The Wichita daily eagle., 1901-06-16
INDIVIDUALITY AMONG FISHES.

4
4 hsh diner as widely in habits. actions.
/ likes and dislikes as do dogs and cats and
| canary birds Washington Z Dsnvse and
Leonard 2. Spencer. who are emplOved
at the New York Aquarium. the one hav-
/ ing charge Of the saltwater and the
/ other OF the fresh-wate- fishes. have had
/ a long opportunity OF studying aquatic
/ and marine life and this has given them
unusual insight into the ways tha idio-
] syncrasies and even the feelings OF their
! charges, and they say that they can
| clearly discern all Of these. In the practI-
/ cal work Of the Aquarium they have ac-
complished a good many things never
| done elsewhere. For instance, the moon
1ishes-that amuse visitors so much by
the contrast between their wide expanse
OF opalescent scales on their hides and
| their extraordinarily narrow view OF life
| from the front-have been made 10 i've
and thrive in their tank for four years,
far longer than any OF their kind were
ever kept II captivity before. and in that
time the larger one has grown from three
to ten inches in length.
Generally speaking. 2 game fish IS an
intelligent fish, while a bottom feeder is
apt 10 be stupid. The reason. OF course.
is 10 be found in the habits OF the two
kinds, and the relative difficulty they
have in obtaining food Specifically, trout
and their allies are thought 10 show the
species, while the gray snapper. nick
named the lawyer is held by sailors
to be the craftiest Of salt water fish al
though IL cannot be said that in captivity
he manifests any extraordinary astute-
ness Catfish and the carp, which spend
their days taking mouthluls of pebbles
and splitting them out again for the sake
Of the Indian meal that gets mixed among
them, would stand near the other end Of
the scale. In the matter Of food, fish dis
play surprising discrimination. es the arg
Ter knows TO his cost Mr.. Spencer once
sent man away Up into the Bronx 10
dig for helgramites, which black bass
are supposed TO prize above all other NOR
sells. These particular bass. however
looked at the grubs disdainfully, and con-
descended TO eat them only because no
other food was provided. Similarly. trout
in the Aquarium have refused angle
worms. No explanation has been offered,
except that perhaps the fish were brought
from localities where the food supply was
of an unusual character
Il is common impression that good
sized tank and plenty Of fresh water and
food are the only three requisites to keep
any fish healthy and happy. Visitors TO
the Aquarium frequently ask why it Is
that such and such species are not repre-
sented in the collection. There are really
a good number Of species practically i'm
possible TO keep alive in captivity; the
herring and its allies, including the shad,
are among these. Bluehsh are sometimes
kept for a few months when young. but
not long. Mackerels are crest travellers
by nature. and they fairly fret them
selves to death IN the confined space Of a
tank. Most varieties, after butting their
noses Intellectually against the glass, sue
cumb TO the inevitable, concluding, appar-
emily, that there is q harder kind of water
in that direction, and that they are de-
barred forever from mingling with the
crowd of big, clumsy fishes with the white
faces and the black hats beyond
Fighting is another factor in the NOR
tality of the Aquarium. The general
rule is that all the other fishes so out
of their way TO pick on" the smallest
one in the tank. When he IS dead. they
hunt the next smallest. 1t is literally the
survival OF the fttest- Sometimes one
particular fish viii have a generally ugly
disposition, and get everything in sight
A twelVe-inch rainbow trout once attack
ed a trout Of another species. twenty-six
inches long. and the two had TO be parted
by force. often a large fish conceives
a violent antipathy for a smaller fish
and almost nags 1t 20 death The remedy
is to remove both from the tank into one
Of the large concrete pools. where the lit
tie fish will have more room to elude it's
pursuers. The lady fish" a marine va
riety must be an Irish lady Of the tene-
ments, for IL is combative that two iudi-
viduals cannot be kept IN the same tank.
An exception TO the general attitude Of
hostility is when a parent fish is guard
ing the newly hatched fry. Mr.. Spencer
tells Of an experience Of his own In this
connection. Several thousand tiny black
bass had been hatched, and the parent
was guarding them jealousy. Every
other fish was compelled 10 keep at the
top OF the tank. To all appearances they
did so willingly. When one OF them ven
tured TO swim lower. and was warned To
go back, he did so with an expression
that. as Mr.. Spencer put It, said plainly.
Excuse me, / forgot Mr.. Spencer de-
cided. however that the youngsters
would thrive better in shallow toughs.
He came to this conclusion one Sunday
night. and not wanting TO do more work
than was necessary that day, decided 10
postpone the transfer until the next day.
Monday morning. however, there were
only half a dozen survivors Of the th0us
ands OF baby bass. The parent had ap-
youngsters were able 10 shift for them
selves and had made Il clear 20 the others
that the former vigilance was relaxed
the whole crowd had fallen
upon the fry and fairly gorged them
selves. the watchful parent being just as
greedy as the rest.
Besides being interesting 70 look at
some Of the slit water FISH would serve
at a pinch. as barometers Fishermen /
know that fish are TO De found IN deeper /
water when stormy weather approaches. !
In captivity they cannot, OF course, move /
away from shore, but they do the next /
best thing by gathering at the bottom. /
Some 60 further by burying themselves /
IN the sand. and some OF the ''puffers.'
80
and thus anchor themselves effectively
Liability TO panic terror IS one Of the /
most human attributes Of fishes. Some /
are more easily scared than others. but /
once frightened. they lose all sense of j
direction OF distance. and run IS readily I
into danger as out Of e. Ike q theater
audience when some ore cries -hrer Even (
the bulfrogs, the most stoiid OF amphibe-
ans. are sometimes carried away ~ IT,
Though they are used % being pcered ar
both from above and through the e1ass
B strange face sometimes drives them
10 frenzy. and sets them 20 jumping re
sardiess. against the glass or the rocks
Usually q stay of a few months among
people tames q fish considerably. Many
siu learn tc eat from the fingers. and
some. the banded groEper.' for instance I
TiN follow a person IS Re walks along I
he platform behind their tanks. Towards /
he usual feed time IN the late afternoon.
Utmost any FISH viii rush % the surface
= the water whenever the wire screen
lbove - raised bur IF hard ~ say how
much this o. due u sense ~ tine and
low much - the natural Increase of hEr-
yer as the day goes on Tire seals. s1rne
2 the attendants say. watch the ciocz.
nd know nfteeu inmates before the dsor-
-cepers whistle drives the crowd away.
hat u IS time % - fed
Song.
CReminisceut q Omar Ehayyau-I