FISHES FOR THE AQUARIUM.
I shall here give the names and a few particulars of the history of the
fishes that are most suitable for the aquarium, reserving my notes on
the grouping and general stocking for a subsequent chapter. It is to the
interesting family of _Cyprinidæ_ we are to look for our chief supplies.
This tribe of fishes belongs to the great division of _Malacopterygii_,
or those having their fin-membranes supported by flexible rays, which
are either pointed or branched, or both.
_Cyprinus carpio_, the British carp, is a handsome fish, differing
slightly in structure from the Prussian and gold carp; yet, in general
outline, preserving the true carp type--plumpness of body, iridescence
of colour, and ease of movement in the water. This carp has a
moderately-developed pair of moustachios, in the form of a barbule, at
the upper part of each corner of the mouth, and a second one above it,
on each side. Like the rest of its kindred, it is very tenacious of
life, and does not quickly suffer from exhaustion of oxygen. It is an
old fish, so to speak, for it was a favourite with the ancients. Pliny
and Aristotle both speak of it in high terms of praise, and record that
it lives to a hundred years of age, becoming, in that time, as white and
hoary as an "ancient mariner" should. It is not indigenous to our
rivers, though, as far back as 1496, mention is made of it in the "Boke
of St. Albans," quoted by Mr. Yarrell. It has been known to attain to a
weight of twenty pounds, and in Holland is frequently kept alive in wet
moss, and fattened on boiled potatoes. In this way it is said to live
three weeks.
[Illustration: GUDGEON, PRUSSIAN CARP, LOACH, & BREAM.]
_C. gibelio_ is the noble Prussian carp, unquestionably the best of all
fishes for aquarian purposes. It will survive the wreck of a whole
establishment, even if the water gets putrid and almost exhausted of
oxygen. The easy, graceful motions, the beauty of the colouring, and the
docility, of this fish, must make it a favourite and a pet wherever it
is kept. I have always had a large number of them, some of considerable
size; they group themselves like friends on good terms of acquaintance,
take an interest in whatever goes on in the room where the tank stands,
and elegantly poised in mid-water, will watch their proprietor for
hours. Small, red earth-worms, young water snails, and home-made bread,
are the best of foods for them. They will seldom eat bread at first, but
soon get to like it, eat it greedily, "and ask for more." The Prussian
carp may be taught to feed from the hand, even more boldly than the
minnow, and readily assemble themselves for inspection when the side of
the glass is gently tapped with the finger-nail. None of the carp family
are carnivorous in any great degree. Mr. Yarrell says the Prussian carp
will recover after having been thirty hours removed from water.
_C. carassius._--The crucian, or German carp, is easily distinguished
from its compeers by its bream-shaped back, which rises from the nape
into a high arch along the line of the dorsal fin. It is to be found in
the Thames, between Hammersmith and Windsor, whether for the angler to
kill or the aquarian to preserve. It is less hardy than the Prussian
carp, and a little subject to fungoid growths.
_C. auratus_ of Linnæus, the lovely gold carp, will hold pre-eminence
among domestic fishes for its splendour of colouring, though among true
naturalists I think the Prussian carp will always compete with it to
advantage, for the gold fish is certainly the dullest-minded of the
family, and, like most fops, lazy and unteachable. Pennant says, "In
China every person of fashion keeps them for amusement, either in
porcelain vessels, or in the small basins that decorate the courts of
the Chinese houses. The beauty of their colours and their lively motions
give great entertainment, especially to the ladies, whose pleasures,
from the policy of the country, are extremely limited." This carp
appears to have been introduced into Britain about 1611, though the
precise date is now difficult to determine. Mr. Yarrell leaves it an
open question.
A large number of those reared for sale are the produce of waters which
receive the waste steam from factories, and which are thus kept to a
temperature frequently as high as 80 degrees. In fact this carp is most
prolific in tepid water, though those that are bred at a lower
temperature are more beautiful. The gold carp is not the only fish that
can bear such high degrees of heat, perch and mullet have been found in
waters at 86 degrees; live eels were found by De Saussure in water
heated to 113 degrees, and other instances, mentioned in Bushnan's
"Study of Nature," show the adaptability to temperature in fish of many
other species. I had minnows frozen into a solid mass last winter, and
the same day they were thrown into a tank, in a room where a fire was
burning, and in a few hours were sporting about in a genial warmth of 60
degrees, a change of more than thirty degrees in a few hours.
The trade has been so long established that a modern gold fish is truly
a manufactured article, and the patterns vary from high class beauty to
very decided deformity. Domesticated creatures are all liable to vary
from their original type, but in the gold carp this variation proceeds
to an extent not observed in any other animal which man has taken under
his care. Their colours are as various as their forms; some have stumps
instead of dorsal fins, with perhaps tails as large as their bodies;
some have triple-forked tails, and perhaps no trace of a dorsal fin at
all, and in purchasing, it is as necessary to look to the structure and
outline of the fish as to its colours, or, on after inspection, the
purchaser may find himself in possession of creatures as bright as
morning sunshine, but in form as ugly as toads. There is no better food
for gold fish than the crumb of bread. Many writers condemn this; I can
only say that they thrive for years upon it, but if more be given at a
time than the fish can eat, it soon renders the water impure and does
mischief.
_Cyprinus Brama_, the common bream, is a fish of bold outline and
pleasing habit. The depth from the dorsal to the ventral fin is nearly
equal to the length of the body, and justifies the comparison applied to
a high-shouldered biped, "backed like a bream." There is a prettier
species called the _Cyprinus Buggenhagi_, Pomeranian Bream, a specimen
of which was lately supplied me, with a parcel of other fish, by Mr.
Hall, the intelligent naturalist, of the City Road.
_C. Leucisus_, the dace, _C. rutilus_, the roach, and _C. alburnus_, the
bleak, may be classed together, as fishes well known to all who were
ever seduced into playing truant, to try their boyish luck with a
blood-worm and a bent pin, or who have since sunned themselves in the
holiday pages of Izaak Walton, to fall in love with milk-maids, and
dream all night of reedy rivers that sing and sparkle, and fishes fried
in meadow cowslips. These are delicate fish, whether for the table or
the tank. As the latter concerns me most here, let me warn the reader to
proceed cautiously, for these lovely creatures have a sad habit of
perishing quickly in confinement. In winter time they may be kept with
ease, but as spring approaches, the best care for them will only be
rewarded by the spectacle every morning of one or two floating on the
surface, never to swim again; while they do live, there are no more
interesting creatures to be found for the gratification of the domestic
circle. Bleak are even more sportive than minnows, and will chase a fly
or small spider thrown in to them, till they tear it into shreds, and
then will fight like Irish lads for the pieces. An aquarium, stocked
with bleak and minnows, is a perpetual Donnybrook Fair, and will provoke
the laughter of the dullest melancholic that ever looked at water as a
medium wherein to end his imaginary woes. They soon feed from the hand,
and eat bread greedily, darting after the crumbs with even more
eagerness and vivacity than a party of school boys scrambling for
halfpence. Their dazzling silvery scales, marked with the bright lateral
line of spectral green, their taper forms, and large bright eyes, enlist
all our sympathies, and compel us to doat upon them. If they are the
best of fishes in this respect, they realise Wordsworth's famous
passage--
"The best die first,
But they whose hearts are dry as summer's dust,
Burn to the socket:"
and hence as to longevity they prove themselves the worst. Dace are very
tameable, and soon grow bold and familiar in captivity, comporting
themselves in their attitudes and motions much like Prussian carp. Of
the three, dace are the most hardy; I have some which have survived
eighteen months' confinement, and are now enjoying the sunshine in the
garden.
The aquarian, contemplating the silvery spangles of his white fish, may
like to be reminded that the scales of dace, roach, and bleak, were
formerly used in the manufacture of Oriental pearls, and are still used
to some extent in making the imitations of pearl that occasionally gleam
under the chandelier upon the brows of laughing belles.
_C. phoxinus_, the minnow. An aquarium without minnows is no aquarium at
all--it is a makeshift. With a shoal of minnows and a few Prussian Carp
an aquarium may be considered fairly stocked, because there is really
something to look at, something to amuse, and something to instruct. The
minnow is a bold and impudent fish; he is at his ease in less than an
hour, and in a week will show a sign of attachment and familiarity. They
do not live beyond three years, but will reach that age in the
confinement of a tank. Like carp and tench (and asses), minnows may be
said never to die, for they survive the severest trials of heat and
cold, neglect and bad treatment. The colours are pleasing, and bear some
close resemblance to the mackerel; but fright will make them assume a
pale fawn colour in an instant. Disease seldom attacks them, and when
it does, they speedily recover if thrown into a large pan under a jet of
water. Minnows spawn in June, and just before that time acquire their
gayest mottlings of green, and bronze, and silver, losing colour
considerably after spawning.
_C. gobio._--The gudgeon is an every-day sort of fish, proper enough in
a general collection, but where room is scarce it may very well be
spared. In its markings the gudgeon has a striking appearance. It is a
hardy fish, and rarely shows signs of exhaustion.
_C. Tinca._--The tench is a quiet, shy fish, distinct in outline, and
easily recognised; but, like the gudgeon, destitute of any highly
attractive features. The tench is the most tenacious of life of any fish
in the collection, and never shows signs of exhaustion by gulping air
from the surface. Tench are easily tamed, and take great pleasure in
nibbling their proprietor's fingers. Mine eat bread and cheese with me,
and nibble my fingers fiercely whenever I permit them.
_C. Barbus._--The barbel takes the lead in the aquatic moustache
movement. His barbs are really ornamental, and altogether he is a
handsome but shy fish. The dorsal and caudal fins are very symmetrically
shaped, and the lateral line arrests the eye when we contemplate his
pleasing colours. If small newts, small carp, and minnows are kept in
the same tank with barbel, they are likely to disappear one by one; for
when all is quiet he makes his meal without seeking aid from the
culinary art.
_C. barbatula_ is perhaps the most interesting fish in the tank,
considered as an individual. With no attractive colours, and with an
outline as straight and rigid as a piece of bark, he surprises you with
his graceful motions as he hawks along the surface of the glass,
propelled by the easy undulatory action of the caudal end of the spine.
Towards dusk he wakes up from his daylight stupor, and commences his
queer, but pretty gyrations; and, after gliding ghost-like all round the
tank, suddenly drops down as if dead, and rests on any leaf or stone
that may receive him, remaining motionless, and in any attitude--on his
head, his tail, or his side--that the power of gravity may give him.
Then, with an uneasy fidgetting, he flounders up again, and off he goes,
as graceful as before, his pectoral fins spread out like samples of
lace, looking as much like an eel with frills as it it possible to
conceive. When ascending, his motion is so undulatory that he may easily
be mistaken for a smooth newt, going up for a bubble. Nor is our
interest in him lessened by his displays of individuality of character.
He is a savage on a small scale. When he is quietly dozing, half hidden
among the sand and pebbles, throw in a small red worm, and, as soon as
the water is tainted with the odour of this favourite food, he is awake
and on the search. A triton seizes the worm, and shakes it as a cat
would a mouse. The loach hunts him down, snaps at him fiercely, and
tears the worm from his mouth, and woe to any minor fish that attempts
to remove it from those bearded jaws. He flounders from place to place,
shaking the prey as he goes, and stirs up such a cloud from the bottom,
that the beauty of the scene is spoiled for an hour; at the end of which
time you will probably find him gorging the prog, half of which still
protrudes from his mouth, while two or three hungry minnows loiter
about, looking wistfully at what they dare not hope to obtain.
It is a pity the loach is so delicate; it shows signs of exhaustion
sooner than any fish in the collection. If oxygen fails, it comes to the
surface to gulp air, and at last rolls over on its back, and pants in a
way that is very painful to witness. Removed to a pan, under a jet of
water, it soon recovers; but if long confined in a vessel the least
overstocked, especially in warm weather, finishes his career by
convulsive gaspings at the surface.
[Illustration: MINNOW, TENCH, & PERCH.]
A curious species of loach, known as the spine loach, is met with
occasionally in Wiltshire, in the Trent, near Nottingham, and in some of
the tributaries of the Cam. Mr. Yarrell describes it; but as I have not
yet had the good fortune to possess a living specimen, I can only refer
to it casually.
_C. cephalus._--The chub is a good aquarium fish. It is shy, but grows
familiar under good treatment. Insects sooner attract it than any other
food. Mr. Jesse says, that those in his vivarium throw off all reserve
at the sight of a cockchafer, which they devour with eagerness.
Among the _Acanthopterygii_, or the spiny-finned fishes of Cuvier's
arrangement, the only one suited to the fresh-water tank, is the noble
perch, _Percidæ_. These are bold and dignified, and their decisive
markings make them attractive in a general collection. They require
plenty of room, or they soon show signs of exhaustion; and, under the
best of circumstances, cannot be pronounced a hardy fish in confinement.
They are capricious. I have had healthy specimens, taken by net, die off
in a week; and weakly ones, taken by the hook, with portions of the
lower jaw torn away, recover, and live for a year, after the ragged
portions had been removed by scissors.
_Gasterosteus_ needs a word or two. The sticklebacks are all pretty and
interesting fish, plentifully found on the sea-coast, and in brooks and
ponds all over the country. The species most frequently met with are _G.
semiarmatus_, the half-armed stickleback, and _G. pungitius_, the
ten-spined, but _G. brachycentrus_ (short-spined), and _G. spinulosus_
(four-spined), are rare.
Aquarian amateurs seem a little divided about the policy of keeping
these in tanks. I can only advise the beginner to be careful, or he may
regret having made their acquaintance. They are all savages, untameable
savages, that delight in destruction, even if they cannot eat what they
destroy. They will attack anything, and, with their spiny armour, dare
the stoutest to retaliate upon their mischief-making pertinacity. In
fact, they pass all their time in worrying the more peaceful members of
the aquarium; and any one who has a few months' experience of them, will
consider them the savagest of imps.
I have tried them on several occasions, and found them at spawning time
more savage than usual; but at all other times savage enough. My
favourite Prussian carp, that love me as I love them, that come when I
call them, that hurry to the side when I fillip the glass with my
finger-nail, that watch me with all their eyes when I sit in the room
with them, and that feed from my hand as a dog would, show at the tips
of their pretty tails the sanguinary signs of gasterostean vengeance.
Their transparent tails are ragged through the attacks of those
sharp-toothed savages, and more than one has succumbed to their
persevering spite since my recent trial of them under the persuasion of
a little friend who begged me to put in some "robins" he had caught at
the brook. "Robins," indeed, the red jaws of G. aculeatus are suggestive
of his bloodthirsty propensities, and he now does penance with a dozen
of his kindred in a glass jar of _Callitriche autumnalis_. With tench,
gudgeons, and minnows they do better, but they are very annoying to carp
of all kinds.