New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-15
Animal Life in Native
Haunts and Colors
Continued from first page.

female does absolutely nothing beyond
contributing the eggs; she wanders off on
her own devices, leaving all responsibilities
TO father. After a while several hundred
thousand little dogfsh, Jumped together
in a mass the size of football, are
Matched out The male keeps guard over
them until they are about an inch and
half long, when they scatter. While on
his tour of domestic duty the male de-
velops bright green fins and an orange
circled black spot on the tail The green
fins match the cattals and seem to he
protective device, but the gorgeous orange
and black spot seems TO indicate pride.
In the dOgfsh exhibit a solitary male is
shown brooding on nest, while on an
other nest female is giving final in
structions 10 her mate before leaving him
on the job. In order to reproduce in last
ing form the exact coloring Of the tond
fathers water color sketches were made
I'm the field and lumiere color photos
taken. The air brush was used TO spray
delicate colors on the specimens.
ILLUSION WORK.
Pebbles, earth and cattails in the eN-
hibit are real the surface of the water is
represented by a sheet of transparent
celluoid in which pieces of cattail are
imbedded The gracefully curved fish
are slowly swimming in the imaginary
water without visible means of support.
A cattail behind each fish hides the neces-
sary prop.
In the exhibit OF long nosed gar
spawning party Will be shown. The gar
are polyandrists. and one female is at
tended by several males. While this i'sn
is only about three feet long, its relative.
the alligator gar, is one of the biggest
fresh water fish in this country and at
talns length of eight feet. The shovel
nosed sturgeon group shows fish about
two feet long, armored on the back and
with a sucker mouth for the gathering
IN of larve on water-logged stumps.
Along the Mississippi this sturgeon has
commercial Importance. being caught In
vast numbers in trammel nets hung
across the river. 1t is smoked for TODD
and makes fine eating, having nary
hone in its constitution. 1t il related mat
the sturgeon often gets caught while IDLY
IliDDllS set iIHC boif WIN 49, NS>'''
hook catches in the tail.
A live fish was recently added to the
museum collections and placed In tank
among the fossil fishes. because its only
relatives are extinct and petrifed. This
creature known as the lungitsh ana
equally at home on dry land and in the
water, is said to be a yeritable missing
link. Millions of years ago its brothers
and sisters left their watery abcde ana
developed into amphibians, reptiles. birds
and mammals Somehow the lunShs1
failed to evolute onward and upward II
stoned midway and remains now half
fish and half land animal. II came her'
from Africa, .0iled up in cocoon imood-
deJ i'm a clod OF earth which had been
mart of the bottom of q dried up stream.
There was a hole in the clod through
which the lungfsh obtained air to breathe.
When the earth lump was dissolved IN a
tank of water the lunglish Strengthened
out. stretched its leglike fins or its iinny
legs and cheerfully adapted itself 10
vatery domicile. The lungiish looks some
thing like missing link-o; trankfurter.
However it deserves respectful consld-
Grafton for its antiquity and KS accom-
plishments.