158 
Aquatic Rite 
on a pale gray or fawn ground color; 
there is also a narrow dark margin 
around the edge. Adults are uniformly 
yellowish gray or brown. A yellow band 
on each side of the neck and head ex- 
tends through the eye and unites with 
the opposite one in front of the eyes. 
The tail is thick and medium in length, 
and can be drawn sidewise under the 
shell. 
Like all fresh-water turtles, they are 
carnivorous, and large examples do not 
belie their scientific name, Trionyx— 
three-clawed; ferox—ferocious. 
In Florida they are called snapping 
turtles, the real “snapper” being known 
as the “alligator cooter.” They are often 
found in shallow situations near the 
shores of the ponds and rivers, buried in 
the mud or sand, with just the head pro- 
truding. Upon the slightest disturbance 
they dart into deeper water, throwing up 
clouds of mud or sand with their broadly- 
webbed feet. ‘They are remarkably rapid 
swimmers, and are no doubt aided in 
their progress through the water by their 
comparatively flat and thin form. 
Small examples in an aquarium will 
lie for hours buried in the fine sand at 
the bottom, only rising to the surface 
occasionally, and then merely protruding 
the tip of the snout. Of the many speci- 
mens observed by the writer, not one 
has become as tame and confiding as most 
of our other fresh-water turtles. The 
slightest jar or a sudden movement on 
the part of the observer will send them 
scurrying to the farthest corner of the 
aquarium, where they burrow rapidly 
into the sand. As this turtle reaches a 
length of shell of nearly two feet, and a 
weight of more than thirty pounds, only 
very young specimens are suitable for 
aquarium inmates. 
The food in captivity should consist of 
earthworms, and raw beef and fresh fish 
cut in narrow strips. If kept in a large 
tank, with about three inches of fine 
sand, and provided with a large log on 
which they can climb and rest, they will 
endure captivity for years. 
—_—__—_ 
We are learning to appreciate the 
direct and indirect value of small things 
in fish culture, as well as in other mat- 
ters. The investigations of aquatic 
plants, which Dr. Emmeline Moore, pro- 
fessor of botany at Vassar College, and 
at times investigator for this Bureau, has 
been conducting for several years, are 
revealing a greater forage value of water 
plants than had previously been realized. 
An illuminating illustration of the indi- 
rect value of certain plants was presented 
in the course of her investigations at the 
Fairport laboratory last summer. It was 
observed that in June and July a certain 
species of insect larva (a chironomid, 
Orthocladius nivoriundus) feed almost 
exclusively upon a species of filamentous 
alga (Mougeotia genuflexa), and that at 
the same time this insect larva formed 
an important food of the large-mouth 
black bass. ‘Thus, during these months, 
the small alga, which might have been 
thought to serve no useful purpose, was 
contributing in a material way to the sup- 
port of the black bass.—Fisheries Service 
Bulletin. 
we Sues 
A correspondent, writing of a visit to 
another town, says: “We were shown 
some beautiful high-brids (sic )—Barbus 
conchonius hatched from common gold- 
fish eggs.’ Verily, there is no end to the 
hybrid stuff. A couple of years ago an 
article was submitted, based on one from 
a current German magazine, which. 
asserted the production of a cross be- 
tween an oOviparous and a viviparous 
fish. ‘The translator had failed to grasp 
that the original article was evidently a 
satire. 
