160 FEESH-WATBE AQTTAEIA. 



natviralists. M. Simon placed them in the charge of M. 

 Carbonnier, under whose care they soon began to spawn. After 

 the spawning, the male fish ejected bubbles from his mouth 

 which did not break when on the surface of the water. He 

 then, much to M. Carbonnier's astonishment, began to swallow 

 the eggs, which he afterwards discharged under the shelter 

 of the bubbles. The female fish was then driven by the male 

 from the neighbourhood of the bubbles and ova, over which 

 the latter fish kept a vigilant watch. In about three days the 

 young fish were hatched, and soon began to feed upon 

 cyclops, water-fleas, and the like. The Paradise Fish will 

 breed more than once in the year if the water is kept of a 

 suitable temperature. Mr. Frank Buckland, who had a pair 



Fig. no. Paradise Fish 



of these fish given to him, decla,red that they were certainly 

 the most beautiful little fish he ever saw. The scales glisten 

 with all the colours of the rainbow. Their fins are most 

 extraordinary : the dorsal fin extends from near the back of 

 the head quite to the caudal fin (Fig. 110) ; the anal fin is as 

 long as the dorsal. Both fins have bony rays, which gradually 

 increase in height from the commencement of the fin, the last 

 ray in each fin extending to the extremities of the caudal fin. 

 The caudal fin is large and forked, and also consists of bony 

 rays ; these rays have sharp points. The ventral fins 

 each have a few short bony rays and one exceedingly long 



