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Wonders of An Adelaide
Aquarium
Curious Things in a Kent Town
Backyard
Newts and Other Amphibia
Many people know much about flowers and trees, and birds of the
air, and beasts of field and jungle; even of the larger fish of the sea;
but comparatively few know anything of the teeming, tiny life of
backwaters and pools. Very few, indeed, know that in Kent Town
there is an aquarium filled with an absorbingly interesting collection
of these curious creatures.
NOWHERE better than in an
aquarium, conducted on scientific
lines, does Nature display her
most marvellous handiwork. There
is such an aquarium as this
tucked away in a back yard
of a house in Kent Town. Here, un-
suspected by most people, is a micro-
cosm, in which, day and night, the
mysterious work of Nature is being
carried out under the eye of a man
who has studied aquatic life in many
of its aspects.
In this aquarium of Mr. P. A. Geisler,
there are between 5,000 and 6,000 fish.
mostly small, but all distinguished
by some particular characteristic of
gorgeous coloring, exquisite shape, or
extraordinary habit. Most interesting
of all the inhabitants of this little
world, are the amphibians—the newts,
salamanders, axolotls, and mudskippers;
but among the many varieties of fish
are the lung fish of Australia, the
flying barbes of Malay, with fins like
the wings of an aeroplane, fish that
like brackish water, fish that would
drown if they could not get to the sur-
face to breathe, fish that do not lay
eggs, others that hatch the eggs in
their mouths, opal fish, flashing colors
that put the finest black opal to shame,
gold fish of every imaginable kind, size,
and shape, and in every stage of de-
velopment, ranging from the original
golden carp to the amazingly beauti-
ful varieties obtained by the Chinese
through centuries of selection and
breeding.
Amazing Collection of Goldfish
All these things are kept in ideal
conditions, and displayed in glass tanks
or bowls, with natural lighting arranged
so that they may be seen at their best.
As Mr. Geisler has sent to distant
countries, even to the head waters of
the Amazon, for his specimens, so he
has obtained, also, from the ends of
the earth, the plants among which the
fish live in their natural state. He
has become one of the first authorities
in the southern hemisphere on pisci-
culture, and it is not difficult to be-
lieve the statement by a much-travelled
visitor, that this aquarium is the finest
south of the Line.
Numerous buildings are filled with
glass tanks, and in the open, inter-
spersed among exotic and other plants,
including the banana and the papyrus
reed of Egypt, are ponds containing
fish in amazing number and
variety. It is impossible for
the lay mind to realise how many
different kinds of gold fish there are,
until they are seen in this aquarium.
There is the stargazer, which has had
the dorsal fin cultivated out; there are
the Japanese golden carp, the European
golden carp, several kinds of veil-
tailed fish, with an exquisite develop-
ment of tail, gossamer-like in its deli-
cacy, and moving with the grace that
only Nature is able to give. Curi-
ously, the goldfish is almost colorless
in the immature state; gradually the
color develops, and the early dark
bronze changes to the burnished gold
which has made these fishes so popu-
lar.
The open ponds would seem to be
breeding grounds for mosquitoes. No,
says Mr. Geisler; they are veritable
death-traps for flying insects. The
mosquitoes settle on the ponds, and are
instantly taken by the fish.
"You have seen the swarms of white
ants in muggy weather." he said. "I
have as electric light, with a long flex,
and, when they come, I hang it above
each pond in turn. The water becomes
covered with the ants, but very soon
the fish have taken them all, and next
day the fish are in splendid condition.
It is good for the fish, and it keeps a
few million white ants from attacking
telegraph posts and indoor woodwork.
If every second or third house had a
pond, and used a light as a decoy, we
would not have the swarms of ter-
mites that plague us now!"
Newts, Axolotls, and Salamanders
Most interesting of all the inhabi-
tants of this aquarium are the newts
and salamanders; though the lizards
tortoises, and frogs include many which
few Australians have ever seen. Mr.
Geisler claims to have things in his
aquarium, which are on show alive, in
no other place in the world. But
the newts are the things that appeal
most to anyone interested in the wonders
of Nature. These little amphibians
come from eggs, and there are certain
things about their growth suggestive of
the theory of human evolution. The
Newt, however, is born a fish—the em-
bryos may be seen wriggling in the eggs
attached to water plants. Science is
very much interested in this little chap.
Having been born a fish, the newt lives
under water for a while and breathes
through external gills. Gradually lungs
develop, and the forelegs, which have
appeared very early, are matched with
hind legs; the tail becomes rounder and
the newt takes to the land, often staying
out of the water for a long time.
The Axolotl is supposed to be a sur-
vival of an earlier stage of evolution
than the Newt. The Axolotl does not
leave the water so readily as the adult
Newt, yet it is an amphibian. This
curious creature has an external gill and
partly developed lung. A later form
than the Newt is the salamander, a
beautifully marked yellow and black,
lizard-like amphibian. All these curi-
ous amphibians are sluggish and lazy.
They wait for their food to come to
them, and they lie absolutely still be-
neath the surface spread of the weeds.
One might think they are dead until
they are touched and then they move
with lightning speed. The Axolotls re-
main, motionless in the water, save for
an occasional return to the surface for a
breath of air. Mr. Geisler put a tiny
water snail on the end of a thin cane
and gradually dipped it into the Axo-
lotl's tank. There was not a sign of
movement on the part of the beautiful,
pink-tinted amphibian, until the snail
was within half an inch of its mouth;
then, with a snap so quick as to almost
baffle the eye, the Axolotl took the mor-
sel and at once subsided into inactivity
again.
They make an absorbing study, these
creatures which evolutionists say have
had their place in the development of
man from the most primitive forms of
life.
Another Curiosity
Another very curious thing is the
Mudskipper (Periophthalmus koelreu-
teri), with eyes bulging from the head.
It is equally at home on land or in water,
skipping about on the miniature rockery
provided by Mr. Geisler, with remarkable
agility. This amphibian has no legs;
it walks, or rather jumps, with the aid
of the pectoral fins. In appearance it
is more like a small land animal than a
fish, but Mr. Geisler says it is in every
sense a fish. It has periscopic eyes
which it thrusts out above the head;
when it leaves the water it first sends
out the eyes to make sure there is no
enemy about.
Mr. Geisler probably does not know
what it has cost him to get this collec-
tion together. "It is not what one pays
for and receives that makes up the cost
of this aquarium," be remarked; "it is
the endless expense of paying for
things that die during shipment." He
mentioned that every six months for six
years he ordered a consignment of rare
goldfish from Japan before at last four
of the fish, out of the hundreds he had
bought, arrived alive. Then he ordered
ten consecutive consignments and lost
none. He who would have an aqua-
rium must be fortified with patience as
well as money.
Tue Salamander, tally devetoned, Is a stage higher in the evolutionary Mala than the Newt. —?? ? ??? — Help
[The Salamander, fully developed, is a stage higher in the evolutionary scale
than the Newt.]
AxolotTs eggs attached to water plants. Embryos of the *?*?. which later be comes a laud animal, may be seen In the ens. Help
[Axolotl's eggs attached to water plants.
Embryos of the fish, which later be-
comes a land animal, may be seen in
the eggs.]
Albino Axototl, showing the external gills. When It develops hap It ?Mi ~i leave the water, bat once It takes to the land It cannot ictam to Its ecfgl?d dement. v Help
[Albino Axolotl, showing the external gills. When it develops lungs it can
leave the water, but once it takes to the land it cannot return to its original
element.]
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