Fresh Water Sticklebacks. 379 
serratus), which were in the aquarium, came from its hiding 
place and with great eagerness began searching for the 
new comers, whose advent was, I suppose, announced to it 
by a strange and delightfully new “fish-like smell.” It 
soon found one of my little ones, and, seizing it by its 
nippers, was carrying it off to kill and eat, or rather, I ex- 
pect, eat and kill, when I came to the rescue of my pets 
and sent the crystal dragon jerking away. It was, however, 
of little use to stand on guard with my knitting-needle, I 
could hardly shield the whole five from harm ; and to divert 
the attention of the enemy I dropped large pieces of meat 
into its claws, and so for a time succeeded in quieting him. 
Being then called away I could only leave my pooi fish 
with too sure a dread that havoc would be made amongst 
ther soon. 
Returning a few hours after, I found that one fish was 
missing, and although I could not see any remains of it 
either in the jaws of the prawn or in the aquarium, I had 
little doubt now as to the secret of the disappearance of it 
and its predecessors, and soon I had conclusive proof. I 
came suddenly upon Master Prawn greedily eating another 
of the fish, quite a third of it being already nibbled up. 
Each day has seen another fish victimised, and this evening 
I could not find the last solitary survivor, and so must con- 
clude that all have vanished in the same way. I do not 
believe that a single fish of this last lot was caught by an 
anemone, although my anemones of each kind have been 
widely expanded—luxuriating in the new water. Even 
the fish whose body I found in the grasp of an anemone 
was, I think, either driven to its fate by the pursuing 
prawn, or was dropped dead into its clutches. I account 
for the more rapid destruction of my previous lots of fish, 
by the fact, that there were then nine or ten prawns in the 
aquarium. 
I have given thus full an account of my trials and failures, 
because to my mind two things are pretty well proved— 
first, that sticklebacks will live and thrive in sea water ; but 
second, that if you wish to keep them, you must either not 
have prawns with them, or else select very young prawns, 
and sticklebacks of a superior size and strength to them. 
I should be very sorry to banish prawns from my aquarium, 
as they are both handsome and useful,—handsome in their 
varied movements, and in their amber crystal bodies 
heightened with gold and brown at the joints, and exceed- 
ingly useful as scavengers. 
NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. bel 
