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aS aS a a a a Sa 
! 
The breeding activities of few tropical 
fishes, if any, are more interesting than 
those of Acara bimaculata, of South 
America. More shy but not as pugna- 
cious as Hemichromis and other rela- 
tives, their breeding in the aquarium is 
not difficult. 
The sexes are similar in coloration, 
but it is very changeable, quite con- 
trasty transformations being effected. 
The ground color may be either olive or 
a greenish blue. A black lateral band 
has its origin at the gill cover, being fol- 
lowed by a number of spots of the same 
shade, the last located at the base of the 
caudal. Under oblique light the head, 
back, base of dorsal, and anal fin have a 
brassy sheen. Upright bars are visible 
at times, extending from the ridge of the 
back to the abdomen, which, like the 
lateral markings, may partially or com- 
pletely disappear. The dorsal points and 
the base of the anal are blue, edged with 
black; ventrals black streaked with blue. 
In breeding examples the abdomen and 
sides may be black with a bluish sheen, 
the back becoming a rich olive crossed 
by bars of a darker shade. 
The ventral points of the male, when 
folded, extend to the sixth ray of the 
anal, while in the female only the fourth 
is reached. In a pair I had under ob- 
servation the dorsal and anal fins of the 
male, which he usually carried slightly 
folded, appeared somewhat larger and 
drawn into points, whereas in the female 
they were rounded and habitually carried 
erect. 
This pair we placed, for breeding pur- 
poses, in a large tank of filtered and 
; ACARA BIMACULATA 
| 
ERNEST LEITHOLE 
6 at Fa st MM Ft ea a 
erated water, which averaged 81 de- 
grees Fahrenheit. This aquarium is 
heated by gas, the burner being placed in 
the lower end of a length of two-inch 
iron pipe, which is fastened to the bottom 
of the tank and extends above the water 
line. To prevent rust the pipe was coated 
with Portland cement, giving it the ap- 
Acara bimaculata 
pearance of an upright submerged log. 
On the 29th of March, much to our 
concern, the pair were discovered fan- 
ning a nest of eggs which they had placed 
on the heating pipe. When, but two days 
later, they were observed picking them 
from this rather warm situation, we con- 
cluded they were indulging in a feast of 
boiled eggs! Noticing the adults alter- 
nately disappearing in a group of Sagit- 
taria, | then perceived what resembled, in 
miniature, a swarming colony of bees. 
The eggs of a moment before were now 
a cluster of living, wriggling fry sus- 
pended from a leaf of Sagittaria. The 
force of expelling a mouthful of the 
young into the cluster by one of the par- 
ents would cause the other to violently 
vibrate their caudals to enable them to 
maintain their positions. 
During the next five days they were 
transferred seven times, always being 
