Aquatic Lite 
113 
bladder and kidneys, they nevertheless 
possess a liver, a gall-bladder, anda 
heart. 
As Aristotle stated, “they vary much 
in the structure of their intestines; for, 
whilst the mullet has a fleshy stomach 
like a bird, others have no stomachic di- 
latation. Pyloric caeca are close to the 
stomach, and vary in number. There are 
even some, like the majority of cartilagi- 
nous fishes, which have none whatever. 
Two bodies are situated along the spine, 
which have the function of testicles ; they 
open towards the vent, and are much en- 
larged in the spawning season. ‘The 
scales become harder with age. Not be- 
ing provided with lungs, fishes have no 
voice, but several can emit grunting 
sounds. They sleep like other animals. 
In most cases the females exceed the 
males in size; and in the rays and sharks 
the male is distinguished by an append- 
age on each side of the vent.” 
Thus we see that Aristotle was a very 
remarkable man, and far and away ahead 
of his time in his mastery of ichthyolo- 
gical lore. As a discover in zoology 
he had no equal, and those who followed 
immediately in his footsteps were noth- 
ing more than mere imitators or com- 
mentators. Even his disciples and con- 
temporaries fell in the same category ; 
they were quite content to fall in the 
class of mere copiers, and if they made 
changes at all, it was merely to convert 
the Aristotelian truths into vague fairy- 
tales and fabulous accounts. This be- 
ing the case, zoology soon ran into an 
era of meagre production along such 
lines, with a consequent lack of interest 
in such subjects on the part of every one. 
Thus things stood until the dawn of 
the middle of the Sixteenth Century, 
when Salviani, Belon and Rondelet ap- 
peared in the field. Each of these writ- 
ers contributed to ichthyological science 
a volume of the greatest importance. 
These several works appeared almost 
simultaneously. ‘Taken as one contribu- 
tion, they accomplished at least one great 
end; for they fixed for all time what a 
species meant in zoological science. 
In my next part the works of these 
three great ichthyological writers will 
be briefly touched upon. 
2s ON 
Eleotris marmorata 
C. J. HEEDE 
The Far East has given many odd 
fishes to the aquarian, and not the least 
is the Marbled Eleotris, E. marmoratus. 
This peculiar species is found in the 
fresh and brackish waters of India, Su- 
matra and Borneo. 
The body is grayish brown with a 
faint rose tint, overlaid with heavy 
brown or black markings, which also pre- 
dominate on the caudal or tail fin: other 
fins with dark markings. The head is 
broad and the mouth capacious. Alert 
protruding eyes and well developed pec- 
torals bespeak short, quick dashes for 
food. It reaches a length of three inches 
and is one of the smaller species of the 
genus. 
This Eleotris is decidedly nocturnal in 
habits, spending the day hidden amongst 
the plants with which the aquarium 
should be well stocked. At night it sal- 
lies forth in quest of food and play. It 
is carnivorous and prefers Daphne 
and chopped earthworms—enchytraeids 
would be excellent. The water in the 
aquarium should be maintained at an 
average temperature of 75 degrees, 
Fahrenheit. The species has apparently 
not been bred under observation. 
