86 Aquatic Lite 
running from the mouth to a darker spot 
at the base of the tail, the band being 
crossed by a few vertical streaks. The 
dorsal and anal fins each bear a conspicu- 
ous dark spot. The intensity varies, in- 
dividuals at times being quite pale. The 
anal of the male is modified into an intro- 
mittant organ, like most live-bearing 
fishes. A full-grown female will meas- 
ure an inch, the male being somewhat 
smaller. 
The species being so tiny, the number 
of babies in a litter will be small. It 
should be handled like other live-bearing 
Heterandria formosa 
kinds, the female, when a delivery seems 
close at hand, being placed in a closely- 
planted tank. his fish is pre-eminently 
suited to the smallest aquaria, and will 
breed and be very happy ina globe. Feed 
it Daphne, young white worms and pre- 
pared foods. All will be taken if the par- 
ticles be small—the principal require- 
ment. 
(Heterandria, different male; formosa, 
comely. ) 
BS NURSES 
On Telescope Goldfish 
FRANK B. HANNA 
Breeders of telescope-eyed goldfish are 
prone to comment on the apparent lack 
oi development of the eyes of the modern 
show fish. It seems to have been over- 
looked that this seeming retrograde has 
been coincidental with the advance of the 
broad-tail type. Years ago we had more 
“big-eyed” specimens, but comparatively 
few broad-tails. These fish were what we 
now put into the “old-style telescope” 
class in competitions, long of body and 
with relatively short tails and fins, a com- 
bination fitting them for a long battle 
with the vicissitudes of life. They were 
strong, lived long and kept “in condi- 
tion,” even breeding when ten years old, 
because they were not cumbered with 
enormous fins, to sap energy and vitality. 
Disregarding the occasional precocious 
example, the protruding eye does not at- 
tain full development until the fish is four 
or five years old, the growth paralleling 
that of the hood of the Lionhead, which 
takes six years. The present-day Ameri- 
can transparent-scaled (scaleless) tele- 
scope goldfish has reached the maximum 
fin development, and is on the decline 
before it is three years old—there are few 
exceptions. From an exhibition view- 
point a fish three to four years old is, in 
nine cases out of ten, a sorry mess—no 
pep, fins ragged and streaked, while the 
eyes are not yet at the maximum. ‘The 
long and short of the matter is not really 
that the eyes are being “lost,” but that 
the life of the breed, the time necessary 
for the development of the eyes, has 
been shortened incidental to concentrat- 
ing attention in breeding to the develop- 
ment of fins. 
i 
Two men were discussing as to what 
Noah did to pass away the time on board 
the Ark. “I guess he did a good deal of 
fishing,’ suggested the ardent angler. 
But some one is always ready with a 
wet blanket. “He couldn’t do much fish- 
ing with only two worms,” was the re- 
tort—Ladies’ Home Journal. 
——— 
The erosion of the shells of snails is 
often due to acidification of the water 
