266 Fresh Water Aquarium 



tits) is an introduction from Europe. It 

 is a lively and graceful animal, hardy and 

 very easy to keep. While it is not as gaudy 

 in color as most of our American tritons, 

 it compares favorably with some of them. 

 Dark brown above, toward the sides the 

 color becomes reddish brown, changing to 

 bright orange red on the belly, the latter 

 being darkly spotted. Sides and throat show 

 whitish points. The male can be distin- 

 guished by a soft serrated comb, or crest, 

 running along its back. During mating 

 time its coloring gains considerably in in- 

 tensity. A bluish, or mother-of-pearl-col- 

 ored line runs along the side of the male's 

 tail. Fully grown the Crested Eft reaches 

 a length of four to five inches. 



The Mexican Axolotl (Amblystoma mex- 

 icaiia). This salamander is one of the best 

 and hardiest for the aquarium. While its 

 habitat is our neighbor republic Mexico, 

 by far the larger number of the specimens 

 sold here come from Europe, where they 



