Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-01-08

WOee0&NpU@ tioeA
- n,naSassi eAssss.s csasss - H. -
uNxAasts a~ss1kos.~s-
h sigh& u twe hri1iiansly coaoxsd
nsh end ios Of liteas asA. ssid<nsly
their eGspFtng. attxncss . crowd every
DAY u frons of en- sq1zxise's window %
East Szxtssnth street. says tbs New
York Saa- They are paradise asa from
6ochin Cksnz. and tke two adult nsh
have Pesssrnsd f<ss no two nsh q
the spesies ever performed before IN
this eoanery. Thsy have reprodaesd hit
tie p~rsaise fish. And great = the JOY Ut
the nsh shssps who vssit the plzee a1d
lszrn the Way the fsh bald their nests-
The shAxps term the paradise fish
metropolis venustus; that l. ~ say.
big>footed beauty. IL IL called para
disc dsh because Of the variety and
briIiiAncy Of is eolors- II il indigo
about three inches long when full
grown Mr.. samuel, who had the fish
sent ~ New York from Germany. said
concerning the paradiss fish and its
habits:
The head 10 gray In color, and u
notified with dark spots. and the gills
blur. bordered with crimson The eyes
are yellow and red, and the pupil black.
The sides of the body are crimson. with
ten or twelve vertical blue stripes. The
tail h crescent in shape and IL crimson.
with blue border.
when the fish Ii excited all the col
ors are brilliant. When the male fish
Is fighting for tho possession of fe-
male OF the species he extends all his
fms and displays their most vivid colors.
The tail is covered with small spots,
like the eyes on q 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 trembles perceptibly, ra-
dating colors of every hue.
The fish go To the top of the water
very often for air. They are exceed
ingly inquisitive, and when person APP
proaches their tank they swim close to
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 spines, looking much as boy
does when reclining on his elbows read
ing.
AS summer approaches the fish be-
come very active and build nest. The
male fights for the possession of the fe-
male and the victor betakes himself to
q corner of the aquarium, where he
commences to construct ais nest. TAX
ing position about an inch below the
surface of the water he frequently
takes air into Ms mouth and then elects
it forcibly In the shape of little bubbles
covered with . glutinous substance
which prevents them from bursting for
several hours. He continues to make
bubbles until he has a little floating
platform about six inches in circumfer-
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 bubbly nest.
''When all the eggs have been cared for
the female again makes her appearance,
and the 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
viii even fight his mate if she comes
close to any of the small ones, although
i have never seen her modest them. In
this period have seen the male kill his
mate. For the first three days the
young fish are kept near the surface,
and after that the male disperses them
by putting at them. If any weak ones
sink he gathers them in his mouth and
fires them to the surface. AS the young
increase in size he instructs them how
to find food. When they are fifteen days
old they look like the adult fish.
''They are fed on earthworms and
raw beef, and during the cold weather
keep them comfortable by keeping an
incandescent sixteen-candle power lamp
burning under them day and night.
They can not endure temperature
lower than "a degrees or higher than 95
degrees. Aside from temperatlre they
are very hardy and exceedingly prolific
in summer. My pair reached me late
in the fall, but by the use of the cleo
trio lamp | was enabled to raise the
temperature to so degrees, and they
commenced to build / 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
a cord dangling in the water