& EE OS SS FSS 9 ET YET SS PSD 8 PSPS PE Os OP 
| Habits 
: 
I recently studied the life-histories of 
two species of allied fishes, and in the 
case of one was rewarded by making 
discoveries hitherto unknown to me. 
The Fighting Fish, to which I allude, 
is a native of Southeastern Asia, and the 
examples were procured for me at Pe- 
nang, in the Strait Settlements. The 
breeding habit of this fish, though re- 
markable, is not the only interesting fea- 
ture. It has long been known that the 
Siamese breed fighting fishes especially 
for combat, and are as infatuated with 
their sport as the Malays are with their 
cock-fights; they stake considerable 
sums of money on the issue, and some- 
times their own persons and families. 
The license to exhibit fish-fights is farm- 
ed, and brings considerable revenue to 
the King of Siam. When the fish is in 
a state of quiet, its dull colors present 
nothing remarkable; but if two be 
brought together, or if one sees its own 
image in a looking-glass, the little crea- 
‘ure becomes suddenly excited; the rais- 
ed fins and the whole body shine with 
metallic colors of dazzling beauty, while 
the projected gill-membrane, waving like 
dlack frill round the throat, adds some 
thing of grotesqueness to the general 
appearance. In this state it makes re- 
peated darts at its real or reflected an- 
tagonist, but both, when taken out of 
each other’s instantly become 
quiet. 
The little fishes, which when fully 
adult, measure only one and_ three- 
juarters of an inch in length, reached me 
on April 5th, and I immediately placed 
a pair in an old-established 
sight, 
aquarium. 
| Notes on the Nesting 
of Two Labyrinth Fishes 
EDGAR R. WAITE, F. L. S. 
| Director, South Australian Museum 
ns es 6 a a Os 6 i 9s Os 9s 9 
a 
The following day the male blew a num- 
ber of bubbles on the top of the water. 
Rising to the surface, a mouthful of air 
iwas taken and retained for two or three 
seconds, during which time it received 
1 coating of mucous. The bubble thus 
formed was blown at the surface, and 
the operation repeated until a circular 
mass was produced, three inches in 
The Fighting Fish, Betta splendens 
From Drawing by A. R. McCulloch 
iameter. Another layer of bubbles was 
next blown, which had the effect of rais- 
ng the first out of the water. Seven 
or eight layers were formed in all, but 
as the later bubbles were blown only un- 
ler the central portion, a dome-shaped 
structure resulted. So viscid is the se- 
cretion enclosing the bubble that, though 
exposed to the air for ten or twelve days, 
it still fulfilled its function. 
On the third day the nest was com- 
pleted and breeding commenced. ‘Then 
one witnessed a remarkable display of 
color and action, comparable to the 
“showing” of the peacocks, turkeys, and 
other gallinaceous birds. The fins of 
the male fish are extended to the ut- 
most, the black gill membranes and the 
blood-red gills exhibited beneath. The 
