SOME FRESHWATER AQUARIUM FISHES 



The lower forms of life are present in all bodies of water but in rapid 

 streams minnows, shiners, sunfishes, dace, chub, suckers, newts, salaman- 

 ders and crayfishes will be found; and in springwater streams trout, troutlets, 

 sticklebacks, dace, pickerel and bass; also fontinalis, chara, and sometimes 

 anacharis of the long-leaved variety. In ditches many insects and their 

 larvae abound; also catfishes, sunfishes, killifishes, carp, eels, tadpoles, 

 mussels and some varieties of the snails; while the ponds afford sunfishes, 

 catfishes, chub, carp, eels, frogs and tadpoles; and in these latter two most 

 of the desired aquatic plants will be found, and a great variety of bivalve 

 and univalve molluscs, together with many of the insects and their larvae. 

 In ponds, ditches and pools the tiny entomastraca, which form the natural 

 food for young fishes, may be found. 



Photographing Fishes. The photographing of the ichthyfauna 

 in the natural element and surroundings is a recent achievement of the 

 instantaneous processes but the difficulties are so many that good results 

 are extremely rare. Probably the best work in this line was done by 

 R. W. Shufeld, of the Medical Corps, U. S. Army. The usual conditions 

 are unfavorable to proper light, the incessant movements of the fishes 

 makes focusing difficult, the refraction of the glass front of the aquarium 

 is troublesome and the reflection produces a mirror as likely to show the 

 camera and operator as the contents of the aquarium. By the use of a 

 glass plate behind the fish, to restrict its movement, one element of diffi- 

 culty may be partially obviated; but a specially constructed very narrow 

 miniature aquarium, fitted to a tripod and backed by a screen will lead to 

 more satisfactory results, as it may be set in the open air and in favorable 

 light. The apparent plant life, to form a natural background", may con- 

 sist of a sepia drawing secured to the back of the aquarium; the front 

 being constructed of the thinnest portrait glass; but even this interposes 

 a slight screen to the contents and sometimes interferes with a perfectly 

 clear picture. 



The constant, almost imperceptible movement of the fins and the 

 rarity with which they are all fully expanded compelled the abandonment 

 of this method of illustrating this volume and forced the author to adopt 

 the considerable labor of making accurate pen drawings. The restlessness 

 of the subject prevented the taking of snapshots with every detail of form 

 and fin at their best so as to serve as types of the most perfect fishes of 

 the recognized breeds. 



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