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than the Nest-building Labyrinth Fishes — though at the breeding 

 season the temperature should be raised to at least 80 degrees Fah- 

 renheit and kept high for the first two or three months of the exist- 

 ence of the young fish. Parent fish both to be removed as soon as 

 eggs appear — if they do appear — for it is difficult to get these fishes to 

 spawn. Care of young fish same as that indicated for the 3-oung of 

 Nest-Building Labyrinth Fishes. 



B8 GROUP 



KILLIFISHES (oviparous or egg-laying group). — These in- 

 clude Haplochilus, Fundulus or "Top-Minnows," largely native to our 

 American streams, Cyprinodonts, Lebias, Cynolebias and Rivulus. 

 Haplochilus mostly spawns at or near the surface on floating bushy 

 plants. So does Rivulus, and most varieties of the Fundulus. Lebias 

 and Cynolebias bury their eggs separately in the bottom and they 

 take seven to eight weeks to hatch, so not much success can be 

 expected from them. Eggs of Medakas adhere in bunches to vent 

 of female until scraped off on plants. 



The general rule with Haplochilus and Rivulus is to keep sexes 

 separated and then put the pairs together for three or four days in 

 warm, sunny aquaria with dense plant growth, such as Riccia, the 

 small, light green Utricularia, Anacharis, bushy Thread-Algs or 

 Willow Moss (Fontinalis). Then remove parent fish, keep separate 

 again for ten days and repeat — each time using a separate aquarium 

 and plants for receiving spawn. Eggs take about ten days to hatch 

 at summer temperature with Rivulus and Haplochilus and individual 

 young fish must be fished out with a teaspoon and kept in the same 

 aquarium water at same temperature at which they hatch and fed 

 first with infusoria and later with small daphnia. 



B9 GROUP 



LIVE-BEARING KILLIFISHES. All the fishes belonging to 

 this class are natives of America — the Southern States of the L'nited 

 States, Central America and South America (Northern). They are 

 generally easy to keep and breed in the aquarium, require mostly uni- 

 form summer temperature and clean water, and if well fed and kept in 

 well-planted, spacious aquaria, reward their keeper abundantly with 

 frequent large families. When the females are seen to be "heavy" 

 with young (indicated by a dark patch in the abdomen and great 

 fulness of that part) and when they act restlessly, seeking to avoid 

 their mates and getting into the thickest vegetation in the aquarium. 



