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This handsome member of the Cich- 
lidze family is a native of Northern South 
America, ranging from British Guiana 
to the Amazon region of Brazil. It 
occurs in rivers and still water, and is 
particularly partial to flooded tracts of 
tropical forests, such as the Amazon 
River affords when it inundates hun- 
dreds of square miles of the low-lying 
forests that skirt its shores. The native 
esteems it as one of the best of food 
fishes, growing, as it does, in the wild 
state, to a length of eight inches. 
The general color is olive green to dark 
greenish brown on the back, shading to 
bluish gray or light rosy red on the sides, 
with a violet suffusion near the throat. 
There is a dusky spot under the eye, and 
another surrounded by a ring of white 
spots at the top of the caudal. The 
scales are large, and lighter in the centre. 
The anal, ventral and dorsal fins taper 
toward the rear, which is more evident 
in the male than in the female. The tail 
or caudal fin is round, with a light olive 
ground color, with darker mottling, this 
coloration extending to the dorsal and 
anal, while the pectorals are large and 
clear. 
Sexual differences are not very evi- 
dent, as in most members of the family. 
In general the female is pale, more 
rounded in body, and the fins are not so 
prolonged as in the male. 
Large specimens are inclined to fight, 
so the sexes should be kept separate until 
ready to breed, and when placed together 
they should be watched carefully, and 
again separated if one is inclined to be 
too violent. When they do spawn, as 
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| ACARA TETRAMERUS ! 
| WALTER LANNOY BRIND, F. Z. S. ! 
SOs Se 
many as 1200 eggs will be deposited on 
the side of the aquarium, on a flower pot 
or a conveniently placed large stone. 
About four days later the young hatch, 
and are then placed by the parents, who 
carry them in their mouth, in holes pre- 
viously excavated in the sand. After a 
few days, the yolk-sac having been ab- 
sorbed, the fry are able to eat, rising 
from the bottom in a school around the 
Acara tetramerus 
parents, seeking infusorians. Although 
the old fish are prone to devour the young 
at slight provocation, they must be left 
with them for quite a while, as they pre- 
pare food for the young by chewing it 
into small particles. Unlike other cich- 
lids, this species does not disturb the 
plants, a feature that commends it to the 
aquarian who is partial to large fishes. 
Large insects are favored foods of the 
adults—mealworms, mosquito larve, ete. 
—while small rain worms will be rel- 
ished, too. Ina pinch it will eat scraped 
raw meat. The fry will do well on 
Daphne after the infusoria stage has been 
passed and until large enough to take the 
foods given the adults. 
