The Washington herald., 1913-10-19
VISITOR
Walks ON Land
Many Remarkable Specimens
in Display in New York
Museum.
FISH FROM MANY LANDS
One Hatehes Eggs by Holding Them
in Her Mouth-Martyrdom Of
Motherhood.
FISH FROM MANY LANDS

New York, Oct. 11.-PoliticaI candidates
and their spell-binders In casting about
for new and startling epithets with
which to libel their opponents would do
well to visit the American Museum Of
peek at the exhibition of strange tropi-
cal fish offered by-the members of the
Aquarium Society.
For instance, there is the Vlviparous
Pike Head. Could anything be more
beautifully expressive? Imagine how a
man called Viviparous Pike Head from
the platform must writhe and humble
in the impotency of his wrath and the
hopelessness OF finding a telling come
back. OF course. IL he knew 1t was just
a harmless and rather handsome little
fish, habitating around in the West
Indian fresh waters, he might not feel
so badly. But 1t sounds pretty rough.
Then, too, there is the Xiphopherus
Helleri, from Mexico. a beautiful little
fish with a long black and white stream
er attached to his tail. He sounds like
a proclamation, but really is very cute.
Also the Onabus Scandens ard the
Paratylapia Multicolor, the Cichlasoma
Negrofaciatus and the Fundulus GUAR
is-all perfectly good little fnny fellows
rivers carefully collected, tanked and
labeled by the ardent p!scatorial scien-
lists comprising the Aquarium Society.
This One n Pedestrian.
The exhibition comprises about 100
cunning little glass aquariums, lovingly
designed and equipped by the exhibitors
and inhabited by many rare and interest
ing species of fresh water fish-from all
over the world. Specimens are all of
small varieties, but their strange forms
and wonderful coloring. as well as the
peculiarly Of their habits, make the ex-
hibit OF unusual interest to the nature
lover.
OF all these eccentric inhabitants of
the liquid world none Is stranger than
the Onabus Scandens. a bristly, fat little
FISH. native to parts of Africa and India.
This is the only fish known to travel
overland. When one Of the pools of wa
ter where 1t lives at home dries up under
the scorching sun of a midsummer
drought, these remarkable little amphib-
ians crawl up the bank on the spines
"f Their gill covers and fins and wriggle
their way over the ground to the nextl
pool that still has water in II. They
usually start their journey early in the
when there is a heavy dew, as
they are able to get the oxygen from the
gle through 1t. There is a native legend
that the Onabus can even climb a tree,
a legend that is carefully denied in the |
serious and frightfully authoritative |
German fish book mainly used by the |
Aquarium Society
The multicolored Paratylapia, or mouth |
breeder. is so called because of the habit
Of the female Of carrying her eggs in her |
mouth until they hatch. For sixteen rays |
taa Oh,
food. keeping her mouth closed and the
eggs in 1t until out wriggle a whole brood /
Of little Paratylapias, all ready to take |
CO. of themselves.
This One Regular Tank.
India, SO named because. Of the re-
labyrinth of cells in the back
Of its head, where it can store a great
quantity Of pure oxygen generated in |
Its breathing apparatus. This fish lives
In the most stagnant and Shiny water,
where there Is little or no oxygen at 1
all. When its store of the life-giving
gas is exhausted it comes to the top of |
the water and takes gulps of fresh air,
from which it extracts all the oxygen
hlls its tanks and then goes down into
the cozy depths to browse for another
period.
Among other particularly interesting
specimens are the African Butterfly fish. /
the Bali or Frog fish from the Ganges
River; the Indian Moon fish, the Ele- /,
phant fish. from Siam, and the Conchita, |,
from South America.
This is the fourth annual exhibit of
the society, which, was founded twenty
,ne years ago. Edward Kiernan is the
president. Among the principal mem-
oers and exhibitors are Richard Dorm.
John Lowell, p. c. Ording, Johr,
Foersch, Arthur Osborn, William Bic
ner, w. l. Brind, and August ober-
miller. The exhibition Will be open this
.yenfnc as well as each dav