into the 
Hackensack River in the Jersey City 
Meadows. It was seemingly in perfect 
health and was placed in a twenty-gal- 
lon tank with a number of the same 
species. On the next morning to my 
great disappointment I found the mon- 
strosity dead. There was no apparent 
reason, as the other lived on for about 
nine months, and would probably be still 
alive had not an accident terminated their 
career. The specimen is now preserved 
in alcohol, and the photograph was taken 
of it in this condition. The scars on the 
side are from the nibbling of the other 
fishes, which began to devour it before 
it was removed. 
Later five smaller specimens of the 
same species were taken directly from 
the surf along the New Jersey coast 
and successfully acclimated to the fresh- 
water aquarium. Last spring they 
Notes on Fundulus Heteroclitus 
CHARLES M. BREDER, JR. 
Male, with abnormal Eye 
OS OS OS Fa 8 6 Oe 8 Oa 6 PS OS Fs Os Pe 9 es Os Os Oe ee a es | 
os FS 6 OS Ss PS Ss 
Photograph by Author 
Oe 6 FS 6 Pe 6 Fa 6 Oe 6 Pd Os 9d PS | 
a 
favored me with some spawn, but as I 
seldom took any particular notice of 
them I was unaware of it until apprised 
by a friend. I had given him some Sal- 
vimia from the tank containing the Fun- 
dulus, and they had evidently spawned 
on its small, submerged, root-like leaves, 
for he showed me a young heteroclitus 
that developed in the tank in which he 
placed the plants. It would be interest- 
ing to know if any other aquarist has 
breed this species. 
(Mr. Breder has performed a valua- 
ble service in recording his aberrant 
specimen by photography. A similar 
monstrosity has been reported in Eupo- 
motis gibbosus, the Common Sunfish, 
both eyes protruding. Such examples 
tend to substantiate the theory that the 
Telescope Goldfish was developed by 
mating specimens of the goldfish exhib- 
iting eye-protrusion, the extreme form 
of today being the result of selective 
breeding of subsequent generations, the 
variation thus becoming well fixed. 
That Mr. Breder’s fish deposited 
spawn on a floating plant is interesting 
and indieative of the adaptability of the 
