File:Aquatic life (1918-1919) (19747154865).jpg

Title: Aquatic life
Identifier: aquaticlife419181919baus (find matches)
Year: 1918-1919 (1910s)
Authors: Bausman, Joseph E
Subjects: Aquariums; Fish culture
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. E. Bausman
Contributing Library: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

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Pol^centropsis Abbreviata WALTER LANNOT BRIMD, F. Z. S. Here indeed is a rare fish, and I have seen it alive but once. The name signi- fies a fish with many spines and abbrevi- ated tail. It is not a large species, a mature specimen averaging between two and two and one-half inches long, but it is a voracious rascal, and must therefore be kept alone. The illustration shows this species with Nandus marmoratus below, a whim of the artist bringing the two forms together, though it would not be advisable to associate these species in an aquarium. In color our subject is warm brown with dark mottlings. The eye is reddish chestnut; mouth very large. The caudal fin and the extremities of the soft dorsal and anal fins are transparent and nearly invisible, thus adding to the foreshort- ened appearance of the fish. Sexual differences are difficult to de- termine. During breeding activities a short ovipositor protrudes from the vent of the female, the abdominal line being convex, due to the distended ovaries; in the male the abdominal contour is quite straight. The breeding habits are interesting. The male constructs a nest of bubbles under floating leaves. After close con- tact between the sexes the female as- sumes a position under the nest, back- downwards, thrusts her ovipositor into the nest, and therein deposits the eggs singly. In the aquarium, with this accom- plished, she should be removed. The eggs number about one hundred, and hatch in five or six days. The tank should contain not more than three inches of water, and be maintained at a tempera- ture between 80 and 85 degrees; 75 de- grees will be an agreeable temperature at other times for older fish. The water should be well aerated and contain abundant microscopic life to sup- port the growing fry. Tiny daphne
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should follow, and then the live foods usually provided for carnivorous fishes— mosquito larvae, small mealworms, fry of live-bearing fishes and similar materials. The species is a native of tropical West Africa, and was first discovered by Dr. W. J. Ansorge, in 1900, in the Niger delta. It is described as rare, and when found occurs in brooks, rivers and ponds. Polycentropsis and Nandus are mem- bers of the group of fishes called Nan- didse, which has representatives in South- east Asia and South America as well as in Africa.

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