MARINE AQUAltlUM. 113 



The minnow is a very common fish along the coast, and 

 can be obtained in any quantity, and of sizes from half an 

 inch to three inches, by means of a fine "scap" net. This 

 little creature is used as bait by anglers for larger fish, but 

 is not the same animal as the English minnow (Lmciscus 

 phoxinus). The killi-fish is not pretty in form or color, 

 having what is termed its face upon the same level as its 

 back, and being of a dusky greenish hue on the back with 

 a lighter hued belly. Along the sides there are indications 

 of dusky bars, which, on the tail, become distinctly marked 

 as black bars or lines of interrupted black dots. This 

 little fish, however, presents much variety in its markings, 

 sometimes having from two to five longitudinal stripes upon 

 its sides. The killie will bear very rough treatment and 

 great and sudden chauges of heat and cold ; for, as I have 

 before mentioned, I have kept them beneath ice an inch or 

 two thick, and yet they were as lively as if the water were 

 of a comfortable warmth. Fright often makes them assume 

 a pale color, which I have also observed to take place when 

 they are ill or kept in the dark. Some minnows that I had 

 in a wooden pail, where no sun fell upon them, were quite 

 light colored, but became dark in about a quarter of an 

 hour after they were placed in a tank that was standing in 

 the sun. Disease does not often attack the minnow ; and 

 when it docs, he will generally recover if thrown into a 

 tank of fresh water well aerated. There is another species 

 of killi-fish, the big killie {Fundulus viridescens) found in 

 the bays and brackish streams of the American coast, It 

 is larger than the last named species, often reaching the 

 length of five inches. We have likewise four other species 



