MAIN FLOOR
The center of the main floor of the New york Aquarium is occupied by a tank thirty-seven feet across and seven feet deep, devoted to porpoises and dolphins, closely allied warm-blooded mammals belonging to the whale family.
The six other pools around this floor, proceeding from left to right from the main entrance, contain:
1. Large marine turtles. Of these the green turtle of the Atlantic coast from New York southward is the most important of the sea turtles and the one commonly used for food. It attains a weight of 1,000 pounds or more. The loggerhead turtle, of the Atlantic coast from New York to Brazil, also attains great size and weight, but is not a food species. These large turtles have lived many years in the New york Aquarium.
2. Fresh-water turtles. In this pool are the diamond-back terrapin, the finest of edible species, the Cumberland turtle, the wood turtle, Lesueur's terrapin, the chicken turtle, several large specimens of the soft-shelled turtle and others.
Young alligators and bullfrogs also find a place here.
In small tanks arranged around the edge of this pool are various crustaceans and frogs, among them the green crab, spider crab, horseshoe crab, rock crab, leopard frog, oyster and lobster.
3. Large tropical freshwater fishes. These include the giant grouper, the drumfish, noted for feeding upon oysters, and the dog-snapper.
4. California sea lion. A species of eared seals related to the fur seals but without a commercially valuable skin. They are harmless, tractable and intelligent animals. Formerly numerous on the North Pacific Coast, they are rapidly being reduced in numbers by sportsmen and fishermen.
5. Crocodiles and alligators.
6. Sea cow or manatee. Upper Amazon River. A warm-blooded, milk-giving, plant-eating mammal.
The large case to the right of the main entrance contains an exhibit of land crabs from Turk's Island in the Bahamas.
The large wall tanks on the main floor of the New york Aquarium are arranged in two series, those occupying the western side of the building being devoted for the most part to freshwater, northern fishes, and those on the eastern side to marine, tropical or subtropical forms. The exhibits do not remain constant, but vary from time to time according to demands on space and other conditions.
The tanks are all lighted from above and provided with illuminated glass labels, stating the name, habitat, greatest weight, status as food, value for sport and other interesting or important facts about each species. The labels also in-form the observer which species are suited to small aquaria, for stocking small ponds or streams or for destroying mosquito larva?. The rock backgrounds provided for the tanks aid in displaying the fishes to the best advantage.
The fresh-water species in the New york Aquarium—for the most part North American or introduced and acclimatized in this country—include the rudd or pearl roach, an introduced fish now common in New York State waters, and the yellow roach, its native relative; the goldfish, of which several varieties are shown; the short-nosed gar, lake sturgeon, bony gar and mudfish, belonging to the group of fishes known as ganoids, of which very few species survive to-day, though, to judge from fossils, they appear to have been abundant in past ages, and such well-known game fishes as the large- and small-mouthed black bass, muskellunge, pike and landlocked salmon and various species of trout. The crayfish, a fresh-water crustacean, also occupies a tank in this series.
A large tank, containing certain marine crabs and fishes, including the horseshoe king crab, common on the Atlantic coast but having no near relative except on the northeast coast of Asia, the blue or edible crab, sturgeon, flounder, spider crab, striped bass, codfish and whitefish, is also found on this side of the main hall.
The marine fishes include the following important food fishes: sheepshead, red grouper, red snapper, Nassau grouper and jewfish, one of the largest of the sea bass, reaching gigantic size. The curious snake-like morays, common in the tropics and in reality degenerate eels, are especially interesting and have lived many years in the New york Aquarium.
The angel-fish, rainbow-fish, bluefishes and squirrel-fish have been brought from tropical regions, and their brilliant colors are characteristic of species found in such environments.
A large tank, inhabited by the hawksbill turtle, a large marine turtle which provides the valuable tortoise-shell of commerce, also occupies a position on this side of the hall.
A lens cabinet, for viewing very small aquatic animals through a magnifying glass, is placed near the northeast wall; here are mosquito larvae, tiny crustaceans, hydroids and jelly-fishes.
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