Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-12
WILLIAM EDWARD MEEHAN
On the Work Of the AQUARIUM

NTANY people have the entirely erroneous
4V1 idea that in order to make an aquarium
it is only necessary to have tank of water,
catch some fish and throw them in. and then
feed them bread crumbs occasionally when
they look hungry, according to William Ed
ward Mechan. superintendent of the Phila
delphia Aquarium.
On the contrary says Mr.. Mechan. those
in charge of an aquarium have to be both
good doctors and good psychologists. since
fish have a variety and compleXity of both
diseases and idiosynCraSes. much after the
fashion of land creatures, man or animal.
I'm the first place. declares Mr.. Nee
han. Living fish on exhibition seem to have
an even greater fascination and attraction
Tor the average man or woman than animals
have. or in fact any other living thing. ami
nal or vegetable. Probably the biggest rca-
son for this popularity is that we are a
land living people. who only go ont to sea
occasionally, and even then only on the sur
face. We sec anima Is all around us, perhaps
not always the varieties generally found in
geological gardens. bur at least of kindred
species. On the other hand. all the average
man sees of living fish is flash or swirl
in the water. and so that fish is cloakcd i'll
an interesting mystery
1T is also true that n fish in tank is
with very few exceptions, exactly the same
as Il fish in its native hauntS. The same is
not true of anima Is. Few if any of them
have the same mode Of living and habits in
captivity that they have in their native state
One of the few exceptions referred to in
regard to fish is that certain species who in
their homes under the sea or in streams cling
perSstently to the bottom and never come
to the surface except to spawn or in case of
extreme hunger nevertheless. in captivity,
come very often to the surface of the water
and stay there, regarding onlOOkcrS curiousy
as ii they, too, wondered at the strange
specimens before them.
Aquariums Always Popular
at any rate, aquarumS seem always to
be very popular The one in New York has
Il larger attendance than the British Museum
or the Bronx Zoo. The Philadelphia
aquarium ITSELF until the building of thc
art gallery made it almost iuacrrssble used
to have an attendance Of 400 600 year
1T was built in 1912 and was intended to
contain mainly fish of Pennsylvania, that
the people might know the tinny specimens of
their own state. Its general object rs is true
with all aQuariumS. was cducntionaI and
that il is at all times In II short time
new addition will b" opened which will make
1t one OF the largest ANuarium> in the world.
And now aS to the care of fish, which is
something more than Il combination of a
tanktul of water and few bread crumbs
In the first place, all tire different fish must
b" i"d the FOODS they are accustomed to and
that lit their peculiar characteristics. For
example, thrr" ar" som" which are almost
wholly vcgctarianS, such ~ the German
carp, which Is not, AS is sometimes believed
Gambia! tish. Tn" carp in roofing up
vegetable foods nj the bottom of the BODY of
water sometimes destroys the scuucstCrcd
abiding place Of other fish and cause thcir
death, but 1t never eats other fishes
'Thcn there Is another kind of fish which
feeds on mud or rather on minute Organisms
of mud. An example here is the mud shnd
some fish will not eat fish, but will live on
m"luSkS or rrustac"anS. Others will cat
II" cut food. but insist on a diet of living
things. Still others are almost omniyorous,
Must Study Whims of Appetite
In every case the whinS of upprt,tc of
each individual fish must be studied and met
Th"r" are some varieties however, which.
no matter how much attention they receive
cannot live in captivity. These are generally
known rs the prlagic fish or wanderers nf
the SEA. They live far ont in the middle Of
the oceans, and never venture near tho shore
rNc"pt in response to that occasionally mi
Nrrsul call of famine in food. In this rnt
cgory ar" the bluCii>h. the herring family
and, "" might ~ay, the shark, which is nGt
truly fish at all
"Such fish simply will not live in con-
fined spaces Tor any considerable length nr
time. The directors of one aUuurium s,,omt
eighteen years before they secured Il mil, nf
sharks which accommodated themselves tn
confined quarters and lived more than n rnv
months. The best longevity for sharks nh
tanned here has been four months. with Uo
exception OF one time when we had n snm,
shark which lived over half Il year. nnd W"nu
then killed by hawksbill turtle kent in H."
same tank. NV
"Thc average life o' GSh +, ab,l, o,.,,,
| months. although, Of course, many live TO- bc