The Irish standard., 1891-01-17
! WoN DERFl ! | FISH.
It's Beautiful Changing cOIors and IT. H.
1narlabIe Intelligence.

markabIe intelligence.
The sight Of two brilliantly colorod
fish and lot Of little fish, evidently
their offspring, attracts 4 crowd every
day in front Of an aquarist's window on
East Sixteenth street, says the New
York Sun. They are paradise fish from
Cochin China, and the two adult fish
have performed {. feat no two fish of
the species ever performed before in
this country. They have reproduced lit
tie paradise fish, and great is the joy ot
the fish sharps who visit the place and
learn the way the fish build tllcir rests.
The sharps term the paradise fish
macropodus vcnustus; that is to say,
big-footed beauty. 1t is called IL para
disc fish because of the variety ard
brilliancy of it's colors. 1t is .illdlgc-
nous to Cochin China and India, and is
about three inches long when full
grown. Mr.. Samuel. who had the fish
sent to New York from Germany, said
concerning the paradise fish and it,
habits:
''The head is gray in color, and ia
notified with darl. spots, and the gills
blue, bordered with crimson. The eyes
are yellow ana rcd, and the pupil black
The sides Of the body are criinGon, with
ten or twelve vertical blue stripes. The
with blue border.
''When the fish is excited all tho col
ors are brilliant. When the male fish
is fighting for the possession of a te-
male of the species lie extends all his
fins and displays their mos: vivid colors.
The tail is covered with small spots,
like the eyes on o peacock's TAIL, and
the under surface of the fish becomes
Jet black. The colors Of the dorsal fin
change constantly from green to blue,
sometimes showing white spots, and
the body trcmbles pcrceptibly, I'D
dating colors of every hue.
1.-THE fish go to the top of the water
very often for ;,ir They arc exceed
ingly inquisitivc, and when a person aie
proaches their tank they swim close 10
the glass and look at him. At times I
have noticed them resting on the bottom
Of the tank, supported on the two long,
scarlet spincs, looking much us a boy
does when reclining on his elbows read
ing.
LAS summer approaches the fish be-.
come very active and build nest, The
male fights for the possession of the fc-
male and the victor betalscs himself to
a corner of the aquarium, where he
commences to construct his nest TAX
ing a position about an inch below the
surface of the water he frequently
takes air into his mouth and then elects
it forcibly in the shape of little bubbles
covered with q glutinous substance
which prevents them from bursting for
several hours. He continues tx, make
bubbles until he has d little floating
platform about six inches in circulnfcr.
ence and % quarter Of an inch thick,
''When the nest is finished the female
approaches and deposits her eggs be-
meath the nest. The male gathers the
eggs with his mouth and places them On
the hubby nest.
''When all the eggs have been cared for
the female again makes her appearance,
and tho operation is repeated until
about 1000 eggs are on the nest. The
eggs hatch out in about thirty-six hours.
The father guards the young very jeal-
ously, and will not permit any thing
moving to approach near them. He
will even fight his mate if she conaea
close to any of the small ones, although
| have never seen her modest them. X.
this period have seen the male kill hil
mate. For the first three days the
young fish are kept near the surface,
and after that the male dispcrses them
by putting at them. II any weak ones
sink he gathers them in his mouth and
fires them to the surface. As the young
increase in size he inst1'ucts them how
to find food. When they arc fifteen days
old they look like the admit fish.
''Thcy are fed on cart]1wornas and
raw beef, and during the cold weather
keep them comfortable by keeping all
incandesccnt sixteen-candle POWER lamp
burning under them day and night
They can not endure q Temperature
lower than 81 degrees or higher than 95
degrees. Aside from temperature they
are very hardy and exceedingly prolific
in summer. My pair reached me late
in the fall, but by the use of the elco-
trio lamp I was enabled to raise the
temperature to 80 degrees. and thcy
commenced to build. I raised twenty
four small fish, but the cold weather
has since killed some of them. The
males are very intelligent, and they can
be taught many things such as ringing
bell when they are hungry by pulling
cord dangling in the water"
The American Cologne Habit.
Moral remonstrance is now coming
from Paris, says the New York World