The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-18
TIE MORAYS AT HOME.
Pipes for Them TO Get Into-Other Things
New at the Aquarium.

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New At the Aquarium.
In the tank Of the big green morays
at the Aquarium has been placed, to occupy
the great cells time and to amuse and gratify
them, three foot length Of ten inch drain
pipe.
Where the green morays come from,
the Bermudas, they inhabited waters
around coral rocks and reefs that have in
them many cavernous recesses and are
honeycombed with holes and passages.
A moray can go in at some opening at one
side OF a reef and come out at the other;
and the morays spend good part Of their
time in these retreats They like to Turk
in them, and they come out OF them or
lie in wait at the openings of them for
prey.
In this they are only like many fishes
which like to get into holes and cracks and
crevices in the rocks on the bottom, hike
the blackflsh, for instance, and like tactics
must be pursued in fishing for them. The
man fishing for Blacklist knows that
when he gets bite he must give his line no
slack, or the blackfish may get under some
shelving rock and saw the line Off
And so with green moray. which may
have a third Of its body out of hole in
the coral rock, looking for food, and which
may take baited hook. II the moray gets
chance to back in, 1t may break the line
and the fisherman may lose his fish.
the green morays' tank, placed lying on
the bottom, the morays for an hour in
| vestigated 1t. and then the biggest OF them,
| which is not much less than seven feet in
length, went through it four times in five
minutes, and now some one Of them is
| Ekn tp ha found in IN a time
The smallest of these giant eels is more
than five feet long, 80 that when any one
OF them is in the pipe its head and part
Of its body stick out at one end and goodly
to lie in the pipe In this manner, and to some
extent they take turns at it..
One Of them may lie in it for an hour
or more, and then another one OF them
may come around and thrust its curious
| pointed, elongated, triangle shaped head
| into the pipe at the end from which the tail
of the occupant at the time is sticking, as
q hint to the eel In it to get out, and when
the one in the pipe slides out, the other
slides in and occupies 1t for a. time. The
green morays like the drain pipe; it gives
them little touch Of home.
The green morays at the Aquarium are
in big double tank in the ground floor
| tier salt water side. In tank in the gal
lery tier on this side there are two spotted
morays, each of them about ~ feet in
length. A piece Of pipe has also been
provided for these morays in which they
appear to find equal enjoyment with the
| green morays in theirs.
The pipe is five inches in diameter big
enough for both morays to get into at once,
and originally it was three feet long, But
both morays would get into it and hide
themselves completely from the public,
the pipe being longer than their bodies
! SO the pipe was broken crosswise at about
third the distance from one end and
both sections left in the tank.
| Now both the spotted morays may be
seen In the longer section at once, one Of
them perhaps with its head out at one end
and the other with its head out at the other
| end, and one Of them may at the same time
have its tail in the short section OF pipe,
| lying near.
There have lately been received at the
| Aquarium five sea horses which were
taken from the ocean off Atlantic City:
These are the first the Aquarium has had
on exhibition for some months. They
are fine specimens and active, the largest
Of them about five inches in length and they
attract the attention Of all visitors.