Modern Aquarium December 2012

December 2012 volume XIX number 10

Series III ON THE COVER This month's cover features a photo from our Facebook page, Greater City Fishy Friends, that was posted by Wallace Tao, the Facebook screen name of Greater City member Wallace Deng. The subject is Cardina cf. cantonensis Sp. Tiger. To see more of Wallace's photos, see "The Tao of Greater City," on page 22.

Photo by Wallace Deng

Vol. XIX, No. 10 December, 2012

In This Issue From the Editor G.C.A.S. 2012 Program Schedule President’s Message Our Generous Sponsors & Advertisers Last Month's Caption Contest Winner

GREATER CITY AQUARIUM SOCIETY Board Members

President Dan Radebaugh Vice-President Edward Vukich Treasurer Jules Birnbaum Corresponding Secretary Sean Cunningham Recording Secretary Tommy Chang Members At Large

Claudia Dickinson Al Grusell Emma Haus Leonard Ramroop

Pete D’Orio Ben Haus Jason Kerner

Claudia Dickinson Leonard Ramroop Warren Feuer Mark Soberman Al Grusell Alexander A. Priest Marsha Radebaugh Claudia Dickinson Claudia Dickinson Warren Feuer

MODERN AQUARIUM Editor in Chief Copy Editors

Exchange Editors

Advertising Mgr.

Pictures from our Lost Meeting

by Marsha Radebaugh

Tropical Fish in a Tropical Storm

by Joseph Ferdenzi

Mermaid Tales The Fish Donation Chronicles: George Byrnes

by Sharon Barnett

Lionfish of Aruba and Bonaire

by Stephen Sica

MA Classics

Committee Chairs

A.C.A. Delegate Bowl Show Breeder Award

Early Arrivals F.A.A.S. Delegate Membership Programs N.E.C. Delegate Technology Coordinator

Cartoon Caption Contest

Dan Radebaugh Sharon Barnett Susan Priest Alexander A. Priest Stephen Sica Donna Sosna Sica Mark Soberman

Deep in the Heart

by Mary and Dan Carson

Wet Leaves

by Susan Priest

The Tao of Greater City

by Wallace Deng

G.C.A.S. Past Award Winners G.C.A.S. 2012 Award Winners The G.C.A.S. Author Award Program G.C.A.S. Breeders Award Program 2012 G.C.A.S. Breeders Award Totals G.C.A.S. Happenings The Undergravel Reporter An Oldie, But a Goodie

Fin Fun (Puzzle Page) Out of the Snow

2 3 4 4 5 6 8 9 11 13 15 19 22 24 25 26 29 31 32 33 34

From the Editor

by Dan Radebaugh

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ell, we wind up this, our 90th Anniversary year, by handing out two issues of Modern Aquarium. The first is the December issue you would normally expect to see; the second is the November issue, which most of you have not yet seen due to the wash-out of our November meeting. As is traditional at our Awards Banquets, we’ll hand out your copies of Modern Aquarium following the announcement of the winners of our various awards. No need to spoil the suspense!

Now that you have the magazine in your hands, you can check out our list of award winners, both past and present, which begins on page 24.

Congratulations are due not only to all those who won, but to all those who participated in making this another memorable year for Greater City. In this column of course, my congratulations are primarily to all of our wonderful authors, without whom Modern Aquarium would not exist!

Our Cartoon Caption Contest last month inspired several first-time responders, one of whom, Dan Puleo, won this month’s award.

Congratulations, Dan! A week removed from Hurricane Sandy’s visit to our shores, we did actually try to have a meeting. Unfortunately, another storm passed through on our designated Wednesday evening, and made getting here very difficult. “Pictures From Our Lost Meeting” shows a few of the hardy souls who braved the elements. In “Tropical Fish in a Tropical Storm,” Joe Ferdenzi gives us an account of how he and his fish got through the days without our normally taken-for-granted light and heat.

Mermaid Tales returns this month after a long absence. Welcome back, Sharon! Elsewhere, Steve Sica continues his photo-journalistic survey of the ongoing Atlantic lionfish invasion in “Lionfish of Aruba and Bonaire.” Meanwhile, Sue Priest wraps up this year’s Wet Leaves homage to conservation by saluting Rachel Carson, arguably the 20th Century’s most important voice in the defense of not only the natural world, but also of all of us, whose health and well-being are inextricably connected to that natural world.

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MA Classics this month features an article

by Mary and Dan Carson from the November, 1969 issue of Modern Aquarium entitled “Deep in the Heart.” I recommend it to you.

As a special treat this month, I have included some photos from our Greater City Fishy Friends Facebook page by our Facebook star, “Wallace Tao.” I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Appropriately enough at the end of an anniversary year, the Undergravel Reporter regales us with tales of unexpected fishy longevity in “An Oldie, but a Goodie.” As usual, our Fin Fun puzzle closes the issue and the year. * * *

Remember, as always, we need articles!

Modern Aquarium is produced by and for the members of Greater City Aquarium Society. Our members are our authors, and with ten issues per year, we always, always need more articles. I know several of you are keeping and/or breeding fish that I would like to know more about, and I’m certain other members would be interested as well. Share your experience with us. Write about it! If you’re a little unsure about the state of your writing technique, don’t worry – that’s why there are editors.

If you have an article, photo, or drawing that you’d like to submit for inclusion in Modern Aquarium, it’s easy to do! You may fax it to me at (877) 299-0522, email it to gcas@earthlink.net, or just hand it to me at a meeting. However you get it to me, I’ll be delighted to receive it!

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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

GCAS Programs

2013

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t is our great fortune to have another admirable cast of speakers who have so graciously accepted our invitation to join us throughout the coming season, bringing us their extensive knowledge and experiences. You certainly won’t wish to miss a moment of our prominent guests, not to mention the friends, fish, warmth, and camaraderie that accompanies each meeting. I know I can barely wait to see you here! Enjoy!

Claudia March 6

Joe Ferdenzi 90 Years of GCAS!

April 3

TBA

May 1

TBA

June 5

TBA

July 3

TBA

August 7

Silent Auction

September 4

TBA

October 2

TBA

November 6

TBA

December 4

Holiday Party!

Articles submitted for consideration in Modern Aquarium (ISSN 2150-0940) must be received no later than the 10th day of the month prior to the month of publication. Please fax to (877) 299-0522, or email to gcas@earthlink. net. Copyright 2012 by the Greater City Aquarium Society Inc., a not-for-profit New York State corporation.

All rights reserved. Not-for-profit aquarium societies are hereby granted permission to reproduce articles and illustrations from this publication, unless the article indicates that the copyrights have been retained by the author, and provided reprints indicate source and two copies of the publication are sent to the Exchange Editor of this magazine. Any other reproduction or commercial use of the material in this publication is prohibited without express written prior permission.

The Greater City Aquarium Society meets every month, except January and February. Members receive notice of meetings in the mail. For more information, contact: Dan Radebaugh (718) 458-8437. Find out more, or leave us a message, at our Internet Home Page at: http://www.greatercity.org or http://www.greatercity.com Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

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President’s Message

by Dan Radebaugh

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elcome to our annual Holiday Awards Banquet! After many years of holding this event at the (now sold) Palace Diner, we have a new venue here at the Flagship Diner.

Hopefully we will all manage to enjoy ourselves as we celebrate our collective and individual accomplishments this year. An organization like Greater City needs many hands to make sure everything works. My thanks go out to my wife Marsha, and to Emma Haus, for pulling all the details together, emailing and calling members to let them know about the change of venue, and for just general hard work.

While in a thanks-giving mode, I think we should acknowledge our gratitude for having come through Hurricane Sandy’s visit as well as we did. Some of us suffered hardly at all, but many of us did have serious problems – particularly with regard to power and heat. We haven’t yet been able to contact everyone, so we don’t yet know for sure how well everyone came through.

Best wishes from me and Marsha for the New Year, and we’ll see you in March!

Dan

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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

Cartoon by Elliott Oshins

November's Caption Winner: Dan Puleo

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The Modern Aquarium Cartoon Caption Contest Modern Aquarium has featured cartoons before. This time though, you, the members of Greater City get to choose the caption! Just think of a good caption, then mail, email, or phone the Editor with your caption (phone: 347-866-1107, fax: 877-299-0522, email: gcas@ earthlink.net. Your caption needs to reach the Editor by the third Wednesday of this month.

We'll also hand out copies of this page at the meeting, which you can turn in to Marsha before leaving. Winning captions will earn ten points in our Author Awards program, qualifying you for participation in our special "Authors Only" raffle at our Holiday Party and Banquet. Put on your thinking caps!

Cartoon by Elliot Oshins

Your Caption:

Your Name:

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Pictures from Our Lost Meeting Photos by Marsha Radebaugh

Walter Gallo, wondering where everyone has gone.

Leonard Ramroop joins the vanguard.

New members Jeffrey Ye and Albert Chiang sign up.

The whole group, including James Adams, our trusty guard.

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Tropical Fish In a Tropical Storm

by Joseph Ferdenzi

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s Tropical Storm Sandy roared up the Atlantic Ocean, the Eastern Seaboard of the United States braced for its impact. Meanwhile, in the tropical waters of my fishroom, the denizens of my numerous aquariums swam about as always, knowing nothing of the approaching calamity.

Just that suddenly, at about 3 PM on Monday, October 29, 2012, the power went off.

With that went the gas-fired heating system of my home. Without electricity, the pumps that circulate the hot water throughout the three zones of my house went down. One of those three zones includes the basement, where all my aquariums are situated.

The fishroom became eerily silent. No filters or air pumps were operating. The familiar sounds of bubbling box filters and cascading water from power filters were gone.

As evening descended, the tanks were shrouded in darkness.

The following days rolled on without electricity or heat. I thought it best not to feed the fish, fearing that this would only increase the pollution levels in the tanks. I felt confident that my adult fish could easily survive a week or more without food. My concern were the fry.

And, as there were no lights on, I also became concerned about what the lack of illumination would do to the many aquatic plants inhabiting my tanks. How long could they survive without light?

On Thursday, November 1, still without electricity or heat, I decided to check the temperature in the fishroom. At about 1 PM my battery-operated digital thermometer read 68° Fahrenheit. Not bad, considering night-time temperatures were in the mid-40s. A quick check of some of the aquariums revealed that they too were at 68° F, and that no fish appeared to be stressed or dying.

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

By Sunday morning, my anxiety level was increasing. The previous afternoon, I had checked the temperature in the basement; both the room and the tanks had gone down to 66, and it was still 66 on Sunday morning. Despite the low temperature, I decided to try feeding some of the fish I thought needed it most.

I tried flooding the basement with as much light as I could from the few small basement windows. I parted curtains, and opened any doors that blocked the light. I had four tanks containing various species of Nothobranchius (annual African killifish) that were a bit touchy—to begin with, they will only eat live foods. Fortunately, I had a small quantity of blackworms that had survived in their watery tray in the fishroom’s compact refrigerator.

Even though their tanks were rather dark, I hoped that the Nothos would have somewhat adjusted to seeing in the dimness, and that the wriggling of the worms would eventually attract their attention. I also had two small plastic hatcheries containing killifish fry of other species. Fortunately, these fry were not annuals, and would eat prepared foods. I sprinkled some decapsulated brine shrimp cysts on the water, and placed a flashlight atop each container in the hope that this illumination would help the fry spot the food.

With other tanks containing small fish, I lightly sprinkled some fine granular foods, trusting that some of the fish would feed on this.

The larger fish seemed no worse off than earlier in the week, and I decided that a little dieting would be better than further compromising their water quality.

Sunday slipped from morning to afternoon, and predictions of further dropping temperatures came in over the radio, I began to plot what else I could do to keep my water temperatures stable. I had hot water, but no practical way of

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siphoning out the cold water, as my basement is below the level of my septic system, and requires electrically operated pumps to lift the water from my basement sink. When you have 50 aquariums, a “bucket brigade” isn’t very feasible, but I still had to consider that option.

As I pondered this, just as suddenly as the lights had gone out, they came back on. It was 4 PM on Sunday, November 4th, and twilight had just begun to descend, along with its colder temperatures. The gas furnace roared to life.

What a relief! A few hours later the fishroom was a toasty 74° F, and I knew my fish had weathered the crisis. Looking about, I found nothing amiss. Every fish, including all the fry, looked fine. The plants were in good shape.

All the air pumps and power filters hummed away. I considered myself fortunate.

I think part of the reason I was so lucky has to do with the way I maintain my tanks. The vast majority of them are underpopulated, so even if the filtration and aeration go down, the water quality does not drastically deteriorate.

The resistance to feeding the fish also helped.

My basement, fortunately, is large and wellinsulated, thereby slowing down temperature drops.

Six days is the longest power outage I have ever experienced. Before Sandy, I believe two days without electricity is the longest I had gone. Perhaps, before the next storm hurls us into blackness, I will obtain an emergency generator. Supplying heat to the house would be at the top of my list, and cooling it during a summer blackout would be second. The other fishroom requirements, such as light and filtration, would be much further down on the list.

All in all, I was very pleased by how my fishroom performed during the storm crisis.

Of course the fish and plants were the true beneficiaries. (Author’s note: my house is located on the north shore of Nassau County, NY, but not near the coast.)

Support Fish in the Classroom!

If you have any 5 or 10 gallon tanks, or any filters, pumps, or plants that you could donate to NYC teacher Michael Paoli's classrooms, could you please bring them in or email Rich Levy (rlevy17@aol.com). If you'd like to donate larger tanks, be sure and email Rich so he can make sure Michael can accommodate it.

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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

by “The Gypsy Mermaid” (A.K.A. SHARON BARNETT)

The Fish Donation Chronicles George Byrnes eorge Byrnes is a retired court officer sergeant with whom I worked for many years prior to his retirement. George is an avid scuba diver, and we often chatted about fish that he’d seen on his dives. We also talked about the fish that I kept in the judge’s robing room at the courthouse, as well as the multitude of tanks that I was keeping at home at that time.

I don’t quite remember what prompted me to offer the fish to George, though I think, perhaps, I had been expounding upon the magnificent colors of the Lake Malawi cichlids, some of whose coloration rivals that of saltwater fish. Then again, it could be that I was threatening to return her to the pet store because she was just too prolific.

My tank was being overrun by her offspring.

The fish in question was a large, female Metriaclima/Maylandia lombardoi/kennyi (whichever combination of genus and species

G

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

name you happen to prefer—I’m not getting into the taxonomical intricacies and debates involved with African Rift Lake fish names). Instead of the black-barred, bright blue coloration characteristic of young females (and sub-dominant males), she had the muddy yellow, gray-barred coloration of a mature female who has had multiple broods, and her throat was distended with the huge mouthful of fry from her latest spawning. She was not spitting that mouthful of deceptively pretty little blue terrors into my tank!

On the morning that I was to bring the fish in to work to deliver her to George, I don’t remember whether I’d had to break down the entire tank to catch her, or if it was one of those serendipitous times when I was able to catch the holding female sleeping and net her out before she knew what was going on, but I do remember placing her in a one gallon plastic tank, and traveling with her first on a bus, and

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then on a subway train to get her to the Bronx from Jamaica, Queens. George picks up the tale at this point in an email which he sent in response to my query.

Dear Sharon, I’d be happy to share my cichlid experience with you. After you gave me that fish, I put it in a five gallon tank that I had stored in the attic. The first thing I noticed was that she liked to rearrange the tank to her liking. I could see the fry in her mouth, and noted that she was not eating the food that I’d put in the tank. A few days later I saw about ten little ones swimming around in the tank.

After a few more days had passed, I noticed that there were even more! I knew then that I would need larger digs for this new family.

At Petco I purchased a 45 gallon corner tank, wooden stand, and all the trimmings, including a sunken ship with lots of openings to swim through and hide in. I also purchased some live plants. My wife Megan remarked that it was interesting how a FREE fish cost hundreds of dollars! However, she did like the aquarium, and anyone who came over always remarked as to how beautiful it was.

All the fish did well, grew to adults, and began to breed. At one time I had 50 or so fish in the tank (plus one armored catfish and one algae eater). Momma lasted until April of 2006.

I sold several to a local pet store in exchange

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for supplies. I gave one to a friend who had a community tank. I warned him that the cichlid was an aggressive fish, but he was confident that it would be okay in his tank. I got a call from his wife the next day; it seems he had been wrong.

They came down in the morning to find only the cichlid, and it had rearranged the aquarium. He brought the fish back that evening. I think it was a little fatter! I was able to sell at least another hundred fish descendants to the pet shop over the next several years.

Alas, by 2009 they had stopped breeding.

Maybe too much inbreeding, or something else—I don’t know for sure. Anyway, the last one went to fish heaven in January of 2011.

I’m living in Florida now; the tank is still in my home in New York with my daughter and son-inlaw. No new fish yet, but, my daughter says she plans to start another aquarium soon—maybe after my new grandson arrives in February.

Anyway, I am so, so grateful to you Sharon for the gift those many years ago! I think it was 1998 or 1999? Not sure of the date, but, I do know that I and my family enjoyed that girl and her heirs.

Thanks again for sharing your hobby with me!

George

Photo from Bluegrass Aquatics

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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

Lionfish OF ARUBA AND BONAIRE Story and Photos by Stephen Sica

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ne island is not known for its dive industry while the other is. When we travel around the Caribbean, I look forward to places that are “off the beaten path.” I remember the time we flew into Ambergris Cay off the coast of Belize in a twin engine plane the size of a station wagon, when we spotted a huge bulldozer parked in the center of the runway—both length and width. Even the horsefly that hitched a ride with us was trying to bail out the window over my right shoulder. “Ha,” I thought. “Scratch one fly; if we go, he goes!”

Well, the pilot went in and landed the plane right in front of the bulldozer. “The start of another great adventure,” I told Donna as she put away her rosary beads.

When it comes to big-time diving, Aruba has one signature shipwreck; otherwise, it is certainly small-time. We had already dived this wreck three times on prior cruises in recent years. On those Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

occasions, I did not recall seeing lionfish on or near the M.S. Antilla, a German freighter and U-boat supply ship. This ship was scuttled just offshore after Germany invaded Holland during World War II. Bonaire claims to be a “Diver’s Paradise” on its motor vehicle license plates. Its lush reefs and walls begin just a few yards offshore. Considering the size of Caribbean islands and the relatively small areas that divers visit, it is impossible to accurately count, catch, or kill, all lionfish. Regrettably, this is true everywhere that the lionfish has invaded.

Sadly, a new ecosystem has been permanently installed in the whole Caribbean basin, as well as the east coast of the United States. Can you even imagine all of the lionfish in open water that no one has even seen?

Well, as far as these two islands are concerned, the good news is that I saw a total of only four

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lionfish. All were found off Aruba. The Antilla had two lionfish, and another reef had two. We were in the water only minutes when I saw the first one swimming near wreckage that was lying in the sand next to this 397 foot long ship. I passed up an opportunity to photograph it, when Donna and the dive group disappeared around the sunken ship. I did not want to get lost, so I forgot about the lionfish and chased after the group.

On neither dive in Bonaire did I see a lionfish.

I questioned Donna, who also saw none. The dive professionals whom I met on these islands did not seem too concerned with the situation. This is a very limited sampling, during one day. If the local dive industry does anything about lionfish in Aruba and Bonaire, they do not openly discuss it. I have met a few people during our travels who do not want to publicize that they go around killing lionfish, although most have no hesitation to explain their eradication plans. Perhaps casual tourists do not realize the harm that they cause, eating juvenile reef fish. Some ideas that I mentioned in previous articles were to catch, cook, and eat the lionfish, or feed them to groupers. I have also read about some people trying to feed them to moray eels.

A few months ago, I read the Spring, 2012 issue of Alert Diver magazine, the quarterly publication of the Divers Alert Network, more popularly known as DAN. DAN is a nonprofit organization, offering a renewable, annual duespaying membership. In addition, members can purchase diving injury insurance for a modest annual premium. The organization also provides twenty-four hour medical advice to both members and non-members. For instance, DAN can arrange emergency air ambulance medical evacuation from a remote region. There is no additional charge to your insurance premium. All safety-minded divers invest in DAN membership and insurance.

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The reason that I mention Alert Diver is that “Reports from the Lionfish Front” by Stan Waterman, on page 18, reminds us again that lionfish have literally invaded the waters of the Caribbean. To paraphrase the author, they multiply with the facility of rodents, and are apex predators in the world of small reef fishes. Unless their proliferation is stopped, marine scientists “fear a critical assault on the balance of the reef food chain.

Since lionfish are docile, they are easily speared. In Roatan, Honduras, the marine park began issuing licenses to divers to spear the fish. Although these and other extensive remedial measures were taken to destroy the lionfish, their population has continued to increase.

An innovative Roatan dive professional had been spearing and killing lionfish for weeks in an area where he conducted shark feeding dives.

He conjectured that sharks might be interested in his lionfish kills, and experimented by releasing dead lionfish in open water. “To his delight—and surprise—his predatory friends gobbled up the prey,

toxic spines and all. He expanded his experiment by just wounding the prey and releasing it alive.”

Sharks attacked and ate the wounded lionfish. The sharks learned to associate lionfish-hunting divers with an easy meal. Within weeks, the combined effort of the local divemasters and reef sharks made a local reef almost free of lionfish. This dive professional hopes to teach sharks to prey upon healthy lionfish. Mr. Waterman opines that it is too early to know whether this plan will be successful, but “it is encouraging to see divers fighting for the marine environment and seeking creative solutions to the challenges the reefs face.”

It seems to me that this is yet another good reason to treat the oceans’ sharks with the respect that they deserve.

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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

MA Classics Our emphasis on history this year reminded me that I've been meaning to showcase this article from the November, 1969 issue of Modern Aquarium. Braz Walker was a remarkable aquarist and author, as a quick internet search will confirm.

We are fortunate to have this outstanding article on a true giant of the hobby.

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a Series On Books For The Hobbyist

by SuSAN PRIEST arlier this year, as I was perusing and choosing what books I would be working with for this conservation season of Wet Leaves, a brief phrase on the second page of one of them took me time traveling back to the bedroom of my tween years, and more specifically, to my bookshelf. As if it were a slide in my Viewmaster, a very clear image of The Sea Around Us clicked into my mind’s eye, and along with it came a name.

Rachel Carson.

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“Beginnings are often shadowy, and so it is with that great mother of life, the sea. Although no man was there to witness the birth of the sea, the stars and the moon and the rocks were there.”

Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964), was writing at a time when television was still in its infancy. There were no such things as personal computers, video games, or iPods. Most people were still spending a lot of their leisure time with books. Between 1941 and 1962, Ms. Carson wrote some of the most popular and influential books of that generation.

They are listed here in chronological order: Under The Sea Wind, 1941 The Sea Around Us, 1950 The Edge Of The Sea, 1955 Silent Spring, 1962 Ms Carson turned biology and oceanography into prose. She invested not just many months, but many years in the writing of each of her books.

Every paragraph, sentence, and even every word was reviewed, revised, and rearranged many times over (she would read her text out loud, as well as

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have someone else read it out loud to her) until she was satisfied with it. Every hour she spent writing was preceded by several hours of research. How must she have felt when the day finally arrived, the day when she released it from her nest like a fledgling? Was it ready to fly on its own? How deep a satisfaction she must have felt when, one by one, each of her books soared to great heights, exceeding even her highest hopes for them.

All of these books have been reprinted many times over. Numerous editions of each, both hardcover as well as paperback, can be found in even the most superficial of searches. Each version of each title has its own personality. To offer you but one example of this, I turn to my two copies of The Sea Around Us. One is a small paperback (with similarly small print), dated 1961.

The other is “A Special Edition For Young Readers.” It is a hardcover with dimensions of approximately 81/2" by 11." It is lavishly illustrated with colorful drawings, charts and photos, and it has much larger print.

The text was unadulterated, which is to say that it was not “dumbed down” for children. It was published in 1958.

(In addition to her books, she also wrote many articles for newspapers and magazines, as well as scripts for television shows.)

“In the warm dimly lit waters of that early sea, the temperature and pressure and saltiness must have been exactly right to bring about the creation of life from materials that were not alive.”

Throughout her books there are many examples of how interconnected all of life is.

Reducing this concept to the simplest possible example, I quote: “Animals must eat plants to obtain the necessary minerals, or else they must eat other animals that have fed on plants.”

Again and again she recounts tales of visiting, exploring, and examining the sea at night.

“If you could be close to the surface of the sea at night, you would find that it is alive with strange creatures never seen by day.” She tells of carrying her nephew down to the tide pools of Maine, to

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show them to him by moonlight while he was still a babe in arms. Clearly this was her greatest fascination.

Ms. Carson introduces her readers to a wide variety of creatures which are not commonly described in biology textbooks, at least not in any of the ones I have ever read. In my copy of her first book, Under The Sea Wind, there is a glossary unlike any I have encountered before. The body of her text is not illustrated; however, she has saved a very special collection of drawings for the pages of her glossary. “Noctiluca: “This single-celled animal is one of the principal light producers of the sea, at times making large areas glow with an intense phosphorescent light.” As you have all ready guessed, there is an excellent drawing of this unique animal. I have at least one copy of each of the titles listed earlier, and all of them are illustrated with beautiful drawings by different artists.

Recurrent rhythms, a place of conflict and compromise, the surge of life; these are the stuff of The Edge Of The Sea. In this book Ms. Carson explores the rugged rocky shores, the sandy beaches, and the coral reefs on the western shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean (the eastern coastline of the U.S.). She also expresses her fear for the future of all shorelines, which she anticipated would be gobbled up by the recreational and capitalistic pursuits of humanity.

I had come across many descriptions of Silent Spring before I actually read it for myself.

Based on those descriptions, I expected it to assume a combative “taking on the establishment” posture.

I expected it to be politically incorrect! That was not what I found. What I did find was a studied approach to the controversy, which was, of course, the widespread use of DDT, and its effects on every living thing in its path. Each thought and opinion was based in fact, and each fact was chronicled in the references. Silent Spring doesn’t have the prosaic quality of her earlier books, but it does flow along with an easy readability. In order to capture the attention of the general population, one of the “tactics” she used throughout was to compare the results of the use of DDT to the results of radioactive fallout, thereby giving her readers something to compare it to. She considered public ignorance and apathy to be the greatest obstacles to the success of conservation efforts. (My copy is the fortieth anniversary edition, and I know that there is a fiftieth anniversary edition as well.) “Silent Spring compels each generation to reevaluate its relationship to the natural world.”

Throughout all of the writings by and about Rachel Carson which I have been reading, and taking into consideration her love of anything and everything aquatic, I was surprised that I didn’t find any mention of her having kept aquariums. It would seem likely that incorporated into her work for the

20

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service there must have been a few tanks around. None of the biographical material included any mention of a personal aquarium or two, not even for the edification of her nephew Roger. Of course, just because no one wrote it down doesn’t mean that she didn’t have one. I can imagine a wide, shallow reef tank full of fascinating creatures which I don’t know the names of.

“Young waves have a steep, peaked shape, with whitecaps of foam spilling down their fronts.

Waves that are visitors from a very distant part of the ocean rear high, as though gathering all their strength for the final act of their life.”

Many authors have written biographies of Rachel Carson. By far the most comprehensive and well known of these Is Rachel Carson, Witness For Nature, by Linda Lear. Here is a brief quote from the prologue: “Hers (R.C.) was a singular vision encompassing nothing less than the mysteriously intricate living world whose workings she understood so deeply.” At first I found the degree of detail in Ms. Lear’s narrative to be cumbersome, but as I moved forward I found the result to be meticulous without being tiresome.

She created a true portrait of an influential scientist and author.

There were many biographies which were written with children in mind. Rachel, The Story Of Rachel Carson, by Amy Ehrlich, is “a biography in pictures for children.”

Here is a very brief biographical sketch: Rachel Carson grew up in Springvale, Pennsylvania. Her mother was the one who introduced her to the joys and mysteries of nature.

She majored in biology at the Pennsylvania College For Women (now known as Chatham College), and followed that with further studies at the Woods Hole Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts, and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. The majority of her career was spent working as an aquatic biologist and editor of publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Over the years she fit the writing of her iconic books in between her many obligations to her family and job. These books won many awards and accolades, and are still influential to this day.

She never married, and her many friends and colleagues became like a family to her. Breast Cancer brought her earthly life to an early close at the age of 54. Earth Day, the banning of the production of DDT, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency are just a few of the far reaching results of her work and writings.

“She was a revolutionary spokesperson for the rights of all life.”

Many posthumous honors have been bestowed on Ms. Carson. I will list three of the

December2012 2012 December

19(NY) Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S

most prestigious. The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge In Maine was established in 1970.

In 1980 the Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded to her. The U.S. postage stamp you see reproduced here was part of the Great Americans Series, and was issued on May 28, 1981.

“Biographer of the sea,” “eco-pioneer,” “the patron saint of the environmental movement;” these are just a few of many similar monikers with which she has been dubbed.

I would like to include one anecdote from Ms. Lear’s biography that I think you will enjoy.

What follows here are my words, as I paraphrase a brief conversation. Rachel says to her accountant, “Do I have enough money to buy a house? I would like to buy a small house if you think I can afford it.” The accountant replies “Ms. Carson, you can buy 100 houses, and pretty much anything else you would like. You are a very wealthy woman.”

Rachel Carson was going along with her day-to-day routines, while, unnoticed by her, the royalties for her books were slowly accumulating. Shortly thereafter she built a small home on the rocky seashore of Maine, which became a refuge for her.

Now that you have gone wading into the world of Rachel Carson, I urge you to explore it further through the pages of one of her books (can you tell that The Sea Around Us is my favorite among them?). She will most assuredly help you to remove yourself, at least for a little while, from the tide of technology in which we are awash, and reconnect you with “the stream of life.”

The bold and italicized quotes throughout are taken from The Sea Around Us. REFERENCES Under The Sea Wind, Carson, Rachel. Oxford University Press, 1952 The Sea Around Us, Carson, Rachel. Simon and Schuster, 1958 The Edge of The Sea, Carson, Rachel. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998 Silent Spring, Carson, Rachel. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962 Rachel Carson, Witness For Nature, Lear, Linda. Houghton Mifflin, 1997

“In some remote areas we get the feel of the unknown and the mysterious that never quite separates itself from the sea.”

At the time of her death in 1964 she was on the verge of completing a book entitled The Sense Of Wonder. The dedication would have been to her great-nephew Roger. Roger’s mother (Rachel’s niece), died an untimely death. Rachel assumed guardianship of Roger, and he became the child she never had. This book was planned to be a guide “for all parents, children, and anyone who values natural beauty.” As it turns out, there are at least three versions of this book in publication, even though the text was never completed by Ms. Carson.

I did have a copy a while back. The one I had was lushly illustrated with color photos, and I found that it made the perfect gift for someone close to me.

Actually, depending on the condition, all of her books would make a nice gift for the right person.

(If you know someone who is not a snob about used books, you can give them a complete, albeit unmatched, set!)

20Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) Modern

December2012 2012 December

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

21

The Tao of Greater City Photos by

Wallace Deng

E

arlier this year, Greater City’s Gypsy Mermaid, Sharon Barnett, created a Facebook page for us so that we could keep up with one another’s fishy activities online. Appropriately enough, she called it Greater City Aquarium Society Fishy Friends. It’s been a fun experience for those participating, but, in the tradition of the “law of unintended consequences,” the most notable result has been the emergence of a new star in our midst, namely “Wallace Tao,” the Fishy Friends nom de plume of Greater City member Wallace Deng. Wallace has sent us a seemingly never-ending stream of fantastic photographs—and not just of fish! Here are just a few. Look for more in future issues!

The Beauty of Mercury.

Cardina cf. cantonensis Sp. Tiger.

22

Tiger Endler’s.

December 2012

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

Dragonfly.

Dragonfly nymph.

Damselfly nymph.

Peacock gudgeon guarding his eggs.

Limnopilos naiyanetri – micro crab.

Caterpillar.

Tateurndina ocellicauda fry – four days old.

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2012

23

GCAS Past Award Winners JOSEPH FERDENZI ROLL OF HONOR Gene Baiocco Claudia Dickinson Joe Bugeia Charles Elzer Mary Ann Bugeia Joe Ferdenzi Dan Carson Warren Feuer

Herb Fogal Paul Hahnel Ben Haus Emma Haus

Jack Oliva Al Priest Susan Priest Herman Rabenau

Marcia Repanes Nick Repanes Don Sanford Mark Soberman

DON SANFORD BREEDER OF THE YEAR (Since 1981) 1981-83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ginny & Charlie Eckstein 1994-95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1983-85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rich Sorensen 1995-96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1985-86 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yezid Guttierez 1996-97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Soberman 1986-87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 1997-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff George 1987-88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Piccione 1998-'00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1988-89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 2000-01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Soberman 1989-90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francis Lee 2001-02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexander Priest 1990-91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eddie Szablewicz 2002-05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anton Vukich 1991-92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dominic Isla 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warren Feuer 1992-93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 2007-10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Bollbach 1993-94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joseph Graffagnino GENE BAIOCCO AQUARIST OF THE YEAR (Since 1990-91) 1990-91 . . . . . . Diane & Harold Gottlieb 1991-92 . . . . . . Doug Curtin & Don Curtin 2001-02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Kerner 1992-93 . . . . . . Mark Soberman 2002-03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlotti De Jager 1993-94 . . . . . . Warren Feuer 2003-04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Traub 1994-95 . . . . . . Steve Sagona 2004-05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claudia Dickinson 1995-96 . . . . . . Alexander & Susan Priest 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anton Vukich 1996-97 . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Vukich 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Al Grusell 1997-98 . . . . . . . Claudia Dickinson 1998-99 . . . . . . Vincent & Rosie Sileo 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Radebaugh 1999-00 . . . . . . Pete D’Orio 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pete D’Orio 2000-01 . . . . . . Bernard Harrigan 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Bollbach WALTER HUBEL BOWL SHOW CHAMPIONS (Since 1983-84) 1983-84 . . . . . . . . . Tom Lawless 1992-93 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1984-85 . . . . . . . . . Tom Lawless 1993-94 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1985-86 . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 1994-95 . . . . . . . Carlotti De Jager 1986-87 . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 1995-96 . . . . . . . . Mary Eve Brill 1987-88 (tie) . . . Mark Soberman 1996-97 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona and Mary Ann & Joe Bugeia 1997-98 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1988-89 . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Ryan 1998-99 . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1989-90 . . . . . Eddie Szablewicz 1999-00 . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1989-90 . . . . . Eddie Szablewicz 2000-01 . . . . . . . . . Pat Coushaine 1991-92 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 2001-02 . . . . . . . . William Amely

2002-03 . . . . . . . . Evelyn Eagan 2003-04 . . . . . . . William Amely 2004-05 . . . . . . . . Evelyn Eagan 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Vukich 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Vukich 2008 . . . . . . . . . . William Amely 2009 . . . . . . . . . . Mario Bengcion 2010 . . . . . . . Alexander A. Priest 2011 . . . . . . . . Richard Waizman

GCAS PRESIDENTS (Post 1945 — number in parenthesis = consecutive terms) 1946-49 Elliott Whiteway (4) 1968-70 Walter Hubel (2) 1981-84 Brian Kelly (3) 1950-51 Robert Greene (2) 1970-72 Dave Williams (2) 1984-86 Jack Oliva (2) 1952-53 Robert Maybeck (2) 1972-73 Dan Carson (1) 1986-97 Joe Ferdenzi (11) 1954-55 Leonard Meyer (2) 1973-75 Herb Fogal (2) 1997-99 Vincent Sileo (2) 1956-57 Sam Estro (2) 1975-76 Richard Hoey (1) 1999-00 Jeff George (1) 1958 Leonard Meyer (2+1) 1976-77 Ted Tura (1) 2000-08 Joe Ferdenzi (11+8) 1959-64 Gene Baiocco (6) 1977-78 Gene Baiocco (6+1) 2009-12 Dan Radebaugh (4) 1965 Andrew Fazio (1) 1978-79 Louis Kromm (1) 1966-68 Charles Elzer (2) 1979-81 Don Sanford (2)

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December 2007 December 2012

Modern Aquarium - Greater- City A.S.City (NY) Modern Aquarium Greater A.S (NY)

Greater City Aquarium Society

— 2012 Awards — To be awarded December 5, 2012

GENE BAIOCCO AQUARIST OF THE YEAR AWARD JULES BIRNBAUM

DON SANFORD BREEDER OF THE YEAR AWARD JOSEPH GRAFFAGNINO

WALTER HUBEL BOWL SHOW CHAMPION RICHARD WAIZMAN

AUTHOR AWARD PROGRAM (AAP) AWARDS Only authors making contributions printed during 2012 (or who received AAP points as a result of NEC and/or FAAS publication awards announced in 2012) and whose AAP levels changed are listed below.

Jules Birnbaum . . . . . . . .

Tommy Chang . . . . . . . .

Wallace Deng . . . . . . . . .

Joseph Graffagnino . . . .

Journalist Correspondent Author Journalist

Steven Hinshaw . . . . . . .

Steven Hinshaw . . . . . . .

Denver Lettman . . . . . . .

Elliot Oshins . . . . . . . . . .

Author Correspondent Author Columnist

Al Priest is Author of the Year for 2012!

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2007

December 2012

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25

e are very pleased to congratulate Jules Birnbaum, who this year has moved up from Essayist to Journalist, Tommy Chang and Ed Vukich, who advanced from Author to Correspondent, Steve Hinshaw, who zoomed right through Author to Correspondent, Wallace Deng, who is now an Author, Joe Graffagnino, who moves up to Journalist, Denver Lettman, whose Cartoon Captions earned him Author status, and Elliot Oshins, who advanced from Journalist to Columnist. A special congratulations goes to Al Priest, who is Author of the Year for 2012!

Thanks and congratulations to all of our contributors. We hope to hear more from each of you in 2013!

W

Overview of the Author Award Program The GCAS AAP awards points for contributions to Modern Aquarium. Persons acquiring a specified number of points will receive additional recognition in the form of a certificate for having reached designated Accomplishment Levels. (See “Accomplishment Levels.”)

Each person making a qualifying contribution to Modern Aquarium (and that includes writing for our “Anonymous Fishkeeper” column!) receives points, as well as chances for a Prize Drawing at the Annual Holiday Party.

Eligibility Any member of Greater City who makes a contribution to Modern Aquarium is automatically a participant.

Points Five points will be awarded for an original article of 500 words or less.

Ten points will be awarded for an original article of 501 words and over.

Five points will be awarded for an original photograph, drawing, or illustration submitted with, and as part of, an original article. If more than two photographs, drawings, or illustrations are submitted with a related article, only two will be given points (this is in addition to the points awarded the article, based on its size).

Ten points will be awarded for an original color photograph that is used on the front cover.

Photographs must be the work of the member submitting them, and must not have been previously published, or submitted for publication, in any commercial or amateur publication.

Two or more related photographs or illustrations submitted with captions, and occupying one or more pages, will be counted as two photos (10 points) and as an article over 500 words (10 points), for a total of 20 points. An example would be a photo spread with captions.

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An original article on a fish in the C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program will receive double points (i.e., 10 points for an article of 500 words or less, and 20 points for an article of 501 words or more).

Photos and drawings of a C.A.R.E.S. eligible species will also receive double points.

Five points will be awarded for an original puzzle which is used on the “Fin Fun” page of Modern Aquarium.

Ten points will be awarded to the winner of our Cartoon Caption Contest.

Points are awarded only once for an article, drawing, puzzle, or photograph. No points are awarded for subsequent reprints, regardless of whether the original article was awarded points previously in the AAP. To be eligible for AAP points, a contribution must first have been submitted to Modern Aquarium. However, if an article previously published in Modern Aquarium is significantly revised by its author (as a result of new information or developments), and if such a revision is first submitted to Modern Aquarium, it will be treated as a new article. Points are awarded in the year the article is printed. Editorials and President’s Messages are excluded.

An article deemed unacceptable by the Editorial Staff of Modern Aquarium for reasons of appropriateness of topic, suitability, or possible violations of copyright or libel laws, will be ineligible for participation in the GCAS AAP. Decisions of the Staff are final.

Points credited to an author may not be carried over or credited to subsequent calendar years for the purposes of raffle prize chances or “Author Of The Year” designation.

Bonus Points If, in the year following its publication in Modern Aquarium, an article is given a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place award by the North East Council of Aquarium Societies (“NEC”) or by the Federation of American Aquarium Societies (“FAAS”), an additional 10 points will be awarded if the author is a GCAS member in the year the NEC or FAAS award is announced. This applies only to articles (not to drawings, columns, cartoons or photos).

These bonus points are credited in the year that the award is announced, not the year for which it is awarded.

Prize Drawing For every 5 AAP points earned in a calendar year, the recipient is given one chance in our “Authors/Contributors Only” Raffle.

Author of the Year The person with the most points in a calendar year receives a certificate as “Author Of The

December 2012 December 2009

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

Year� for that year. This is our most prestigious award, and the winner truly exemplifies the high value which they place on the contribution of experience and knowledge to the aquarium hobby at large.

Accomplishment Levels For the accomplishment levels specified below, points are cumulative over the life of the AAP program.

Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 to 45 pts Correspondent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 to 95 pts Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 to 145 pts Essayist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 to 195 pts Journalist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 to 295 pts Columnist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 to 495 pts Laureate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 to 745 pts Senior Laureate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 to 995 pts Master Laureate . . . . . . . . . 1,000 to 1,495 pts Grand Master Laureate . . . . 1,500 to 1,995 pts Sr. Grand Master Laureate 2,000 to 10,000 pts Editor Emeritus . . . . . . . . . . . . over 10,000 pts

Author Award Program Report

A Status Report - Points Awarded March to December 2012 Art Work (in points)

Author

Photo/ Drawing (up to two per article)2

Number of Articles1 500 words or less

over 500 words

William Amely Sharon Barnett Jules Birnbaum

Awards

Tommy Chang Wallace Deng

30

Joseph Ferdenzi

5

Joseph Graffagnino

20

Steven Hinshaw

30

1

Current Year Total: March to December

Raffle4 Chances

10

10

2

10

2

8

10

110

22

2

10

30

6

30

6

50

n/a

60

12

65

13

30

30

6

10

60

12

4 3

1

Prize

Bonus3 Points

1 20

Total Points

20

3

Denver Lettman Elliot Oshins

50

Alexander Priest

160

3

6

180

385

n/a

Susan Priest

90

1

19

30

315

n/a

10

10

2

40

75

n/a

35

n/a

50

290

58

10

60

n/a

10

10

2

Dan Puleo Dan Radebaugh

1

Marsha Radebaugh

35

Stephen Sica

120

Undergravel Reporter

2 10

Edward Vukich

3

11

1

Points are doubled for each article on a fish in the C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program.

Points are doubled for each photo or drawing of a C.A.R.E.S. fish used on the cover.

3 Bonus points are awarded to participants for awards (other than Honorable Mention) received from the Federation of American Aquarium Societies (FAAS) Publication Awards, and The Northeast Council of 2

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S Modern Aquarium - Greater City(NY) A.S. (NY)

December 2009 2012 December

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Aquarium Societies (NEC) Article Awards, in the year these awards are announced, not in the year for which they are awarded.

4 Modern Aquarium staff members are ineligible for the Raffle. Family members of staff ARE eligible.

Here are the total AAP points for all GCAS members as of December 2012.

If you have questions, or feel that there are errors, please contact Dan. William Amely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Sharon Barnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Fred Bellise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mario Bengcion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Steve Berman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Jules Birnbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Tom Bohme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Victoria Bohme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Jeff Bollbach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Roger Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Tommy Chang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Donald Curtin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Doug Curtin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Carlotti De Jager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Wallace Deng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Les Deutsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Brad Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Claudia Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,195 Al DiSpigna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Pete O’Orio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Rod Du Casse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Evelyn Eagan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Frank Fallon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Harry Faustmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Anita Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Francesca Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Joseph Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,335 Marisa Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Alison Feuer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Warren Feuer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Michael Foran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Artie Friedman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Peter Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Jeff George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Horst Gerber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Steve Giacobello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Joseph Graffagnino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Steve Gruebel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Al Grusell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Bernard Harrigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,800 Steven Hinshaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Jason Kerner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Denver Lettman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Rich Levy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Bill Luckett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 John Malinowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Desiree Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Tom Miglio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Jackleen Minassi-Haftvani. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Temes Mo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Jerry O'Farrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

28 34

Elliot Oshins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Jim Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Margaret Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Alexander Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,955 Susan Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,555 Dan Radebaugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470 Marsha Radebaugh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Jannette Ramirez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Leonard Ramroop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Mark Rubanow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Charley Sabatino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Donna Sosna Sica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Stephen Sica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,365 Vincent Sileo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Danielle Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ilyssa Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Robin Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mark Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Jack Traub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Undergravel Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,240 Anton Vukich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Edward Vukich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Michael Vulis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Greg Wuest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

December2009 2012 December

Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) ModernModern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

GCAS BREEDER AWARD PROGRAM 2012 NAME

JEFF BOLLBACH

SPECIES BRED

Points 1st - GCAS

CERT # AUSTRALOHEROS SP. "RED CEIBAL" 1829 MACROPODUS OCELLATUS 1830 1851

10 25

HIPPOCAMPUS ZOSTERAE

35 Number of species:

3

CARES

DATE

3/7/2012 3/7/2012

8 8

¯

Total Points

70

10/3/2012

WARREN FEUER 1826 1827 1834 1835 1836 1841 1842 1847

STEATOCRANUS CASUARIUS PSEUDOTROPHEUS(METRACLIMA) ZEBRA CORYDORAS PALEATUS LABEOTROPHEUS TREWAVASAE LABIDOCHROMIS CAERULEUS METRICLIMA ESTHERAE AULONOCARA SP "OB PEACOCK" APHYOSEMION AUSTRALE Number of species:

JOSEPH GRAFFAGNINO 1831 1832 1833 1839 1840 1844 1846 1848 1849

10

3/7/2012

10

3/7/2012

10

4/4/2012

10

4/4/2012

10 20

4/4/2012 8

6/2/2021

10

6/2/2012

5 8

BELONTIA SIGNATA MELANOTAENIA LACUSTRIS PELVICACHROMIS PULCHER AUSTRALOHEROS SP. "RED CEIBAL" PTEROPHYLLUM SCALARE CRYPTOHEROS SP. "HONDURAN RED POINT" GEOPHAGUS BRASILIENSIS DANIO MARGARITATUS ACARICHTHYS HECKELII

9/5/2012 Total Points

35

8

85

¯ ¯

15

3/7/2012

10

5/2/2012

10

5/2/2012

10

6/2/2012

15

8/1/2012

25 9

Number of species:

1

3/7/2012

10

5

Number of species:

3/7/2012

9/5/2012 8

10/3/2012

Total Points

135

Total Points

5

RICH LEVY 1845

POECILLIA RETICULATA

5

7/10/2012

DAN RADEBAUGH 1837 1838

THERAPS WESSELI ILYODON FURCIDENS

20

8

5/2/2012

10 Number of species:

2

5/2/2012 Total Points

30

EDWARD VUKICH 1828 1843 1850

AUSTRALOHEROS SP. "RED CEIBAL" ILYODON FURCIDENS LAMPROLOGUS (NEOLAMPROLGUS) MULTIFASCIATU Number of species:

3

10

3/7/2012

10

6/2/2012

15

10/3/2012 Total Points

35

8 indicates first recorded breeding of the species in the GCAS Breeders Award Program 8 indicates ¯ indicates a species at risk that is listed in the C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2012

29

GCAS

Breeder Award Totals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 30

NAME POINTS # BRED JEFF BOLLBACH 1,645 119 JOSEPH GRAFFAGNINO 1,195 84 ANTON VUKICH 910 70 JOSEPH FERDENZI 905 59 TOM MIGLIO 865 66 MARK SOBERMAN 805 42 WARREN FEUER 765 51 STEVE SAGONA 655 47 EDWARD VUKICH 590 47 JOHN STORA 540 47 JOSE ARANDA 505 47 JOHN IANNONE 485 45 THE ECKSTEINS 455 39 CARLOTTI DE JAGER 440 33 CLAUDIA DICKINSON 435 27 RICHARD SORENSEN 420 33 FRANCIS LEE 390 28 GERALD GORYCKI 370 41 CHARLEY SABATINO 360 20 THE REPANES 355 27 JACK OLIVA 345 42 HAROLD KETTERER 335 30 AL PRIEST 330 8 THE LOMBARDIS 325 32 GREGORY WUEST 310 30 DON SANFORD 310 25 TED KURDZIEL 295 24 TONY FERRARO 275 23 THE BUGEIAS 270 31 DOMINIC ISLA 235 20 STEPHAN ZANDER 230 14 YEZID GUTIERREZ 206 20 PHILIP INGENITO 205 13 ROD DU CASSE 190 14 THE DONATONES 175 18 JOHN MORAN 170 11 LOUIS KROMM 170 16 JEFF GEORGE 165 17 DICK MOORE 160 5

40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 December 2012

NAME POINTS # BRED JEAN BRAUDE 155 12 BARRY LYNCH 150 18 SHARON MIRABELLA 135 10 THADDEUS TURA 135 9 JOE CUCINIELLO 135 9 JORGE RODRIGUEZ 135 9 HARRY EVANS 125 11 KEN BRUST 120 15 FRANK GANNON 120 16 JERRY SCHULTZ 120 11 THE KELLYS 115 12 GEORGE MAROTI 115 8 JOE MANCUSI 115 8 HERB FOGAL 100 13 JERRY MAYER 95 7 JOE FLANAGAN 95 12 DENNIS EGIELSKI 95 4 BRIAN KELLY 90 6 PETE D'ORIO 90 9 ROBERT MC KEAND 85 5 EDWARD SZABLEWICZ 85 7 NOEL RODRIGUEZ 85 7 BOB KUHLKE 80 7 LEONARD RAMROOP 80 11 BRADLEY PLOTKIN 80 6 JOHN LEE 75 5 DOUGLAS CURTIN 75 12 JOSE PEREZ 75 6 TOM BOHME 75 7 BOB RADAMACHER 70 9 DONALD CURTIN 70 10 PAT PICCIONE 70 7 SARA MONHEIT 65 6 CHARLES KUHNE 60 8 JOEL FORGIONE 60 4 BOB DU BOIS 55 5 HORST GERBER 55 4 BOB WRANOVICS 50 4 MIKE CASSANO 50 5 Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108

NAME POINTS # BRED WARREN BURKE 45 7 BRUCE WEILER 45 3 WILLIAM BRANDOFINO 45 4 CHARLES SHATAKA 40 5 CHARLES BENEFATTI 40 7 DAN RADEBAUGH 40 3 BRIAN STERN 35 4 ARTHUR MAYER 35 3 BARRY CENTER 35 3 THE MARTINS 35 5 VINNIE RITCHIE 35 3 AL PHANEUF 35 5 BRUCE WELLER 30 3 MICHAEL VILLANO 30 4 ROGER BEAULIEU 30 2 THE STEGMANS 30 3 ROB ALTONEN 30 2 GENE BAIOCCO 30 4 STANLEY WEGLARZ 25 4 VINCENT BABINO 25 2 EMMA JORDAN HAUS 20 3 DANNY SHEPARD 20 3 GUNTER HORSTMANN 20 3 STEVEN MILLER 20 1 PETER SCHLEISMAN 20 2 ARNOLD FREED 20 4 STUART KRICHEVSKY 20 3 JOE ARONNE 15 2 IGNACIO ARENCIBIA 15 1 THE FERNANDEZES 15 1

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2012

109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137

NAME POINTS # BRED WILLIAM SADERA 15 1 DAN GAWIAK 15 2 KATHY BUSBY 10 1 ABE COOPER 10 2 BILL ARONNE 10 1 RICH LEVY 15 1 2 DIANNE SPELLMAN 10 1 JOHN MC CAFFERY 10 2 JERROLD MEYER 10 1 HORST MIEHLBRAD 10 1 FRANK FALLON 10 1 WALTER ROSTOWSKI 10 2 JASON KERNER 10 1 JAY LIEBOWITZ 5 2 ADAM KLEINROCK 5 1 EDYTH MONSOUR 5 1 KATHY FERNANDEZ 5 1 THE QUINNS 5 1 WILLIAM STALZER 5 2 JAMES BROOKS 5 1 RICHARD WALSH 5 1 BILL SMITH 5 1 DANNY CIRNIGLIAR 5 1 GEROLD COCH 5 1 BOB FUCHS 0 1 PETER SAGINARIO 0 5 DEAN ABRUMSON 0 1 VINCENT MASCOLA 0 3 JOHN HILL 0 1

31

GCAS Happenings

December

Last Month’s Bowl Show Winners: No Meeting or Bowl Show in November.

Official 2012 Bowl Show totals:

Richard Waizman 17 Robert Hamje 14 Jerry O'Farrell William Amely 8 Carlotti deJager 3

10 Ruben Lugo

10

A special welcome to new GCAS members Albert Chiang and Jeffrey Ye!

Here are meeting times and locations of some aquarium societies in the Metropolitan New York area: Greater City Aquarium Society

East Coast Guppy Association

Meets: 2nd Tuesday of each month at at 8:00 pm.

Alley Pond Environmental Ctr.: 228-06 Northern Blvd.

Contact: Gene Baudier (631) 345-6399

Next Meeting: March 6, 2013 Speaker: Joseph Ferdenzi Topic: 90 Years of GCAS! Meets: Meets the first Wednesday of the month (except January & February) at 7:30pm: Queens Botanical Garden 43-50 Main Street - Flushing, NY Contact: Dan Radebaugh (718) 458-8437 Email: gcas@earthlink.net Website: http://www.greatercity.org

Nassau County Aquarium Society

Big Apple Guppy Club

Meets: Last Tuesday each month (except Jan, Feb, July, and August) at 7:30-10:00pm.

Alley Pond Environmental Ctr.: 228-06 Northern Blvd.

Contact: Donald Curtin (718) 631-0538

Brooklyn Aquarium Society

Next Meeting: December 14, 2012 Speaker: None Event: Holiday Party Meets: 2nd Friday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30pm: NY Aquarium - Education Hall, Brooklyn, NY Call: BAS Events Hotline: (718) 837-4455 Website: http://www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org

Long Island Aquarium Society

Next Meeting: December 14, 2012 Speaker: None Event: Holiday Party Meets: 3rd Fridays (except July and August) 8:00pm.

Room 120 in Endeavor Hall on theState University at Stony Brook Campus, Stony Brook, NY Email: Margaret Peterson - president@liasonline.org Website: http://liasonline.org/

32

Next Meeting: December 11, 2012 Speaker: None Event: Holiday Party Meets: 2nd Tuesday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30 PM Molloy College - Kellenberg Hall ~1000 Hempstead Ave Rockville Centre, NY Contact: Mike Foran (516) 798-6766 Website: http://www.ncasweb.org

NORTH JERSEY AQUARIUM SOCIETY

Next Meeting: December 12, 2012 Speaker: None Event: Holdiay Party Meets at: The Lyndhurst Elks Club, 251 Park Avenue, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 Contact: NJAS Hotline at (732) 332-1392 Email: tcoletti@obius.jnj.com Website: http://www.njas.net/

Norwalk Aquarium Society Next Meeting: January 18, 2013 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBD Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Thursday of each month at: Earthplace - the Nature Discovery Center - Westport, CT Contact: John Chapkovich (203) 734-7833 Call our toll free number (866) 219-4NAS Email: jchapkovich@snet.net Website: http://norwalkas.org/

December 2012

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

A series by The Undergravel Reporter

A “200 year old” (fish years) catfish Copyright © Pichi/Reuters

In spite of popular demand to the contrary, this humor and information column continues. As usual, it does NOT necessarily represent the opinions of the Editor, or of the Greater City Aquarium Society. id you ever win a goldfish at a carnival, street fair, or party? Do you remember how long it stayed alive?

If your experience was anything like mine, it likely wasn’t very long.

D

Genetically modified fluorescent pink angelfish Copyright © Pichi/Reuters

Paul Palmer and “Sharky” When four-year-old Paul Palmer won a tiny goldfish at a fairground, no one expected it to live for very long. But “Sharky,” the goldfish Paul named after a cartoon character has just celebrated its 24th birthday. True, Sharky is no longer “golden,” having turned from gold to white over the years, but since one goldfish year is considered to be equal to five human years, Sharky can claim to be over 100 “fish years” old!

Not to be outdone, one of the exhibits at the 2012 Taiwan International Aquarium Expo in Taipei is a fish described as a Panaque cf. suttonorum, claimed to be 200 years old by its owner (this also turns out to be the current fish owner’s estimate in “fish years”). However, this 24 inch catfish is old by almost any standard, having had three different owners within a period of at least 60 years.2 (Also featured at this Expo were genetically modified fluorescent pink freshwater angelfish that glow without use of a blacklight (UV) lamp.)3 Soon to come to local stores?

1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160273/The-boy-won-goldfish-funfair-aged-amazed -survives- 24-years.html 2 http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=5338 3 http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=5342

Modern Aquarium - Greater City(NY) A.S. (NY) Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S

November December 2012 2012

17 33

Fin Fun This “Snowflake Eel� (Echidna nebulosa) somehow got trapped inside of a snowflake! See if you can steer it up and out. Solution in our next issue.

Answers to our last puzzle:

34 24

December 2012 December 2012

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)