66 
THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM JOURNAL. 
curious than this, I think, is the story of one 
of them who deliberately took a seat on one 
of the beautiful anemones and with his claw 
pulled out a shrimp that the anemone had 
taken into its stomach. 
Another freak of one of these at the Aqua¬ 
rium was to attack a scallop in open shell. 
The scallop closed suddenly together and held 
the crab captive for several hours. He at last 
gained release by snapping off his own leg. 
We can scarcely call this a catastrophe, how¬ 
ever, as nature kindly reproduces their mem¬ 
bers. Some varieties of the spider crab grow 
to great dimensions. The Rev, Samuel Lock- 
wood says there is a specimen of the long- 
armed spider-crab of Japan in the cabinet of 
Rutgers College, New Jersey, which measured, 
with limbs extended, eleven feet six inches. 
He says also that it is the largest specimen 
known. 
Every little creature in the sea is dependent 
on some of the others for life and health, and 
the spider crab, in eating all decaying matter, 
purities the water for the rest. How wonder¬ 
fully strange are the organizations of marine 
life. Each animal has independent qualities 
that distinguish it from the rest, and all have 
reciprocal harmonies that link them together 
in one great chain. Ida B. Roberts. 
OUR YOUNG SKATE. 
.. _ _ £ _ 
A reference to the index on the last page of 
the Journal will indicate that already has 
the Aquarium become, in a single instance, 
self-supporting; that is, the occupants of sev¬ 
eral of the fresh-water tanks are natives of 
the Aquarium. Already have these young 
salmon grown so in size and appetite that 
larger quarters and still more liberal rations 
must be allowed them. Although the suc¬ 
cessful propagation of these salmon is a cause 
for special congratulation, yet a second birth 
has recently taken place here which is of ex¬ 
ceptional interest to science. We refer to the 
young skate recently hatched. The egg 
from which this odd creature was hatched 
was discovered by Capt. Quigley during one 
of his submarine explorations in tank 36. It, 
with several others, was carefully removed to 
one of the smaller tanks, and as the result of 
careful and judicious treatment the processes 
of incubation went rapidly forward, until at 
last the youngster makes its appearance at¬ 
tached to the sac from which it is to draw its 
life for many days. 
This little creature, it will be observed, does 
not resemble in form its parent, tut on the 
other hand possesses more of the marked 
characteristics of the race. Instead of being 
flat and floundering it is slim and active, pre¬ 
senting the appearance of a small while snake. 
The naturalist will recognize this acquisition 
to the list as one of extreme interest and value. 
Placed as it is in a position where every 
change in form and development may be care¬ 
fully watched and studied, the little stranger 
will, it is hoped, survive the early stages, and 
eventually become as grotesque a member of 
the Aquarium company as its ungainly parent. 
We must here, however, anticipate possible 
misfortune, by stating that should the little 
fellow die before we go to press we will still 
retain this announcement as marking an in¬ 
teresting event in the history of the Aquarium. 
CURIOUS PARASITIC FORMS AT THE 
AQUARIUM. 
In passing in review the beautifully inhabited 
tanks of the Aquarium the attention of the visitor 
is mainly taken up by the larger forms that pass 
to and fro, appealing directly to the eye ; and 
many of the smaller creations, that have as im¬ 
portant a work to do, thus escape scrutiny. Some 
of these creations are mere mites in the great 
sea, but in the plan of nature they play the im¬ 
portant part of safety valves and gaugers to their 
larger fellows. We refer to the parasitic ani¬ 
mals that are found in multitudinous form and 
shape in every tank. 
If we watch the shark or dog-fish that now 
swims gracefully past in the large tank we see 
delicate thread-like streamers upon his various 
parts, two in number to each animal, and blood 
red in color, that at times give his sharkship a 
decided holiday appearance. But it is a serious 
affair for the victim, as these minute flags are 
voracious blood-suckers that burrow in the thick 
hide and render his life not all that it is painted. 
A fine cod rushes past us; no visions of being 
“saltedfor the trade” cloud his fishy mind, and 
all seems serene; but could we look, “not into 
his inmost soul,” but mouth, we would find a 
despoiler of happiness belonging to the Isopoda. 
It deserves more than a passing notice, and hav¬ 
ing secured the fish we remove him to the dis- 
- Sect i ng looms and -plaoe -the parasite under the 
glass. We see a small pair of gills of rounded 
membraneous make up, placed at the extremity 
of six pairs of members attached to the abdomi¬ 
nal segments; we will call them false feet. The 
exact number of feet are seven pairs, and are 
armed with long sharp prehensile claws, admi¬ 
rably adapted for the work they have to do. 
The specimen before us is a female, and won¬ 
derfully like the marsupial animals, as directly 
beneath the thorax, and attached to the base of 
the feet, is a miniature pouch wherein are seen 
the tiny eggs. Here they are held, as are the 
young of the kangaroo, until complete in form, 
when they are expelled by their atomic parent, 
and hasten to fasten upon some unfortunate fish 
and suck its life away. 
Another look into the mouth of the cod shows 
a disc shape, crab-like creature, known out of the 
water as Caligus pescinus. They often grow to 
extreme size, and have been found completely 
obstructing the mouth of large cod, and con¬ 
siderable force has to be exerted in removing the 
sharp claw. In one tank we find a shad whose 
mouth has been converted into a lodging house 
for this parasite. It has taken up its stand on 
the tongue of its host, and, like the old man of 
the sea, divides with him as regards the provis¬ 
ioning. In the corner of the tank a large black- 
fish stands on end, while under his pectoral 
fin a little monster, with a busy head and horny 
tail, is slowly digging away and sapping the 
living lode. If we examine this little parasite 
closely we find that there is truth in the 
lines,— 
“Big fleas and little fleas 
Have lesser fleas to bite ’em ; 
The lesser fleas have smaller fleas, 
And so on ad infinitum.” 
for, closely packed away around the tender parts 
of this pest, we find a “lesser flea,” known to the 
scientific as the Cineras vilalta, and packed upon 
one another we could find them until the eye 
failed to distinguish them from the atom. If 
now we were to become still more curious, and 
penetrate the liver of this patient sufferer, we 
would find it infested with hordes of little crea¬ 
tures known as the “ cysticerci. ” In the stom¬ 
ach, claiming their share of soft clams, we see 
the minute members of the genus Nebalia. They 
have a quaint, curass-like shield for protection 
Irom some lesser flea, and terminate in a long 
tail, set off in a fierce and warlike manner by 
two sharp-pointed bristles. 
Side by side, and claiming equal rights, we 
find a beautiful little parasite that has never been 
found out of the fish. It is almost three inches 
long, and decorated with a long delicately varie¬ 
gated red and white attenaj, and forms one of 
the most striking forms in parasitic life. Thus 
we see that the sedate blackfish is no more or 
less than a “tenement on fins,’’and forced to 
provide lodging and board for hundreds of crea¬ 
tures who, if the larder runs dry, do not hesitate 
to make a meal of their patient living habitation. 
In a late number of the Journal some lines ap¬ 
peared explaining the wail of the whale. He 
also wails for the removal of a large crustacean, 
with the still larger name of Laemodipod. that 
clings to his back feasting upon his rich blood 
in a right royal manner. They have no special 
poi nt of a ttack, but cover the whale on any avail- 
able point, and at some times of the year in 
the open sea so changes its color that the mass 
of parasites can be seen at a great distance. In 
appearance they are long and thin and resem¬ 
ble a number of hooks hanging from a stick; 
the first claw is prehensile and attached to the 
head, and the other legs are also armed with long 
hooks The graceful Gar-fish and Pike are not 
neglected by these creatures, and from tank to 
tank the student can find hundreds of strange 
forms preying upon one another in the great fight 
for existence. Even the beautiful Sea Anemone 
has its sorrow, and strange to relate one variety 
of this animal affords shelter in its unorganized 
stomach to a fish ; a bond of sympathy exists 
between them, as the fish never appears digested 
and the tentacles that are deadly to other forms 
close the mouth of its retreat as if to protect it 
from all harm. 
Hundreds of other forms could be mentioned 
to show the wonderful workings of the laws of 
nature—that eliminate in exact proportion as 
they allow production. But the above few exam¬ 
ples will serve to show that life “down among the 
Mermaids” has its drawbacks. 
C. F. Holder. 
Many of our readers will doubtless be looking 
for a good Boarding School this Spring, within 
easy access of the city. Park Avenue Institute 
at Bridgeport, Conn., is a very good Private 
School for Boys, with high testimonials from some 
of our friends. The number is limited and the 
accommodations superior. The Principal, Mr. 
L. B. Jones, has considerable faculty of making 
boys think for themselves. A good feature of 
this School is Lectures, weekly, on Natural 
History. 
