Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-10-04
new YORK AQUARIUM
IS |MMENSEL Y
POPULAR
Six Thousand People Daily
Gather in South Manhattan
to See Father KnickerboCk-
erS 1000 Fish.

400 live fish. The aquarium stands al
the extreme southerly end of Manhat-
tan Island, looking out on the broad
sweep OF New York harbor, and back
ed by the sky-flung turrets of the
great hives of finance, which empha-
size its unpretentiusness. But it at
tracts more visitors than the Louvre
at Paris or st. Peters Cathedral al
Rome. The throngs average 5000
persons daily for 365 days in the year,
or a total considerably above two mil
lion, and during the past summer the
daily crowds frequently reached the
20. 900 mark.
The structure was built as a harbor
defense fort exactly 100 years & and
called the Southwest battery. In 1923
il was coded to the city as a public
place of amusement, and, rechristened
Castle Garden, became famous as a
place where all the great singers and
actors of the period appeared and the
important social and political gather
ings were held. From 1855 to 1890
It was used as a reception station for
immigrants. and since 1896 has been
the aquarium. IL now contains the
finest collection of live fish in the
world. and over $4,000, 900 persons
have been to see them since it was
opened.
The collection includes 200 differ
emf species. The fish are contained
in seven large floor pools. ninety-four
large wall tanks, thirty smaller tanks
and twenty-six reserve tanks. The
pumping system circulates about 30O,-
600 gallons of salt water daily and
nearly as much fresh water. In addi-
tion to the regular exhibits. a fish
hatchery is maintained which pro-
duces about 100000 food and game
fish annually.
REQUIRE Much Attention.
The car of all these fish is an i'm
mense task. according to the aqua
RUM authorities, n constantly ne
cessitates the attention of some TWEEN
ty attendants or nurses, who look af-
ter the food and water Of the piscato-
rial captives and see that they do not
fight or get injured or i'll or succumb
TO attacks or parasites. The food
alone is quite a problem, for fish are
extremely fastidious, and will refuse
10 eat altogether II the table" does
not suit them. The turtles, some of
them weighing $50 pounds or more,
consume a dainty bill Of fare of chop
ped beef, earth worms and small min
nows. The young trout and salmon
must be fed on minced liver and her
ring roe. The little sea horses like to
partake of a meal of gammarus, a
minute c%rustacean found in certain
kinds of sea moss, and viii insist upon
this dainty. The big sea COW. on the
other hand, disdaining all the prod
ucts of the garden and field that or
binary COWS subsist on. requires a
menu Of salt water eel grass and pond
weed, consuming eighteen bushels of
the grass and four Of the weed i'm the
great Mississippi catfish that fasts re-
ligiously from September TO April. In
spite Of this frugal habit the fish has
gained twenty pounds in the four
years OF its captivity and now weighs
about sixty pounds.
IL Will be readily seen from these
Instances that 200 species Of fish with
a differing appetite for each species
require a versatile chef to cater to
them. For the more ordinary dishes
aquarium has special hunters who
the coast for fish food. The or
binary consumption of this is soft
$4,000 "A month; marine
1000 a month: mussels. six
a year: shrimp. twenty-five
quarts a week: minnows. fifteen
quarts daily. and small crabs by the
thousands. In addition. cod. herring.
'melt, beef and liver have TO be pur-
'hased to the extent Of 700 or 500
pounds a month.
Another thing the aquarium man
igers have TO reckon with Is the tenn
Der OF the various fishes. Each tank
las It's boss or leader. who has prob
ihly risen 10 his position by dint Of
prowesS. As soon as new fish
ire put in a tank. the leader singles
'ut the leader of the newcomers and
pitched battle ensues. In which all
Inc join. Sometimes these shindigs
until one Of the two chief COM
Is removed from the tank.
y%hereupon all the others bow to their
lndisputed leader.
Angel Fish Are Bad.
There are the angel fish. which
dispositions the least angelic OF
no the inhabitants Of the aquarium.
When one OF these beautiful creatures
Win its long. waving spines. becomes
tflicted with piscecidal mania. he
an rapidly create great havoc in the
Sliding rapidly past the fish
.e wishes 20 attack, the angel fish
ashes the victim with his long
pines. using them as scimitars. An
iher off fish, with a curious. but 4
~peaceable characteristic. Is the :
tile puffer. which is afraid OF thun- :
md. acting on some occult fore
~uowledge Of a storm. swallows water
allast until he sinks 10 the bottom. l
here he burrows under the sand and
ebbles until only his nose and eyes
There he remains until the
.orm arrives and passes over. The
uffer IS the aquarium barometer.
Rough an the fish are apparently
'nsitve 10 the approach OF storms. =
The show fishes Of the aquarium {
the ~gorgeously hued speciments g
are brought owe from Bermuda.
as the angel fish. parrots and q
morays. Some OF these trnpicai a
sh have lived for fou years in the y
luarium In salt water kept at gulf v
ream temperature the year round u
De- fish are caught az the temporary ]
station maintained al Ber-
.uda by New York university under n
De- dictatorship Of Professor G. L X
risfol. Geological students "a the v
liNersity go 10 Bermuda In the sum- v
er. and. under the direction OF skill c
Instructors. collect for aquariumS
il Tor the great biological labora- a
ries Of b University OF New York b
e specimens with which these wa a.
- are 50 ~plcnufully supplied. ei
W to D present the Bermuda n
'rk has beer handicapped by lack nj
funds o. n biologists Interested n
q trying Co Interest men % wealth .
the establishment or 3 permanent al
oinzical station az the Flats. Ber- q
the situation Of which. for Sc In
many varieties ~ fr.ufnnr f.H