ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



929 



Evermann, in their Report upon the Fishes of 

 North and Middle America, list about three 

 thousand five hundred species. Since the ap- 

 pearance of this work a number of additional 

 species have been described. How many fishes 

 yet remained unknown, how many of those listed 

 are pure synonyms or should be classed merely 

 as variations, cannot be known until many more 

 years of study have been given to the subject. 



Mr. W. W. Henshaw, Chief of the Biological 

 Survey at Washington, lias recently published 

 au estimate of the probable number of species 

 of vertebrated animals in the world (Science, 

 Sept. 6, 1912, p. 317) as follows: 



.Mammals 7,000 



Birds 20,000 



Crocodiles and turtles 300 



Lizards 3,300 



Snakes 2,400 



Frogs and toads 2,000 



Salamanders 200 



Fishes 12,000 



Total 4.7,200 



As Mr. Henshaw points out, such estimates must 

 necessarily be little more than guesswork, ex- 

 cept, perhaps, in the birds and mammals which 

 are better known than the other groups. In 

 view of the fact that some three thousand five 

 hundred fishes are listed for North American 

 waters north of Panama, the total of twelve 

 thousand for a world estimate appears rather 

 small. To be sure, many species, especially of 

 the ocean waters, are very widely distributed, 

 and many undoubtedly yet remain to be placed 

 in synonymy. Yet, when one considers the vast 

 regions of the earth — central portions of South 

 America, Africa and Asia, the islands of 

 Oceanica and depths of the ocean, in all of 

 which the fish fauna is very imperfectly known 

 — it would seem that Mr. Henshaw's estimate is, 

 to say the least, a very conservative one. 



NEW MEMBERS 

 June 6. 1912, to October 8, 1912 



ANNUAL MEMBERS 



Mrs. C. C. Auchincloss, 

 Mrs. Alvin W. Krech. 

 .Mrs. Frederick H. Eaton, 

 Mrs. Joseph Palmer Knap 

 Mrs. E. LeGrand Beers, 

 Mrs. DeLancey Kane. 

 Dr. J. H. O'Connell, 

 Mrs. Augusta Booth, 



Baroness Ii. de 



Mrs. H. K. Pomroy 

 H. C. Kochler, 

 Arthur B. Hunn, 



), Sidney J. Jennings. 

 James Timpson, 

 Maunsell S. Crosby, 

 M. M. Hansford, ' 

 Theodor A. Simon. 



Graffenried. 



THE GARDEN POOL AND THE 

 MOSQUITO 



IT IS a matter of common knowledge that 

 many species of small fishes have a fond- 

 ness for the larvae of the mosquito as an 

 article of diet. The result of this is that open 

 streams and ponds where fishes thrive never 

 produce large numbers of this irritating and 

 often dangerous pest. Unfortunately for 

 humanity the mosquitoes are not as particular 

 where they live as fishes are, and will thrive 

 in many places unfitted for fish life. Appar- 

 ently no puddle of water is too small or too foul 

 to breed mosquitoes, while fishes, even catfishes 

 and carp, have their limits. Any temporary 

 mud-hole holding water for a couple of weeks 

 may yield a plentiful crop of mosquitoes, and 

 even a tin can, before it has time to go dry after 

 a heavy rain, may furnish enough to cause a 

 household considerable worry. 



The rain barrel can be covered, the tin can 

 emptied, the puddle drained or oiled, but what 

 about the fountain and the lily pool, which, 

 even in the heart of the city, is maintained for 

 the beauty and interest, and apparently also for 

 the mosquitoes it affords ? The garden pool 

 cannot be oiled like the stagnant marsh pool. 

 To do so would destroy its beauty; to drain it 

 dry enough to kill the mosquitoes would also 

 mean the killing of the plant life contained in 

 it. The one solution of the problem is the in- 

 troduction of small fishes in sufficient numbers 

 to destroy the wrigglers. 



Without question, the best fish for this pur- 

 pose, all things considered, is the goldfish. The 

 common variety of goldfish is hardy and well 

 suited by centuries of cultivation for life in such 

 pools. They are easily obtained from dealers 

 in fish and aquarium supplies and will stand 

 shipment in a small amount of water better than 

 most any other ordinary fish — and "commons" 

 are cheap. A few small specimens introduced 

 into a pool will be sufficient to keep the mosqui- 

 toes in check, for it has been shown by abundant 

 evidence that the young goldfishes will select 

 the wrigglers for food, even in the presence of 

 various sorts of prepared fish foods. 



In the fall, when the water is turned off to 

 drain the pool, the fish may be transferred to 

 indoor aquariums, or they may be returned to 

 the dealer and a new supply purchased the fol- 

 lowing spring. The lily pond and fountain 

 should not be permitted to become a nuisance to 

 the household and the neighbors when the addi- 

 tion of a few common goldfishes will not only 

 remove the mosquito larvae before they trans- 

 form, but will at the same time render the pool 

 much more attractive. 



