.•;nn', '>'>.% 'i^'vn-VV.:^ f»y*mmm*:^?*FFiW fjf < C < -1 1 < « ^ ;'i;^;A;'.;t^t^Wtj.>^ t U».; r,nin:. '< *'S^iKKi!tK: Pi I I -.kl.!-^^ ^^? M^ 1 -i -3 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. iv/nr LIBRARY OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY Library of SAMUEL GARMAN ^^g^^;^.;^^,,.,.^.,^ I ^ I^ZT' SEP 1 1928 MCZ . X < ^ U O II I 8 T 11 Y OF TlfE FISHES OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. BY JONATHAN COUCH, F.L.S. VOL. IV. CONTAINING SEVENTY-THREE COLOURED PLATES, rEOM DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOE. The works of tho Loiin arc great, sought out of all thcin that have pleasure therein. — Psalm cxi, v. 2. LONDON: GROOMBPtlDGE AND SONS, 5, rATERNOSTEli HOW. M DCCCIiXVII. I. c£^ •^v CONTENTS. PAGE. Carp 4 Barbel 16 Gudgeon 20 Tench 22 Crucian ............ 28 Prussian Carp .......... 31 Goldfish 33 Lake Bream ........... 36 White Bream 40 Pomeranian Bream ......... 42 Chub 44 Eoach 47 Rudd 49 Dobule 51 Dace 54 Bleak 66 Graining ............ 59 Azurine ............ 61 Ide 63 Minnow ........... 64 Loach ............ 69 vSpiiicd Loach .......... 72 Shcatfish 74- Pilchard 79 Herring ............ 95 Leach's Herring. (Xo Plate) 107 Sprat . ' 109 Sardine. (No Plate) . . . 112 Whitebait 114 Allis Shad 117 Twait Shad 122 Scale-finned Shad ......... 123 Great-headed Sprat. (ISTo Plate) 124 Anchovy 125 Greater Flying Fish 128 European Half'l>eak ......... 135 Blunt-headed Halfbcak 139 Skipper ........... 141 Garfish 146 Pike 150 Salmon ............ 163 Peal 200 Sewen 208 Sea Trout 211 Salmon Trout 214 Slender Salmon .......... 216 Blue Poll 219 1\' Lake Trout Commou Trout Gillaroo Lochleveu Trout Samlet, or Parr Willougliby's Char . Torgoch of Llauberris Gray's Char Cole's Char . Alpine Char Smelt Graylinc; Guiuiad Veiulace Pollan Powan Hebridal Smelt Argentine Sharp-nosed Eel Dublin Eel Broad-nosed Eel Suig Eel. (No Plate) Ophidium Eel IMuraana Conger . Morris Greater Pipefisli Broad-nosed Pipefisli Ocean Pipefisli Snake Pipefish Worm Pipefish Straight-nosed Pipefish Hippocampus Four-horned Trunkfish Filefish . Pennant's Globefish Sunfish Longer Sunfish Sea Lamprey Lampern Silver Lamprey Planer's Lamprey Mud Lamprey Borer Lancelet (■(JXTF.NTS Broad-headed Gazer Long-fiuned Grey or Golden Mullet Garfish. (No Plate) Scia3na ...... Short-tinned Tunny Silvery Gads. (No Plate) . APPENDIX PAGE. 222 225 2k» 24:j 245 262 264 267 269 272 276 280 286 289 292 295 297 301 326 328 330 331 333 335 340 348 351 355 356 359 361 363 364 366 369 373 377 381 385 395 400 402 404 408 415 421 421 422 423 425 427 FISHES OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. CYPRINID.E. THE CARP FAMILY. This femily, says Cuvier, is recognised by the mouth being slightly cleft, with jaws in most instances without teeth, and its border formed by the maxillary bones: the gullet furnished with strong teeth: rays of the gill-membrane very few in number. The body is covered with scales, and there is no adipose fin on the back: ventral fins on the abdominal line. The character assigned by Artedi is, that there are three rays in the gill-membrane; mouth altogether smooth, and in the gullet two hard saw-like bones on the lower part, and above a sinsfle oval bone not so hard as the others, these bones supplying the place of teeth. The air-bladder is constricted in the middle as if tied with a cord; to which we may add that from the hindmost chamber of this bladder is directed forward a duct to be united to the gullet, or perhaps to the brain. Abdominal fishes. The bones of the gullet here referred to are in some degree equivalent to the beds of teeth in the posterior portion of the mouth in many other species; and some other kinds not closely allied to the CijprinidcB have somewhat similar beds, as especially the family of Wrasses. But in the CijprinidcB, as they appear to exercise a special office, somewhat answering to rumination, as in addition to their situation near the entrance of the stomach, their construction is more prominent and strong; and they arc fixed on a firm bone of a crooked shape, which gives them a firm and defined motion, in which they act by powerful muscles. In fact it appears certain that a real action of rumination takes place in these fishes, although they do not possess a complication VOL. IV. B 2 CYPRINIDJE. of stomachs as in quadrupeds of the ruminating order; as indeed rumination seems to take place in some of them, in which the stomach is of the more simple form. Professor Owen remarks that the muscular action of a fish's stomach consists of vermicular contraction, creeping slowly in succession from the upper orifice to the lower, and impressing a two-fold gyratory motion on the contents; so that while some portions are proceeding to the lower, other portions are returning towards the upper; but only portions of digested food are permitted to pass into the intestine. Coarser portions of the food return into the gullet, and are brought again within the sphere of the pharyngeal jaws. The fishes which afford the best evidence of this ruminating action are the Cyprinoids — Carp, Tench, Bream. In them the successive regurgitations of the contents of the stomach j^rotl^ce actions of the pharyngeal jaws as the half- bruised food comes into contact with them, and excite the singular tumefaction and subsidence of the irritable palate, often termed the tongue, as portions of the regurgitated food are pressed upon it. The species of this family which are inhabitants of the warmci' portions of the world, and especially those which are described by Mr. Maclellan, as found in India, (in the second part of the nineteenth volume of "Asiatic Researches,") are very numerous; and so closely are they joined together in affiiiity of form and habits that much difficulty has been experienced in arranging them in lesser sections or genera. In doing this, Cnvier appears to lay much stress on the length or shortness of the single dorsal fin, or on its situation forward or behind; and in a less degree on the presence or absence of barbels at the mouth, which are organs we might suppose to be of importance, as being fitted to some particular habits in these fishes, as we know them to be in the flimily of Codfishes. Mr. Maclellan remarks on this subject, that in none of the Barbels, Cirrhins, or Gudgeons, nor in any of the groups which feed on plants, shell-fish, or other objects obtained by scraping or rooting in mud, do we find anything like a soft or sensible tongue, the office of which is in many cases better performed by the barbs; which organs are soft and capable of being contracted or lengthened, as well as the loose muscular appendages to which they are attached. CYPKINID^. 3 As it appears from an extended survey of the Carp family, that a separation into genera on the grounds here relbrrcd to wouki divide asunder some species which in other characters appear to he closely united, it has been proposed to form the separation according to the length or shortness of the alimentary canal, which organ varies in the proportion as the food is found to be vegetable or animal, in the former case the entrails being convoluted, and of considerable length, while in the latter they are short and straight. But to an arrangement formed on these relative proportions it may be objected, that probably in no instance is the food exclusively vegetable or animal, and consequently the absolute length of the intestine will not be found so definite in the separate species as to afford a sufficient means of distinction; to which we may add, that a doubtful example or new species must be dissected or mutilated before its place in the family can be ascertained; and if preserved in a museum, its supposed generic character will be altogether lost sight of. It may happen, however, that a division of the species, which is built on principles that might be objected to when applied to the whole of this extensive family, shall still be appropriate to the comparatively few which we find in British waters; and accordingly, we so far adopt the arrangement of Cuvier, as to place in his genus Cyprinufs, those of the British species which he has comprised within it, and which are marked by the possession of barbs at the mouth; while the others that do not possess these appendages are classed in other divisions. CARP. Carp, JoNSTON; TItulus 3, Caput 6. " WiLLOTJGHBY; p. 245, table 2. Cyprinirs Carpio, Linn,5;us. Cuvieii. Bloch; pi. 16. " " Donovan; pi. 110. Jenyns; Manual, p. 401. " " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 185. " " Taheell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 349. This species^ with all otliers of this family, inhabits fresh water, in which its haunts are in lakes or ponds, or slowly- flowing rivers; where, in common with the other British species, it is decidedly influenced by the cold of winter, at which season they seek to withdraw into shelter and concealment, where sometimes they even seem to become torpid, yet as not to be killed even by becoming frozen, and from which condition they are restored as warmth returns to the air. Whether the reference is to the same species we are not able to say; but Captain (Sir John) Franklin says in the history of his first voyage to the Polar Sea, that the fish caught in their nets became so frozen that in a short time they formed a solid mass of ice; and by a blow or two of the hatchet they were easily split open, so that their entrails might be removed in one lump. But if in this frozen state they were thawed before the fire they recovered their animation. This was particularly the case with the Carp; and he has seen a Carp so completely restored after having been frozen for thirty-six hours, as to leap about with much vigour. As a contrast to this it is proper to adduce the experiments of John Hunter, which he made with two Carps, placed in a glass vessel with river water, and subjected to a freezing mixture made of ice and snow with muriate of ammonia, by which the temperature was reduced to 10°, and perhaps below it. In this condition the vital heat of the Carp was sufficient to melt the CARP. snow, for several times in succession that it was applied; so that at last the whole was exposed to the action of the natural cold of the air without; and while subjected to this low tem- perature the fish showed signs of great uneasiness. It was only when they had exhausted their powers of life in the production of heat that these Carps became frozen, and perhaps were dead; for when again gradually thawed they were not recovered to life. If we are to suppose that the fish frozen by Sir John Franklin were of the same species as those of Hunter, the only explanation of this difference of result will be that the suddenness of the operation in the north prevented that exhaustion of vitality which was fatal in the other. jSTor are these the only circumstances under which it shews itself highly retentive of life; for in districts where this fish abounds it has been usual to convey it to market in a living state, and if not sold it is again returned to its resting place; which may be in some cool cellar, and that for days or even weeks together; the only caution used being to preserve the surface of the body in a moist condition, and to feed it with some necessary food; by which it has been known to become plump and fat. Willoughby remarks that this fish has sometimes been found in such strange situations as to convey the impression that it could not have been placed there by any known means; and this has been thought sufficient to countenance the idea that the individuals had been produced by spontaneous generation. The retentiveness of life thus possessed by the Carj) is the more remarkable, as it is not furnished with such a mechanical adaptation for retaining water in contact with the gills, as exists in some fishes; but Professor Owen supposes that this apparent deficiency may find more than a compensation in a peculiar development of the vagal lobes of nerves, which arise from the lengthened process of the brain, termed Medulla oblongata. This character is more or less displayed in some others of this family, and especially in the Tench; and it may be that thus they are enabled to extract and subsist on almost the minutest portion of air which remains mixed with water after the larger part has been absorbed into the blood; and in this facility they exceed almost all other kinds of fishes. That the Carp is also naturally long lived there are sufficient proofs, and Gesner mentions an instance where one was believed 6 CAllP. to have attained to an hundred years; but even this is said to have been considerably exceeded in some instances, akhough on evidence that may be considered doubtfuL There is reason for supposing that the Carp was not originally a native of Britain; and its power of living long out of water renders it highly probable that it may have been brought to this country, as we know it has been conveyed to others, from very distant places. But on the other hand, Leonard Mascal affirms that it was himself who introduced it in the reign of Henry the Eighth; which boast could only shew that he had conveyed it to places where it was not before known; for it is referred to as a known, although not common, fish in the Book of St, Albans, a portion at least of which is believed to have been written or compiled by Dame Juliana Berners, and the fishing portion of which was printed with the rest by Wynkyn de Worde toward the end of the fifteenth century. It is not unreasonable to believe that we owe the possession of this fish in the first place to the sagacious industry of monks, who were acquainted with it as a pleasing addition to their table, and a variation from the more common of the inhabitants of our streams. It is believed to have been introduced into Ireland still more recently than into England, and its progress from place to place in all cases has been slow; so that it is only in recent times it has obtained a residence in the extreme west of England; which circumstance however, may be explained by the fact that there are there no slow-moving rivers to suit its habits; and the cost of forming a pond, which is essential to its preservation, is unnecessary, in consequence of the abundance of the fish of the sea so easily procured. That these ponds were regarded as important in the economy of noble and gentle houses in inland situations, at a time when a fish diet formed a portion of the religion of all orders of society, appears from a variety of authorities in the domestic history of our country; and much expense was employed in forming them, while severe laws were enacted to keep them safe from such as sought to observe the ritual at the expense of their honesty, or who may have coveted delicacies, of which they grudged the possession to their superiors. The value formerly set on these ponds is shewn by the fact CARP. 7 that at so early a date as the t-v7cntietli year of Henry the Third, (who was dccLared of age in the year 122;2,) in conse- ouence of their being so often plundered, the lords demanded of the king the imprisonment of such as trespassed on these waters or the parks, but without making any reference to rivers; iu which latter we may suppose the more native fishes would be found. But the law then made availed but little; for we find again in the tliird year of Edward the First, who was crowned in the year 1274, that punishment was decreed on such as trespassed on parks and ponds; and although it will be admitted that there are other valuable fishes, as the Tench, preserved in these ponds, yet, coupled with the authority of the Book of St. Albans, we are inclined to believe that the principal object of these thieves was to obtain this otherwise unattainable fish; for the rivers, which are not mentioned in the laws then made, were not in general at that time specially protected or forbidden to the public, and would have afforded the more common sorts in abundance; and yet, the value set on the Carp as a luxury appears to rest much on the manner in which it was prepared for the table; with which also fashion must have had much to do. Izaac Walton informs us that it was cooked with wine, spices, and strong ingredients, by which its native taste was disguised, or its soft and watery inanity overcome. But the more favoured luxury was its characteristic palate, or, as fashion chose to term it, the tongue, of which the cost must have been the chief recommendation, I possess a note written at the beginning of the last century by an observant gentleman, in which he says that in the month of June, at a dinner provided out of the proceeds of a wager, one dish consisted of the palates of Carps stewed; for which piece of elegancy forty-three brace of Carps were purchased. This dish appears indeed to have been of old standing, for it is alluded to, among other extravagances, by Ben Jonson: — "Tlie tongues of Carps, Dormice, and Camels' heels, Boiled iu the spii-it of Sol." As it is sometimes found difficult even for the owner of a pond, when it is thickly grown with weeds, among which Carps seek refuge, to obtain these fish when he wants them, as is particularly the case when the wisdom of the fish has been 8 CARP. increased by tlie experience of age, the following directions, extracted from Daniels' "Rural Sports," may be found useful: — "In May or early in June, ■whicli is the cliief time of their spawning, and when they always resort to the weeds, let a green silk setting net, without leads, and only one float at each extremity, be dropped in the clear water, and drive with the wind to the outside edge of the weeds; then go in a boat through the weeds between the net and the shore; the Carp will fly at the noise to the deep water, and be taken with the net, on their entrance into it, and which from its colour the Carp does not discover in his haste to escape from the boat." We may suppose that a net of very fine twine of the proper tint, although not of silk, will be equally successful. The formation of a pond is described by the Hon. Roger North, and is here given because it also conveys some portion of the history of the Carp, as it was then generally understood: — "It is the most valuable of all kinds of fish for stocking ponds, because of its quick growth and great increase. If the feeding and breeding of this fish were more understood and practised, the advantages resulting would be very great; and a fishpond would become as valuable an article as a garden. The sale of Carp makes a considerable part of the revenue of the principal nobility and gentry in Prussia, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Mecklenburg, Bohemia, and Holstein, Particular attention should be paid to the soil, water, and situation of a Carp pond; the best kind are those which are surrounded by the finest pasture or corn-fields, with a rich black mould, and soft springs on the spot, or other running water that is neither too cold or impregnated with acid, calcareous, selenitic, or other feraneous, mineral particles. The water may be softened by exposing it to the air or sun in a reservoir, or by forming an open channel for it some distance from the pond; they should be exposed to the influence of the sun, and sheltered from the eastern and northerly winds. "By experience it is found convenient to have three kinds of ponds for Carp, namely, the spawning pond, the nursery, and the main pond; the first pond must be cleared of all other kind of fish, especially those of the rapacious kind, such as the perch, pike, eel, and trout, the water-beetle, and also of newts or lizards. It should be exposed to sun and air, and be supplied CARP. y wif-h soft water. A pond of one acre requires three or four male Carp, and six or eight female ones; and in the same proportion for each additional acre. The best Carp for breeding are those of five, six, or seven years old, in good health, with full scale and fine full eyes, and long body, without any blemish or wound; the pond should be stocked in a fine calm day, towards the end of INIarch or beginning of April. Carp spawn in May, June, or July, according to the warmth of the season; and for this purpose they swim to a warm, shady, well-sheltered place, where they gently rub their bodies against the sandy ground, grass, or osiers; and by this pressure the spawn issues out at the spawning season. All sorts of fowl should be kept from the ponds; the young fry is hatched from the spawn by the genial influence of the sun, and should be left in this pond through the whole summer, and even the next winter, provided the pond is deep enough to prevent their suffocation during a hard winter; then the breeders and the fry are put into ponds safer for their wintering." We suppose that this caution refers to the danger arising from the freezing over of the pond, by which the air would be excluded, and the fish below be in danger of suffocation. This would apply to all kinds of fishes; but .^lian particularly mentions fish which he terms Black Carps, and may have been the common species, if they were not the Tench, as being caught in the Danube, by gathering in multitudes at holes made in the ice, when that river has been frozen over. The quotation we make proceeds: — "The second kind of ponds are the nurseries; the young fish should be moved in a fine calm day into this pond, in the month of ]March or April; a thousand or twelve hundred of this fry may be well accommo- dated in a pond of an acre. In two summers they will grow as much as to weigh four, five, or even six pounds, and be fleshy and well tasted. The main ponds are to put those into that measure a foot, head and tail inclusive; every square of fifteen feet is sufficient for one Carp; their growth depends on their room, and the quantity of food allowed them. The best season for stocking the main ponds are spring and autumn; Carp grow for many years, and become of considerable size and weight. ]\Ir. Forster mentions seeing in Prussia two or three hundred Carps of two and three feet in length, and one five VOL. IV. C 10 CARP. feet long and twenty-five pounds -weight; it was supposed to be about sixty years old. These were tame, and would come to the side of the pond to be fed, and swallowed with ease a piece of bread half the size of a halfpenny loaf. There is reason to believe that these same fish remain to the present time. "Ponds should be well supplied with water during the winter, and when they are covered with ice, holes should be opened every day for the admission of fresh air, through want of which Carps frequently perish. It is worthy of notice that although the Romans were at great pains and expense in the formation of ponds for various sorts of fish, none of the Carp family are mentioned as being preserved in them, although some of less estimation with us were then cared for; a proof of the little estimation in which the Carp and Tench were held by that luxurious people. "Carp are sometimes fed during the colder season in a cellar; the fish is wrapped up in a quantity of wet moss laid on a piece of net, and then laid into a purse; but in such a manner, however, to admit of the fish breathing; the net is then plunged into water, and hung to the ceiling of the cellar. The dipping must be at first repeated every three or four hours, but after- wards it need be plunged into the water only once in six or seven hours; bread soaked in milk is sometimes given him in small quantities; in a short time the fish will bear more, and grow fat by this treatment. Many have been kept alive, breathing nothing but air in this way, several successive days." It is a portion of the oeconomic history of this fish to record the curious fact, that it has been castrated for the purpose of rendering it a more delicious morsel. The following is from the "History of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris," as copied into the "Gentleman's Magazine:" — "Sir Hans Sloane wrote to Mons. Geoff"roy of this Academy, and F.R.S. of London, that a certain stranger came to communicate to him a secret he had found out of castrating fish, and fattening them by that means. This person, by the great skill he had acquired in distinguishing and breeding fish, was now able to make a considerable merchandise of them. The singularity of the fact excited the curiosity of this learned naturalist, and the fish merchant offered to give him ocular proof of the same. Accordingly he procured eight Carrushens, (a kind of small CARP. 1 1 Cai'p lately brought into England from Hamburg, and which, beyond doubt, is the Cyprinus carassius of Linneeus.) These were put into two large bladders filled with water, which had been shifted once or twice i;pon the road. He presently cut open one of these Carps in Sir Hans's presence, and shewed him the ovary, with its canal leading into the part called the cloaca. He then performed the operation of castration upon a second by opening the ovary, and filling up the wound with the scrapings of a black hat. The castrated Carp, being put into water with six live ones, seemed somewhat less brisk as to swimming than they. Then they were conveyed all together into a basin of Sir Hans's garden, where the water is furnished from the neighbouring river, and he believed they were all alive when he wrote to M. Geoffrey. Mr. Tull, for that is the name of the person, promised Sir Hans Sloane a taste of such castrated fish the ensuing spring, assuring him that they as much excel all others in delicacy of relish as a capon does a cock, or a fat ox a bull. Mr. Tull has since castrated many thousands of fish for several of our nobility, to their entire satisfaction." The food of the Carp is occasionally worms and insects, and it has even been known to devour small fishes, although this is only recorded of young individuals, and under confine- ment. A Carp between five and six inches in length was seen by Mr. Gurney to devour three young Minnovv^s, each about an inch and a half in length, as they were confined with it in the same tank. — "Zoologist," 1860. But its more usual and preferable sustenance is vegetable; and for the purpose of grinding this to a pulp it is provided with appropriate pharyngeal bones, answering in some degree to those which are found in the gullet of the Wrasses; and it is, as we have seen, the opinion of Professor Owen that the vegetable food is a second time subjected to their grinding action, in the same manner as we have hazarded the opinion that it is the case with the other family. From some unaccountable variation of appetite, the endeavour to catch this fish with angling is exceedingly uncertain; and in some others of its habits it is believed to possess a large degree of wisdom, as vrell in the manner by which it escapes from 12 CARP. danger, as in submitting to become tame and familiar when it is safe to be so. Thus sings the poem of the anglers: — Fish have their various characters assign'd, Not more by form and colour than by mind. The wary Trout but few temptations hit; The Perch an idiot, and the Carp a wit. and another writer informs us, as quoted by Daniel in his "Rural Sports,"— Of all the fish that swim the watery mead, Not one in cunning can the Carp exceed; which latter portion of its character is displayed in that, when encircled by a net, if no crevice can be found through which to pass, it will lower itself into some channel which it forms in the bottom, that the net may pass over it; or if that cannot be, then it throws itself over the head-rope, much in the same manner as the Grey Mullet in like circumstances. And again: — Learn what of late my wond'ring eyes beheld Near the green margin of the war- famed Scheld; Thick with enormous Carp, I saAV them roll, Called by a practised brother of the cowl. His well-known whistle they obeyed, they sped, In wallowing heaps and hope the promised bread. Carp shouldering Carp, th' injected morsel snap: — And the intelligence thus ascribed to this fish is borne out by the great development of the brain, in connection also with peculiarities in the structure of the organs of percei^tion. According to Professor Owen, the average proportion of the size of the brain to that of the body in fishes is one in three thousand; but in the Carp, according to Blumenbach, it amounts to one in five hundred; which is the same as is found in "half- reasoning" elephant; this extraordinary development in the Carp existing also in the portion of that centre of intelligence termed the prosencejjhalon, or which most nearly answers to the cerebrum or seat of understanding in the higher animals. And although the bulk of the brain taken alone may not afford a just criterion of the amount of understanding in any creature, since it is known that in the proportion as the nerves of sense are large compared with the biain, the particular feeling to CARP. 13 which they are adapted pvcdoniiiiates over understanding or reflection; yet when proportionate magnitiide is added to pecu- liarity of structure, the foimer must be regarded as an important element in the display of the faculty of understanding. There is a peculiarity in the nerves, especially those of the senses, as of sight, taste, and hearing, in that neither of them can be taught to perform the functions of another; and there is pre- sumptive proof that this remark may be extended to essential portions of the brain itself; and that it is in this the conscious identity of every creature resides, or from which it derives its existence, which therefore intrinsically constitutes the true dis- tinction of species. If there be a time when the nature of any creature appears to be substantially changed, so that the fearful becomes bold, or the contrary, when hunger suspends the indulgence of its appetite, and the wanderer confines itself to one solitary spot, it is when by the temporary preponderance of one specific nervous energy the action of the others appears superseded; and this most frequently occurs at the season of procreation; at which time Pennant informs us that the cautious and cunning Carp becomes so simple as to suffer itself to be tickled, handled, and caught by any one who will attempt to do it. But the outward senses of this fish, as well as its inward consciousness, are acutely alive to sensation; of which one set of instruments is the barbels at the mouth, which in some degree corresponds to what is also a character of the Cod family, The pad also in the roof of the mouth is elastic and highly sensitive, being furnished with a large number of nerves, which are derived from the eighth pair as they arise from the brain, and are peculiarly fitted to receive these impressions. That these fishes are brought together by sounds is a proof of the quickness of their hearing as well as of their knowledge of the object for which they are made to assemble; in which particular again they resemble the Mullets; and by dissection it is found that their organs of hearing are not a little complex; with some reference again to the air-bladder, which, unlike what is found in most other fishes, is double in the Carp, as well as in the Tench and some others of this family; and this doubling is formed by means of a constriction towards its upper portion; from the second division of which proceeds a tube, which 14 CARP. passes upward. A series of small bones has been discovered to proceed from the true organ of hearing downward, by which it has been supposed that the elasticity of air in this bladder may assist in perception of particular sounds. The Carp is exceedingly prolific, and the early growth of the young is rapid; but although capable of producing spawn in the third year, the magnitude this fish is capable of reaching is not attained for several years beyond this. On the continent of Europe it has been seen of the length of five or six feet, but nothing like this has been witnessed in Britain. Individuals which have been in possession of both milts and roe have been met with more frequently in this species than in any other fish; and there are individuals which are absolutely neutral, or destitute both of milt and roe. Nor is this the only remarkable irregularity of structure; for I am informed by Edmund T. Higgins, Esq., who has carefully studied these objects in various orders of fishes, that in the Carp the otolithes (bones of the ear) are not always alike on both sides; in fact that in some instances they are altogether wanting on one side. The position of these bones is also different from what is the case in other fishes; so that the bone termed the malleus is at a distance from another called incus, and it is serrated all round the border. These things are worthy of notice, since they have not hitherto been recorded. That the Carp was known to the ancient Greeks, however little regarded, appears from Aristotle, who particularly mentions the fleshy pad in its palate, and the manner of its breeding, of which he says, "Pond and river fish begin to produce usually when five months old; (but knowing little of Trout, and nothing of the Salmon, he is partially in error when he adds, 'they all produce their spawn at the beginning of summer.') The females of these kinds never shed all their spawn nor the males their milt at once; but both sexes are always found to contain a portion of these parts. The Carp produces five or six times a year, under the influence of the stars." — B. 6. The Carp was in^^voduced into the south of Sweden in the year 1560; and, together with the Tench, Dace, Roach, and Goldfish, it has been conveyed into the Colony of Victoria, in Australia, by the Acclimation Society of that country; where they are likely to live and thrive. CARP. 15 Pennant records the remarkable instance that "on fishing a pond in Dorsetshire, great numbers of Carp were found, each with a frog mounted on it; the hind legs clinging to the back, the fore legs fixed in the corner of each eye of the fish," which were thin and greatly wasted. The example selected for description measured nineteen inches; the body stout and thick, sloping forward from the origin of the dorsal fin, but more suddenly from behind the head; the snout rounded; under jaw shortest; lips soft; no teeth in the jaws; a barb at each angle of the mouth, and a smaller one between the angle and the snout. Eye moderate; nostrils large, with a valve or cover; wide across the head, the body stout, belly full and round, sloping at the vent; scales large and well marked, the border of each with radiating lines. Dorsal fin single, beginning above the space where the pectoral ends, and continuing opposite the end of the much shoj-ter but wide anal; the latter fin being wider than long. The first ray of both these fins short, the second long, stout, firm, toothed on the hindmost border. Pectorals low on the body, the upper four or five rays longest; ventrals separate, expanded; tail concave. The general colour is golden yellow, darker on the upper parts: root of each scale brilliant browia. According to Mr. Owen, the bones of fresh-water fishes are lighter than those of the sea; and although this does not hold good universally, another observation appears to do so; which is, that the most active fishes possess the lightest weight of bone, and the bones of the inactive Carp possess more density than those of the active Salmon. 16 BARBEL. Barlms, JoxsTox; B. ?!, TLt. 1, C. 5, Tahlc 26, f. 6, and Table 31, f. 11. WiLLOUGHBY; p. 259, Table Q 2. Cyprinus Barlus, Linnaeus. Bloch; pi. 18. Donovan; pi. 29. " Jenyns ; Manual, p. 404. Barhus indgaris, Cuvier. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 185. " fiuviatilis, Yarhell: Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 367. The Barbel has not a few of the habits of the Carp, and mnch that has been said of the structure of the organs of the senses and the faculties of the last-named fish, will also apply to the present species. The barbs at the mouth are even more develoj)ed than in the Carp, and the high condition of its organ of hearing has been shewn by its speedily quitting a place where much noise has been made. But its activity is greater than the Carp is capable of; as indeed might be judged from the more slender form of its body; and in the genial warmth of summer when these fishes assemble in considerable troops, they delight to stem the course of the more rapid portion of the river they frequent, and more especially when night has set in they become lively, with an evident display of a love of sport. But it is otherwise when cold weather advances; on the occurrence of which they retire into the deeper and stiller portion of the stream, where the high banks afford them shelter; and there, in some secret pool, instead of being sly and watchful, they become so dull and stupid as to show no sensibility of dansfer. even to such a degree as to suffer themselves to be caught with the hand by any one who will attempt to do it. I have been informed that at Oxford they have been taken thus by diving; and the numbers sometimes huddled together in favourite situations may be judged from the fact, that Jonston refers to Albertus as a witness that in the Danube in autumn ten cart- loads have been caught with the hand at one time. a X X. X M X < »— 1 X o A BARBEL. IT The food of tlie Barbel is often vegetable, but it also feeds freely on worms, insects, or any molluscous animal or substance; in search of wliicli it not only keeps near the bottom, as do the larger part of fishes which possess barbs at the mouth, but it will dig into the softer bottom of the stream. Anglers have taken advantage of this propensity by throwing into the still water some of their well-known soft and flit pastes, by way of attracting these fishes to the spot a few hours before the time they are prepared to fish for them. They may then be induced to take a bait freely, but when hooked they are not so readily brousfht to land. The Barbel is indeed, as the Book of St. Albans remarks of the Carp, "an evil fish to take; for he is so strong enarmyd in the mouth that there may no weak harness hold liim." Izaac Walton relates an instance where for several hours the fish refused to be landed, and at last made its escape ; which, according to this writer, it does by running its head forcibly towards any covert or bank, and then striking the line with its tail; which action has the ancient authority of Plutarch. We learn from the "Gentleman Angler," printed in 1726, — "The two famous places to angle for Barbel about London are at Kingston Bridge and Shepperton Pool; at the latter of which places there is great quantity of Barbel. No Barbel by the rules of angling ought to be killed which does not measure eighteen inches fairly. A Barbel taken in Byfleet or Weybridge Rivers, of twenty inches in length, will down weigh another of the same length taken in the Thames by a pound or upwards, and is much firmer, fatter, and better relished." It spawns in the early part of summer not far from the bank of the river; and the spawn, which is discharged in a string, is entwined round some fixed object, as a stone or weed. Jonston refers to Albertus as saying, that the parents keep watch over the spawn after it is shed. There is reason to believe that this fish is an original native of British lakes and the deeper rivers; but there are several counties in England and Scotland in which it is not found. In some others also it may have been introduced for the sake of variety; and it is not mentioned by ]Mr. Thompson among the fishes of Ireland, nor among those recorded in Scotland in the Eoyal Publication of the Natural History of Braemar and Deeside. It is not known in the northern portions of the VUL, IV. D 18 BARBEL. continent of Europe, but it appears to be common in the south, although it finds no place in the ancient works of Greek and Koman writers. Ausonius alone among the last-named refers to it; but this he does in a slighting manner, as being (for the table,) best in the failing portion of its age. Yet there is some diiference of opinion in this respect, and Dr. Badham, in his amusing book of fish-tattle, among others, speaks favourably of it; but this gentleman adds, that the precaution should be taken before cooking of removing the roe, as a very small fragment will produce serious internal derangement. This indeed was known at least so long since as the time of Gesner, if not referred to in the Book of St. Albans, and has been experienced since on numerous occasions, so that the rule regarding it should be to abstain; and yet it is reported to have been eaten sometimes with impunity. But as it is known that several symptoms of a choleraic kind have been occasioned by eating the generally wholesome roe of the Whiting, so it is probable that the generally unwholesome roe of the Barbel may occasion- ally be found safe. Life should not be risked in such a hazardous way; nor in another matter concerning this fish, regarding which we extract the following note from the already- quoted Book of St, Albans, in the quaint words and antique spelling of the writer : — "The Barbyll is a swete fysshe, but it is a quasy meete and a peryllous for mannys body. For comynly he yeuyth an introduxion to ye Febres. And yf he be eten rawe, he maye be cause of mannys dethe; whyche hath oft be seen." The advice here given concerning the eating of raw fish will appear less strange when we refer to the custom of the Israelites in the time of Moses, of eating the flesh of the lamb in an uncooked condition; the indulgence in such a luxviry being specially forbidden (Exodus, c. 12,) in the case of the lamb of the Passover. Again, in the book entitled "The Governayle of Hclthe," j)i'inted by Caxton, are these lines: — "For heltli of body cover for cold thy head, Eat no raw meat, take good heed thereto." But such a relative custom of our ancestors would not perhaps have been remembered but for this reference to it in the case of the Barbel; and yet with the light thus afforded to us, we believe we are able to trace it in another direction, and to the loftiest stations in the kingdom. In the "Pictorial History of England," (vol. ii, p. 254,) there are representations of a repast, in the reign of Edward the Third, where a fish is introduced, that I suppose to be a Perch; but in such a manner as if it were intended to be eaten raw. In one of these engravings a king is present; but only one of the company holds a knife. He seems to be the carver; and there is not a fork to be seen — that instrument being of much later invention. In our own day it has been the custom in the west of England to eat some kind of fish with the help of the fingers only, — the only plate being a piece of bread. The usual length of this fish is about fifteen inches, but Mr. Jenyns assigns to it two and three feet. Wliere however the practice of fishing is so general, few individuals can escape so as to reach their utmost size. The form is moderately length- ened, rather narrow at the back, but not greatly compressed at the sides. Body clothed with scales of moderate size; lips fleshy, gape not wide, inferior, lower jaw shortest; no teeth, except the usual pharyngeal teeth of this family. A pair of conspicuous barbs above the upjoer lip, and one at each corner of the mouth, from which it obtains its name. Eye rather small. Lateral line along the middle of the side. Dorsal fin above the ventrals, at about the middle of the length, having ten rays, of which the second is the stoutest, and serrated; hindmost rays shortest. Anal fin narrow, with seven rays. Tail forked. Colour on the back greenish brown, or bluish; the sides inclined to yellow, below white. Eye yellow; dorsal fin brown tinged with red, as is the tail; anal fin and ventrals reddish. 20 GOBIO. This genus resembles Cyprinvs in possessing barbels at the mouth; but it differs in having the dorsal and anal fins short, and in not possessing those spines in front of these fins by which the last-named genus is distinguished. The body also is more lengthened. GUDGEON. Gohio fluviatilis, JoNSTON; Table 26, f. 16 and 17. Willougiiby; pi. 28, f. 4, p. 264. Cyjprinus Gohio, Linnaeus. Bloch; PL 8, f. 2. " " Donovan; PL 71. Jenyns; Manual, p. 405. Gohio fluviatilis, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 186. " " Yakkell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 371. Gudgeons delight in such of our rivers as flow with moderate velocity over a bottom of gravel, with deeper pits at convenient distances; in the latter of which they obtain shelter in the colder seasons of the year, but as warm weather advances they pass into the more rapid districts of the stream, and there display considerable activity, but more by night than by day; and especially in the search after food, in hunting for which their open nostrils aflx)rd them quick perception; and when an angler produces his baits they flock together in troops with j)i'overbial eagerness to be caught. Their small size is indeed an hindrance to their being regarded as a valuable capture, although they are esteemed as a delicacy for the table, and their readiness to take the hook is an objection with those whose pleasure is to meet with fishes which task their skill in the art of angling. But to the less ambitious fishing for Gudgeons produces a good degree of excitement; and when the fish have ceased to bite freely, from perhaps the success that has lessened 2 : , O o >< Q tx: C5 o GUDGEON. 21 their numbers, raking the gravelly bottom of the stream, or throwing into the water some enticing matters that shall flow on with the current will attract a larger assembly which shall renew the sport. Their food is worms, molluscoiis animals, and vegetables, which they seek near the bottom in winter; but they will not rise to a fly. It is even said that they will feed on the carcase of a dead animal, which may have fallen into the river. The Gndgeon jDOssesscs the internal structnre of hearing and perception which belong to others of this family; and its nostrils are especially 02ien to the mingled impressions of smell and taste; but its more slender form and the love of the more rapid stream preserve it from the sluggishness which forms a large portion of the character of the Carp and Tench. This fish is common in many of the rivers of Ireland, but it is not mentioned as occurring in Scotland, and it is known only of late in Cornwall or the west portion of Devonshire; but they thrive in some ponds at Penzance, into which they have been lately introduced. They are well known on the continent of Europe, but apjDcar to be less common in Italy, although referred to in the south of France by Ausonius. It is also rare in Sweden, and occurs only in a few streams in the south of that country; up which they proceed in summer, from the neighbouring ponds and lakes, and to which they again retreat in the winter. The Gudgeon grows to the length of about six inches, the body moderately lengthened, rounded, but a little compressed at the sides, and covered with scales; lateral line below the exact middle of the depth, straight; upper jaw slightly the longest, without teeth; but low in the gullet there are teeth as in others of the family. At the corners of the mouth a barb. Nostrils large, and a depression across the front before them. Eye moderate. Dorsal fin a little before the middle of the length, as long as broad, above the ventrals; anal fin shorter than the dorsal, behind the line of that fin; tail forked. Colour on the back brownish, or tending to bluish green; yellowish on the side, white below; the back, dorsal and caudal fins usually spotted, but the fins sometimes with stripes; anal, pectoral, and ventral fins plain. Fin rays — the dorsal ten, anal nine, pectoral sixteen, ventral eight, caudal nineteen. TINCA. CtrviER forms a separate genus for the Tencli, the character of which is, that in addition to other particuhirs of the genus Cypri7ius the dorsal and anal tins are short, without firm spines to the fins; a single pair of small barbs at the angles of the mouth; scales on the body- very small. TENCH. Tinea, Jonston; pi. 29, fig. 7. WiLLOuGHBY; p. 251, Table Q. 5. Oijimnus Tinea, Linnaeus. Bloch; pi. 14. Donovan; pi. 113. " " Jenyns; Manual, p. 405. Tinea vulgaris, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 186. " " Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 375, There can be little doubt tliat the Tench was known to the ancients, since Willoughby informs us that it is occasionally found in the Tiber ; and that it bore the name of Tinea, which is the origin of the English designation, appears from Ausonius, who is the only writer of his country that is known to mention it, at least with any particular reference to its nature or habits. And the reason of this omission appears to be that it was not in esteem with them, for the table; which was the principal criterion by which the peo]3le of that day were accustomed to measure the value of any object that could be eaten. But we are referred to the writings of Cicero, from which we learn that in consequence of some appearance or property in this fish he chose to apply its name to an orator who was known for some amusing peculiarity that could find some analogy in the Tinea or Tench. In addition to this it may also be suspected that the species termed the Black Cyprinus by ^Elian, an inhabitant of the Danube, and which has been referred to when we spake of the Carp, may rather be the Tench, as Oh >— ' L. TENCH. 23 the descriptive epithet may more fitly apply to the latter than to the former. There is reason to believe that the Tench has always been an inhabitant of onr lakes and slowly-moving rivers, in the deeper portions of which, where weeds and mud abound, it finds congenial hannts; and where its food of vegetables, worms, and small fishes is easily and abundantly obtained. A slimy bottom is especially selected, and from this circumstance, as also from the slimy covering of its body, in which last particular it exceeds most fishes which possess scales, in some countries it has received its name. It has been observed that these fishes, which are fond of associating together, are much in the custom of licking from each other this mucous secretion, as they also are of nibbling any soft and fat substance, even of a wound which may have been received in assaults from one another. This nibbling of the raw surface has been interpreted into an intended healing process, and the Tench has accordingly been termed the Physician of fishes. Holinshed believes that he is giving a proof that this fish is the Leach of fishes by saying — "for when the fishmonger has opened his (the Pike's) side, and laied out his rivet unto the buier for the better utterance of his ware, and cannot make him away at that present, he laieth the same againe into the projDer place, and sowing up the wound, he restoreth him to the pond where Tenches are, who never cease to sucke and licke his greeved j)lace, till they have restored him in health and made him readie to come againe to the stall when his turne shall come about." This idea of the healing virtue of the Tench's mouth, and not of the slimy exudation of its sides as a modern poet has surmised, has almost amounted to a superstition, and is referred to even in the Book of St. Albans; but it ajjpears to have no other foundation than the love of this fish for the substance exuding from the wound, and the impunity with which the nibbling may be accomplished, with some benefit, although not an intended one, to the i^rocess of healing; but that it is less liable than other fishes to be devoured by the Pike may be a truth, although the cause of this exemption seems not easily explained. The Pilotfish swims near the Shark in safety, while other fishes cannot venture to do the same. 24 TENCH. The Tencli lias mucli of the shrewdness ascribed to the Carp, as well as a large portion of the animal senses possessed by that fish. It is also sensible to the inq^ressions of cold, and we are informed that in the colder months it will work a hole in the mud to shelter itself, and there lie concealed, perhaps for a longer time than is pleasing to itself, although from the power it possesses of extracting the minutest jjortions of air from almost exhausted water, it continues to live while other fishes must have perished. We are informed in a quotation from Johnson's "Sportsman's Cyclopedia," that at Thornville Royal, in Yorkshire, there was a pond that was to have been filled up, for which j^urpose wood and rubbish had been thrown into it for several years, so that it was almost choked up with mud and weeds. But in November, 1801, measures were taken to clear it out, in doing which, as very little water remained, no one expected to see any fish, except perhaps a few eels. Yet, to their surprise there were found nearly two hundred brace of Tenches, of all sizes, and as many Perch. And after the pond was supposed to be quite free, under some roots there seemed to be an animal which was conjectured to be an Otter. The place was then surrounded, when on opening an entrance among the roots a Tench was found, of a most singular form, having literally assumed the shape of the hole in which he had for many years been confined. Its length from fork to eye was two feet nine inches; its circumference, almost to the tail, tv/o feet three inches; the weight eleven pounds nine ounces and a quarter; the colour also was singular, the belly being that of a Char, or vermilion. This fish was examined by many gentlemen, and then carefully placed in the pond; but either from confinement, age, or bulk, it at first merely floated, and at last with difficulty swam gently away. This fish is not a native of the western counties of England, nor probably of Ireland or Scotland; but as, like the Carp, it is so retentive of life as to be conveyed easily to distant places, it is found at present in all these districts where situations can be found to suit its habits; and it breeds readily where the soil and water are congenial to it, but indeed there only. It is of use to know that for the fertility of a pond the number of males ought to be double that of females, and it so happens that the sexes of this fish are readily to be distinguished by the TENCH. 25 comparative size of their ventral fins; wliich in tlie male are far the largest, with a stout, thick, crooked, and transversely striated first ray. The bones also to which these fins are attached arc large, thick, and extended even to the gill openings. Willoughby remarks, from Schenckfeld, that the Tench .spawns at the time when wheat is in blossom. The spawn is shed at no great depth in the water, and the development of the grains is rapid, as they were traced by IM. llusconi in MuUer's "Archives^" for 1836; who observes that soon after the application of the milt the ovum loses its spherical form, and swells out into the form of a pear, and at the point where the swelling begins it is surrounded with a cluster of microscopic globules, which before were spread all over its surface. In half an hour the pear-shaped excrescence is divided into four globules, which in another quarter of an hour are subdivided into eight, and after a similar period into thirty-two, which still remain clustered together on the top of the egg. In another half hour more globules appear, which become less in size as they increase in numbers, and at length from their minuteness that part of the egg to which they are attached becomes almost as smooth as before they made their appearance. The embryo fish is now seen in the form of a whitish transparent speck, which is the rudiment of the backbone. The ora^anization of the skin then proceeds, and the embiyo as it is coiled round the yolk increases in length until the head becomes perceptible. In forty hours from the first this embryo Tench gives signs of motion, and in further twelve hours it has freed itself from the skin of the egg; at which time the fish is two lines in length, and the blood is of its natural colour. For some hours after leaving the egg the young appear inert; lying on their sides and unable to swim; but when the swimming bladder becomes developed they assume their proper position and activity. The intestines are not fully developed until seven days from leaving the egg; and then they begin to feed voraciously, but only on animal substances. The narrative here given may be considered as generally applicable to fishes of this family, and in its outline to fishes in general; since the variation is rather connected with the quickness of the development than the mere order of the pro- ceeding; and in regard to quickness it is much influenced by VOL. IV. E 26 TENCH. the temperature of the water, which in the case here described was above seventy degrees. The growth of the Tench afterwards is speedy, so that in twelve months it may weigh from half a pound to a pound; and an instance is known where a Tench placed in a pond in six years and a half attained to the weight of four pounds and a half — which is what it most frequently reaches in England. We have not thought it necessary for the most part to describe the methods used in Britain in fishing for those species which inhabit our fresh waters, since there are numerous volumes which treat on this subject at greater length than our space will allow; but we copy the following from the E-everend Richard Lubbock's "Fauna of Norfolk," because it includes a lively picture of some particulars of the nature of this fish: — "In Norfolk there are fishermen who for catching Tench in shallow water prefer their own hands, with a landing-net to be used occasionally, to any other engines. The day for this oj^eration cannot be too calm or too hot. During the heats of summer, but especially at the time of spawning. Tench delight in lying near the surface of the water amongst beds of reeds; in such situations they are found in parties, varying from four or five to thirty in number. On the very near approach of a boat they strike away, dispersing in different directions, and then the sport of the Tench- catcher begins. He perceives where some particular fish has stopped in its flight, which is seldom more than a few yards; his guide in this is the bubble which rises generally where the fish stops. Approaching the place as gently as possible in his boat, which must be small, light, and steady in her bearings, he keeps her steady with his pole, and lying down with his head over the gunwale, and his right arm bared to the shoulder, taking advantage in his search, of light and shade, he gently with his fingers displaces the weeds, and endeavours to descry the Tench in his retreat. If the fisherman can see part of the fish, so as to determine which way the head lies, the certainty of capture is much increased; but if he cannot, immersing his arm, he feels slowly and cautiously about until he touches it; which, if done gently on head or body, is generally disregarded by this sluggish and stupid fish; but if the tail is the part molested, a dash away again is the usual consequence. Should the fisherman succeed in ascertaining the position of the TENCH. m fish, he insinuates one hand, which alone is used, under it just behind the gills, and raises it gently, but yet rapidly, towards the surface of the water. In lifting it over the side of the boat, which should be low, he takes care not to touch the gunwale with his knuckles, as the slightest jar makes the captive flounce and struggle. On being laid down the Tench often remains motionless for full a minute, and then begins apparently to perceive the fraud practised upon it. The fisherman then, if he marked more than one Tench when the shoal dispersed, proceeds to search for it. If not he endeavours to start another by striking his pole against the side or bottom of the boat. The concussion moves other fish, when the same manoeuvres are repeated. In the course of a favourable day one fisherman will easily secure five or six dozen. The run, as it is termed, of a Tench is diflerent from that of a Bream or Rud. It is not straight or extended, but short, varying, and devious. Very often the fish halts within five or six yards of the place it started from; and a good-sized fish is more easily taken than a small one." The shape of the Tench is generally thick and solid, but compressed at the sides; its breadth (or depth) being conveyed almost to the tail, and if our figure is less so, it is because of the form of the individual example. In England it does not often exceed four or five pounds in weight, but old fishes grow to a more considerable size, especially on the continent. The gape is moderate, jaws nearly equal, lips fleshy, without teeth; a slight barb at the corner; the palate is fleshy only on its posterior half. The back rises from the snout to the dorsal fin. Eye small; body clothed with small fine scales; the lateral line drops at first, and then passes straight to the tail. Dorsal fin a little behind the middle of the body; as wide as long; anal behind the termination of the dorsal; pectoral fin broad, and the ventrals rather so. Tail straight or a little rounded. Colour of the back and fins rich dark brown; sides fulvous brown or yellow, lighter below. Eye red. The dorsal fin has nine rays, the first short, and the anal has the same; pectoral fourteen, ventral nine, caudal seventeen. 28 CARASSmS. We arrange ae in a separate genus those species wliich have the general characters of Cyprinus, as defined by Cuvier, with an extended dorsal fin and short anal; but the mouth without barbs, and not having a firm denticulated ray to the dorsal and anal fins. Some appearance of such a toothed ray may be perceived in one or two of these species, but so obscurely as to be scarcely discernible. CRUCIAN. (Jarassnis, Willoughby ; p. 269, pi. Q. 6 ; but he does not distinguish it from some other species, as Albnrnns and Ball ems. Cypiinns carassius, Linnaeus. Cuvier. Bloch; pi. 11. " Jenyns; Manual, p. 403. " " Tarkell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 355. So little was formerly known of this fish that Gesner says he could not find it had been mentioned by any writer before Dubravius, and much uncertainty still rests upon it when considered as a British fish; for although Pennant mentions a fish of this name as known to himself, it is supposed to have been by mistake for the Prussian Carp; and Mr. Yarrell had obtained it in a few instances from the Thames; yet this is consistent with the belief that the species was at first introduced among us, and that even at a recent date. This indeed is asserted or implied in the experiments of which it was the subject; and of which an account is given in our history of the Carp. In what is there referred to the examples had been procured from Hamburg, where the fish appears to have been well known; for Linnteus refers to the Acts or Transactions of the University of Upsal, where it is called by the elder Gronovius Cyprinus liamhurgcr, as characteristic of the place where chiefly it was found. 2 > < '-^ ^ X D >< o o MC HAr CRUCIAN. 29 It is easy to suppose tliat some of these fishes which had been obtained from the continent of Europe, where they are not rare, may have been set free in the Thames without having been operated on in the manner described, and there they may have continued the race; but that the operation from which we have an account of their introduction into England was not such a novelty as was supposed, is rendered probable from the lines of Sir Philip Sidney, although the operation was performed upon another species: — We have a fish by strangers much admired, Wliich caught to cruel search yields his chief part ; (With gall cut out) closed up again by art, Yet lives until his life be new required. Seven Wonders of England. The Crucian, like most of the species of this family is highly retentive of life, and in consequence may be conveyed to con- siderable distances for the purpose of being propagated in ponds or slowly-flowing rivers; but it will scarcely repay the expense or effort, as it is not highly esteemed for the table, and it never becomes equal to the Carp in size. It is said to be of slow growth. We copy the figure of this fish given by Fries and Ekstrom, with a large portion of their description. In its early growth it bears some resemblance to the Carp, but its shape is much deeper; in which particular it exceeds the whole of this family; for its greatest depth is equal to one half of its length. It may be further distinguished from the Carp by the absence of barbs at the mouth. The jaws are equal and without teeth, gape small; body thick and solid, but compressed; the outline ascends from the snout, and more especially from the head, to the origin of the dorsal fin; from which again it descends in an oval to the origin of the tail. Scales large, thirty-two on the course of the lateral line; this line descends at first, and then straight. Eye rather small; hindmost gUl-cover divergently striped. Pectoral fin round, with fifteen rays; ventrals also round, with nine rays; dorsal fin long, beginning over the ventrals, wide, with a rounded outline, and twenty rays; anal fin wide, rather short, with ten rays; the third ray of the dorsal and anal fins, which are longer than the preceding, thick and very finely notched; tail short, wide. 30 CRUCIAN. nearly straight, with eighteen rays. The colour is subject to variety; top of the head and back brown, or with a tint of green, yellow on the sides, white or orange colour on the belly; the fins generally dark with a tint of red. It rarely exceeds two pounds in weight, and most frequently is less; but Mr. Yarrell obtained an example from the Thames that weighed two pounds and eleven ounces. M r o < I— f m > 'X X >< o 31 PEUSSIAN CARP. Gyprinus Gihelio, Bloch; pi. 12. Jenyns; Manual, p. 402. " " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 358. Carassius Gihelio, Nobis. The Prussian Carp appears to be one of two or three species which have been confounded together under the name of Crucian, Carassius, or Char ax; but this last name must be kept separate, as when found in the work of Oppian it is applied to a fish of the sea, and the word in its origin is believed to refer to the sharp or prickly arming of the back. Whether originally a native of England appears uncertain, but there is no notice of its having been introduced into our ponds or deeper slowly- flowing rivers; in which it is sometimes found in considerable numbers. We have obtained it from the Thames, where it abounds more than does the Crucian; but its particular habits have not been attended to, except that it is known to be highly retentive of life when uninjured out of the water. This fish is said to have reached the weight of two pounds, but the example described was much less; the length to the fork of the tail seven inches, depth in front of the dorsal fin one inch and seven eighths; the proportions stout and thick, blunt over the front; wide between the eyes, mouth small, jaws nearly equal, without teeth. Eyes moderate: body rising from the mouth to the dorsal fin; back round. Scales on the body large; lateral line at first high, but after sinking a little pro- ceeding straight; with thirty-five perforated scales. Posterior plate of the gill-covers finely striated. The dorsal fin begins a little anterior to the line of the ventrals and ends above the vent; its first ray short, the second strong and serrated; anal small, its first ray serrated; tail bluntly forked. Colour 32 PRUSSIAN CAKP. yellowish brown on the back, and so the dorsal fin and tail, yellow on the sides, brighter below; pectoral, ventral, and anal reddish or orange; posterior plate of the gill-cover with a tint of blue. The dorsal fin has eighteen rays, ventral eight, anal nine. Its distinction from the Crucian is seen in the less depth of the body, blunter head, less elevation of the dorsal fin, sharper pectoral, smaller anal; and in the fork of the tail. H/ CAr., ffi 1 1 m > ^—^ X X X o o 33 GOLDFISH. Oyprinus auratus, Li?sN.'eus. Cuvjer. Blocii; pi. 15. " " Jenvns; Manual, p. 403. " " YAiuiLLL; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 361. This fish is a native of China, where for ages it has con- tributed to the amusement of the higher chisses by its lively actions in luxurious captivity, as also to the occupation and profit of the more industrious classes by the employment it affords them in procuring and propagating the numerous varieties of its race; for as there is no other fish which has been so long in such a condition of trainmg, so there is none that has so decidedly shewn such a tendency to be inflaenced by it in shape and colour. We are informed ihat in that country it is a special business to collect the spawn as it floats in the great rivers, and to sell it to merchants who send it to different districts of the country, to be propagated in small ponds, in which also the fish are preserved, but for amusement also they are kept in porcelain vessels in the houses of rich people. In captivity they are not prolific except in ponds suited lo their nature, of which warmth is an important particular; so that they live and thrive in that which to our imagination seems beyond the power of any living creature to sustain. As an instance it is known that in manufacturing districts, where there is a short supply of cold water for condensing the steam employed in the engines, recourse is had to what are called engine dams or pondS; into which the water from the steam- engine is thrown for the purpose of being cooled; and in these dams, the average temperature of which is about eighty degrees, it is common to keep Goldfishes It is a known f;\ct that in these situations they multiply much more rapidly than in ponds of lower temperature that are exposed to variations of the climate. Three pairs of these fishes were put into one of these VOL. IV. F 34 GOLDFISH. cTams^ Avhere tliey increased so rapidly that at the end of ihree years, when their progeny was accidentally poisoned by verdi- gris mixed with the refuse tallow from the engine, wheelbarrows full of them were taken out. In those dams Goldfish are by no means useless inhabitants, since they consume the refuse grease which would otherwise impede the cooling of the watei by accumulating on the surface. Another important particular to their well-being in a small pond is, that there should be m some part of it a good depth of water and shelter, both for hiding and as a retreat on the change of seasons; a chang<:. of which all fishes are highly sensible, and none more than those of the family of Carps. These beautiful fishes, which bear well even close confinenient in a glass globe, although they do not reach their full size in it, are easily conveyed from place to place; and accordingly we learn that some examples of them were brought from China into England in the year 1691. But they did not become generally known until a considerable number were also brought in the year 1728, and presented to Sir Matthew Dekker, Lord Mayor of London, who made presents of them to several friends, by which means they became distributed through the country. They are now well known throughout the civilized world, although rather as the petted favourites of the house than as naturalized inhabitants of our waters. A large portion of those we have in England have been brought from Lisbon, where they are bred for sale. In form this fish much resembles the Carp; the body deep, moderately compressed; jaws equal, the outline rising to the beginning of the dorsal fin; eyes prominent; body covered with large scales; lateral line a little depressed at its origin, afterwards straight. The dorsal fin begins opposite the middle of the pectoral, and ends opposite the middle of the anal; the latter short; the first ray of the former usually toothed, as is the hindmost border of the first ray of the latter; pectorals round, ventrals large; tail incurved. The colour from deep orange to golden, a little lighter on the belly, but subject to variety; the young being very dark, and when older of a bright silver, on which account they are called silver fish; and some are strongly tinged with pink. There is also remarkable variety in the fins as they are found in captivity; some being without GOLDFISH. 35 the dorsal fin, some having it short, with three lobes on the caudal fin, and sometimes the lower lobe of this fin is separated into two, which are spread abroad horizontally, Linntrus has, in mistake, made this last particular a ]>ortion of the character of the genus, and Gronovius supposed it to be the mark of a separate species 36 .ABRAMIS. The character is, that the body is deep, belly not armed with rough points, dorsal fin short and placed behind the ventrals, anal fin long, and both without a spinous ray; no barbs at the mouth. LAKE BREAM. CARP BREAM. YELLOW BREAM. COMMON BREAM. Cyprinus Lotus, Jonston; Table 29, f. 5. " " WiLLOUGHBY; p. 248, plate Q 10. " Brama, Linn.eus. « " Bloch; pi. 13. Donovan ; pi. 93. " " Jenyns; Manual, p. 406. Abramis vulgaris, Cuviek. " Brama, Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 187. Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 382. u « There are only some particular situations where the Lake or Carp Bream is found, but where it meets with a congenial soil and water, its numbers increase in a remarkable degree. And although sensitive to the variation of seasons, there is nothing in the climate of the United Kingdom that is hurtful to it; for as regards cold they abound even at the most northern parts of Norway, while with ourselves they associate in com- panies, and are lively in the warmest summers. But neither a swiftly-flowing stream nor pebbly bottom are suitable, and they chiefly rejoice in still water with a bottom of soft soil, whether in lakes and ponds or rivers. Nilsson remarks that they in Sweden are. sure to be found where the pond-weed Isoetes lacustris grows; but slimy food, with other digestible vegetables, serves them for nourishment, and they devour with eagerness the paste prepared for them by anglers, by which they are attracted < ' — 1 i — 1 K OS prj > X X K >< X 1 — < o ^ LAKE BREAM. 37 to a spot where they are to be fished for, and where they seize the worms with which the hooks are baited. Izaak Walton gives dii-ections for the successful practice of fishing for these Bream, for information concerning which we refer to tlic well- known and amusing volume of this patriarch of fishermen. They are not found in Cornwall or Devonshire. Fleming mentions it indefinitely, as being found in Scotland; and he quotes Pennant as authority for its inhabiting Loch INIaben; but it seems not to be an inhabitant of the far north of that kingdom. Leland also says in his own quaint language that in Wales, not far from Breckenok, in Llin Senatham; which is in bredth a mile, and a two miles of length, and wher as it is depest a thirteen fadom, it berith as the principale fisch a great numbre of Bremes, and they appere in May in mighti seniles. So that sumtime they breke large nettes; and ons frayed appereth not in the bryme of the water that yere againe. By favour of the Earl of Enniskillen I learn that large numbers inhabit the lakes of the north of Ireland; and especially they abound in Lough Erne, Lough Mackean, and others in Fermanagh, Cavan, and other counties; and I have been indebted to that Noble Lord for several examples from these districts, from which we have derived our figure and description. A net is the instrument chiefly had recourse to in that part of the country; and as these fish are not generally in high esteem, (and, in fact, from their numbers, when the hope is to take other fishes, they are usually considered an annoyance,) they for the most part fall to the lot of the poorer people, who preserve them for use in winter. Yet although this is the character which the Bream now generally bears it was not always so. Chaucer speaks favourably of it, and the value set on this fish about the year 1419 may be learned from Sir William Dugdale, who informs us that at that date a single fish was valued at twenty pence, when the day's labour of a mason or master carpenter was less than sixpence; from which was withdrawn three halfpence if his food was supplied to him. We are told also that a pie containing four Bream was sent from Warwickshire to a distant part of Yorkshire at the cost of sixteen shillings; which amount included the wages of two men for three days in catching the fish;, 38 LAKE BREAM. together with the flour and spices for making the pie and the charge of conveying it to its destination. — (Pictorial History of England, vol. ii.) The Book of St. Albans is a further witness, that "the Breeme" was accounted "a noble fysshe and a deyntous," for the taking of which particular directions were given. This Bream is considered a very shy fish, and as their ordinary habit is to swim in schools, Nilsson informs us that in the season when the fishery is carried on in Sweden, in some of the parishes near the lake where these fish abound, it is forbidden to ring the church bells; that the noise may not drive the fish away. Sometimes the success of this fishery is such that from ten to forty thousand pounds of Bream have been taken at a single haul of the net. A reason why this fish is not regarded at genteel tables with us is said to be, that they are furnished with such a large abundance of small bones, which is in fact a double row of ribs corresponding to those of the herring, shad, and pilchard; and it is on this account that the middle portion of the body is preferred to the rest; but in autumn, Walton says, they become "as fat as a hog," and then they afford a not unpleasant dish. The time of spawning is about the month of May, at whicli time the male is marked with rough white spots about the head. In the "Fauna of Norfolk" it is remarked, that when preparing to spawn they roll about like miniature porpoises: the water is discoloured by their working; here a nose appears and there a back fin, whilst at intervals a plunge of affright amongst the multitude shews that large pike are busy. They are a positive nuisance from their numbers in many places. If a bow-net is set for Tench, Bream crowd in ere they arrive and exclude them. At first the growth of the young is slow, and they are not readily distinguished from the next species, A. Blicca; but in the course of time tlicy reach to a large size, and, while a Bream of the weight of fourteen pounds is considered of large size, Rondeletius professes to have seen an example that measured two cubits in length, with a foot at the greatest depth. That this fish is retentive of life, and especially possesses great power in resisting extreme cold, appears from an instance mentioned by Gesner, and often smce referred to. — It happened that in Poland a large number were contained in a tank, the LAKE BREAM. 39 water of which became frozen so entirely that not one of the fish could be seen; but when the frost disappearcfl the Bream again appeared without having suffered harm. Length of the example from the snout to the fork of the tail sixteen inches; greatest depth, which is about the beginning of the dorsal fin, seven inches and a fourth. Head smjill; the outline rising rapidly from the nape, and beginning co slope downward from the dorsal fin towards the tail; the body, exclusive of the tail, approaching to an oval Snout round, under jaw slightly the shortest; no teeth, lips flesliv. slightly bent up at the middle. Eyes lateral, large; nostrils open, in a depression, high on the front, with a band or depression above the lips from one nostril to the other. Body much compressed, scales rather large; lateral line falling below the level of the body. Dorsal fin elevated, behind the middle of the body, ending nearly ojjposite the vent; anal fin from the vent near to the tail, hook-shaped at the beginning. Pectoral fin rounded, ventrals before the origin of the dorsal, and reaching to the vent; tail forked. Colour bright yellow, darker on the back, pale below. Fin rays — in the dorsal eleven, caudal seventeen, anal twenty- nine, pectoral sixteen, ventral nine. 40 WHITE BREAM. BREAMFLAT. Cyprinus Lotus, Tukton's Linnaeus. " Blicca, Bloch; pi. 10. Abramis Bli'cca, Cuviee. Cyprinus Blicca, Jenyns; Manual, p. 407. Yakrell; Br. Fislies, vol. i, p. 387. It was long doubted wlietlier wliat was supposed to be a second sjoecies of Bream in our lakes was truly distinct; and after a close examination of wbat was alleged to be sucli on tlie continent of Europe, it remained the opinion of the learned naturalist Gesner, tliat only one species could be recognised. And the opinion tlius expressed was not without some plausible grounds, so far as regarded the fishes we have called the Lake and White Breams; since whatever may be the assigned marks of distinction at the fullest stage of growth, when the Lake Bream is of a bright yellow colour, and it is of much larger size than the White Bream is ever known to attain; yet at an earlier stage, when the Lake Bream is only half grown, the colour of both these fishes is so much alike, and the other diiferences between them require such close examination that we need not feel surprised if the real points of distinction are not always detected. Yet that they were believed to be distinct fishes in very early times apj^ears from the Book of St. Albans, where Bremettis arc mentioned sej^arately, as to be fished for with some difference of baits; and that they are distinct fishes is now generally admitted; but although whatever difference may exist in their habits is not well known, in this respect also some distinction must exist since there are places where the AVliite Bream is common, and the Lake Bream is not met with. Mr. Jenyns points to some districts of the River Cam ffl 'x; H." c,. WHITE BREAM. 41 IS an instance of this, and it appears not unlilcely that the reverse of this is the case in some parts of Ireland. It might have been preferable to have limited to the species aow under consideration the name of Shude, which is used in che north of Ireland for the early stage of both these fishes, and for the latter during the whole of its existence; but we have decided otherwise in order to avoid confusion. At the same time it should be borne in mind that the Lake Bream is equally white until of nearly full growth, and also that in Ekstrom's "History of Scandinavian Fishes," the figure ot Ahramis Blicca is decidedly yellow. Instead of giving an extended description of the White Bream, we will simply point out those characters by which it may be distinguished from the Lake Bream, with which alone it is likely to be confounded; and in doing this we prefer to select these points to which attention has been particularly directed by writers whose opportunities of comparison have been the greatest; as by this means we avoid those mistakes which might be committed in confounding casual differences with such as impress a permanent character. The White Bream rarely exceeds the length of a foot, and a usual weight is about a pound. Nilsson says that the outline of the body is more arched than in the Lake Bream; but the proportions of the younger fish are more lengthened than when it has become older, and in that early condition it more closely resembles the last-named fish. Both jaws are also more nearly equal; the head large; back much compressed; over the neck a depression, from which the arch rises to the dorsal fin, beyond which to the tail is straight, so that the space at the tail is wider (or deeper.) The lateral line is not so low on the body as in the Lake Bream; scales large and thin. Colour of the back bluish brown, sides white tinged with blue, white below; pectoral and ventral fins reddish, other fins brownish grey. Fin rays — dorsal ten, pectoral eighteen, ventral nine, anal twenty-four or five, caudal nineteen. Both Nilsson and Mr. Yarrell assign to the pectoral fin three less, and to the anal five, than in the Lake Bream, but the last-named author gives twenty-two as the number of rays in the anal fin. vuL. ly. 4^ POMERANIAN BREAM. Cyprinus Buggenhagii, Bloch; PL 96. Ahramis Buggenhagii, Cuvier. Thompson. " " Yakeell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 391. A THIRD species of British Bream was first announced by Mr. William Thompson as obtained by him in Ireland, and we shall borrow his account of this fish, as it is contained in his Natural History of that portion of the United Kingdom; but it has also been found in England by Mr. Yarrell, to whom it was presented from the Dagenham Breach, and afterwards from another portion of the Thames; and it has likewise been obtained by Mr. Jenyns in Cambridgeshire. But previous to this it had been described by the Prussian naturalist Bloch, who obtained examples from Pomerania; from which country they had been sent to him by a gentleman whose name he affixed to the species, and who therefore must be pronounced its first discoverer. It has not been recognised in any other country besides those we have here specified; and everywhere it appears to be a scarce species. We may suppose therefore that it is less prolific than the others of this genus, or that it is beset with much more formidable enemies. Mr. Thompson's notice of it is, that it has been taken in the sluggish River Lagan, in which the (Lake) Bream is abundant. On inspecting the produce of a fishing-rod at the River Lagan, near Belfast, I detected a Bream differing from the common species. It agreed so fully with Bloch's description of the Cyprinus Buggenhagii as to satisfy me of its identity, the only difference consisting in the number of rays in the pectoral fin, twelve being enumerated by him, and eighteen appearing in the specimen; "several of them, however, being very short may have < as m 2; < < o a. X O WCZ ! ha; TY A POMERANIAN BREAM. 43 escaped Blocli's notice. The description drawn from my specimen : — length five inches and a half, depth an inch and a half; head one fourth of the entire length; diameter of the eye equal to one fourth of the length of the head; scales on the lateral line about forty-five. Colour of the sides silvery, tinged with blue towards the back; dorsal, pectoral, ventral, and anal fins nearly transparent, or slightly tinged with dusky; tail pale yellow." An example obtained by Mr. Yarrell measured fifteen inches in length; and it has been noticed that while the depth of the body measures one third of the length, the thickness amounts to one half of the depth, being the thickest of all the Breams. The dorsal fin also is larger than in them, and the anal fin shorter, with three rays less in number. 44 LEUCTSCUS. With the usual characters of the family of Carps, the dorsal and anal fins are short; and they have not any barbs, or spines to the fins. CHUB. CHEVIN. Capito, JoNSTON; Table 26, f. 7. " WiLLOUGHBY; p. 255, plate Q. 10. Cyprinus ceplmlus, Linnaeus. " Jeses, Block; pi. 6. Donovan; pi. 115. Leuciscus cephahis, Fleming; British Animals, p 187. Cyprinus cephalus, Jenyns; Manual, p. 411. " " Yakkell; British Fishes, vol. i, p 109. In its habits the Chub so far agrees with several others of this family, that it is found only in rivers which possess a good depth and supply of water; and also that it manifests much sensibility to changes of temj^erature in the different seasons. But, on the other hand, it prefers those streams in which the water flows with some considerable rapidity along a clean bottom of sand or gravel; and so needful to its well-being is a supply of what is afforded by a current, that it is not easy to keep it alive in a tank, or within the narrow limits of a pond. It is necessary, however, that its native stream should possess some safe and shaded pits or deeper recesses, to which it may retreat from danger, of the slightest appearance of which it is timidly sensible; and also where it may hide when the sun shines hot, and during the colder season of the year. From some causes connected with this repugnancy to still or stagnant water, or to the want of congenial retreat, this fish does not exist in the rivers of the north of Scotland, or in D o O CHUB. 45 the west of England; and if any attempt has been made to introduce it into these districts — of which, however, we have not received any information — it has not been successful. Nor indeed, except for curiosity, is its conveyance likely to be attempted; for the Chub does not possess a reputation as food that is likely to induce any one to venture the task. The Roman poet Ausonius in a few verses bestows on it this character of being little worth, when he says: — "In weedy sands the scale-clad Chub delights; Its sides thick-studded with sharp reed-like bones, Nor can we keep its flesh beyond six hours : in which last particular we must offer a correction to what by a slip of the pen was advanced when speaking of the Grey Mullet. It is the Chub and not the Mullet, that in the poetry of Ausonius bears the name of Capito. The most esteemed portion of this fish was supposed to be the head, the stoutness or thickness of the sides of which appear to have given occasion to the name, as well perhaps in the English as in the Latin language. This fish is met with in many portions of the continent of Europe, and so far north as Sweden and a portion of Finland; but it is not a native of Ireland. The Chub, like the generality of the Carps, feeds much on vegetables; but it also eagerly devours insects, and readily takes the hook when baited with a worm or molluscous animal; but the method of angling for it, as well as of cooking it when caught, will be found at large in the work of Izaak Walton. This, however, to a small extent, we prefer to give as recorded in the less common Book of St. Albans: — "The Chevyn is a stately fysshe; and his heed is a deyty morsell. There is noo fysshe so strongly enarmyed wyth scalys on the body. And bicause he is a stronge byter he hath the more baytes, which ben thyse." We need not specify the whole of these, as they are varied through the year; but a sample of them may be seen in the ""^yonge frogshys the three fete kitte of by the body [a young frog having its three feet cut off close to the body,] and the fourth close to the knee." The time of spawning is early in the summer. The example described, which was obtained from Yorkshire, was in length fourteen inches, and in depth in a straight line 46 CHUB. three inches and almost a fourth; the form stout, compressed at the sides, wide and round over the head and back. Gape moderate, jaws nearly equal, upper lip broad, mouth and tongue fleshy, palate having a folded membrane; no teeth; nostrils close together, open, in a depression. Eye moderate. Scales on the body large and firm; lateral line descending, passing to the tail lower than the middle of the body. Dorsal fin single, elevated, behind the line of the ventrals, having nine rays; pectorals low, rounded, with fifteen rays; the anal begins midway between the root of the ventrals and of the caudal, with ten rays; tail a little concave, with nineteen rays. The ventrals have eleven rays; the first two firm and simple. Colour disposed to dark olive on the top of the head, on the body dark grey with a tinge of blue, browner above, whiter below; the scales dark at the angle. The tail dark, anal and ventrals orange, faint on the hindmost rays. Eyes orange, reddish above. c ■TV o O < X o o 47 ROACH. Rutilus or BuheJlus Willoughby; p. 262. plate Q. 10. Cyprimts rutilus, Linnaeus. " " Bloch; pi. 2. Donovan; pi. 67. '• " Jenyns; Manual, p. 408. Leuciscus rutilus, Cuviek. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 188. " " Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i., p. 399. The Roacli is said to be the most prolific of this generally fertile family; and in spring or the early part of summer, Dr. Parnell says that immense shoals of them are observed to leave Loch Lomond, to ascend the different tributary streams for the purpose of depositing their spawn. During this period, which seldom lasts more than three days, the rivers are literally swarming with their numbers, giving a fine green appearance to the whole surface of the water. On this occasion every basket and net in the neighbouring villages is immediately put in requisition, and the thousands thus taken aff'ord food to the villagers for a short period. It is the general habit of this fish to assemble in schools; but we have other evidence besides that of Dr. Parnell for the large numbers that gather together at this time of sexual migration; and Nilsson remarks that the males are observed to proceed from the lakes into the streams before the females. But it is necessary that these streams should contain a good supply of water, with sand or gravel at the bottom; and in these situations the young grow quickly, although their numbers must be considerably thinned by the depredations made on them by the Trouts, which watch the spawning, and devour the grains. The deeper pits of rivers are a favourite resort of the Roach, as well as the stiller waters of ponds and lakes; and in the Baltic they are sometimes found in bays near the land. We are not to conclude, however, that the Roach is able to live in the salt water of the sea, for we shall find occasion to remark, that 48 ROACH. in some situations of this northern sea, from the flow of rivers the water is rendered so fresh as to admit of living in it, some species that in other countries are confined to inland waters. The Roach is generally distributed throughout Europe, except in the more southern parts. It is not known in Cornwall, and in Devonshire only in the lake called Slapton Ley, close to the south border of that county. Neither has it been found in Ireland; and the little esteem in which it is held as food has prevented its being conveyed into the many favourable situations for it which might be found in that country. But akhough in small regard for the table, it has been held in no small osteem by anglers, as affording lively sport from the eager way in which it takes the hook; in doing which it has obtained a character altogether opposite to that of the subtle Carp. "The Roche," says the Book of St. Albans, "is an easy fys?he to take;" but it is added, "yf he be fatte and pennyd thenne is he good meete." To the more ordinary baits this work closes with recommending the "fatte of bakon." The Roach is usually about eight or ten inches in length, but sometimes it reaches fourteen or fifteen inches, with a depth of nearly the fourth part of the length. The gape is small; jaws without teeth; snout somewhat rounded. Outline of the body rising gently to the origin of the dorsal fin, which is above the root of the ventrals, and from thence sloping gradually to the tail. Scales large, easily lost; lateral line descending at first, and then proceeding nearer the ventral border than to the back. Eye moderate. The dorsal fin elevated, its first ray nearer the snout than to the tail; tail forked. Anal fin behind the termination of the dorsal, and the number of the fin rays equal in both, eleven or twelve in number; pectoral rounded, with sixteen rays; ventrals with nine; nineteen in the tail. Colour of the back greyish green, sometimes with a tinge of brown; sides whitish, with a tint of blue or reddish. Dorsal fin and tail dark; anal, ventral, and pectoral fins red; but Nilsson remarks th.at in the younger examples the eye is yellow instead of red, and the ventral and anal fins only reddish. The air-bladder and pharyngeal teeth possess the general characters of the family. HAR P O P X P3 O 49 RUDD. RE]) I, YE. FIN«(:AT,E. Ridihts latior, vd liuhelUo ff/xvlafilis, Jindd, Willougtiby; p. 252, tab. Q. 3. Cyp'inus erijthro^ildludmHS, LiSN.iiUS. Leuciscus eryfhrophthalmus, Cuvjer. Bi^ocir, pi. 1. Cyprinus erythrophthahnus, Donovan, pi. 40. " " Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 188. " " Jknyns; Manual, p. 412. " " Yarkell; Br. F., vol. i, p. 412. It appears that wlien Ray -was engaged in editing the work of Willoiighby, above referred to, he felt some doiiht as regards a fish which was called Orfus in Germany — as to whether it might not be the same that in England was called Rudd or Redeye; and when afterwards he published his synopsis this doubt had become settled into a feeling of certainty. But this doubt or mistake of the illustrious Ray was carried further by Dr. Fleming; who not only represents the Rudd of Willonghby and Ray as the Orfus of Germany, but also that this Rudd is different from the species called the Redeye. The Orfus is truly a distinct species, but it has not been recognised in Britain. For the most part the Rudd frequents the same natural districts as the Roach, where they are both found; and it is supposed to have much the same habits. But it is worthy of notice, and not easily accounted for, that the former fish is connnon in many parts of Ireland, while the true Roach is not known in that country, although supposed to be so because the Rudd has usurped the name. They do indeed bear some resemblance to each other; but the distinction of form between them may be made with little difficulty; and, if closely ex- amined there is little doubt that the chai'acteristic habits and appetites of each would also be found far from the same. The food of the Rudd is worms, molluscous creatures of several kinds, and vegetables; but as it requires a good depth VOL. IV. H 50 RUDD. of water, with sheltering pools, it is not met with in districts where the flow of water is rapid and turbulent. Although, therefore, it is generally distributed through the more level counties of England, it is not a native of Cornwall, and I find it mentioned as uncertain in a list of the fishes found in the neighbourhood of Weymouth, kindly communicated by William Thompson, Esq., of that place, although the Roach is plentiful there. Nilsson observes that it is found in the south and middle portions of Scandinavia, where it appears to display more sociable habits than others of this family, so as to.be found mingled with them, especially at the time of spawning. This function is entered upon in the beginning of summer, at which time the male assumes a different appearance, by a particular roughness of the skin; and the spawn is shed among the weeds of the pools This fish is in considerable esteem for the table. In spite of the dangers to which it is exposed^ the Rudd is known to have reached the weight of two pounds; but our description is taken from much smaller examples; of which we select a couple in order to make a more definite comparison. Where the length was nine inches, the depth at the ventral fins was two inches and five eighths; the form rather stout, but compressed; snout gently rounded, gape narrow, under jaw a little the shortest; no teeth; eye moderate, nostrils in a depression The outline ascends at first gently over the head towards the dorsal fin; in one specimen in a circular form, in another rising more suddenly behind the head. The body clothed with scales of moderate size; lateral line descending at first, and then near the lower border straight to the tail, — forty-three pores along this line. The dorsal fin is behind the line of the ventrals and opposite the space between these and the anal, its first rays much the longest, becoming shorter gradually to the last; anal fin not so long as the dorsal; the tail forked. The colour in one example bluish green on the back, the sides tinged with blue, white below; the cheeks tinged with yellow; eyes bright red. All the fins tinged with red, the dorsal fin and tail dark near the border. In another example the general colour was brown, darker on the back; eye reddish brown; fins dull red, darker on the dorsal fin and tail. ^i>^ ^ o o H O 51 DOBULE. "^ Gresling, of the Germans, which Artedi supposes to be the same with the Gudgeon. G^-tslagine, Willoughby; p. 263, pi. Q. 1. Cyprinus Dohula and G. Grislagine, Linn.^us. Bloch; pi. 5. Bolide Boach, Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 397. Leuciscus Dohula, Ctjviek.. Cyprinus Dohula, Jenyns; Manual, p. 409. The Dobule is so rare with us as to have been taken only once in Britain. We must, therefore, seek for its history, so far as it is known, from the continent of Europe; from whence it is fortunate that we are able to communicate some information not generally known among ourselves, but by which we may disentangle the confusion respecting it which has hitherto prevailed among naturalists. Artedi was the first to confound together two supposed species, which, according to the evidence of later authorities, are distinguished only by difference of age, or that small variation which is marked by a slight change in the number of rays in the fins; and in this he is followed by his friend Linnaeus; who makes it the distinction between the Cijprinus Dohula and C. Grislagine, that the former is marked by ten of these rays in the dorsal and anal, while there are eleven in the C. Grislagine ; although in the latter also Artedi assigns to the dorsal ten only. We owe the correction of this mistake in the first place to Nilsson; who informs us that the example described by Mr. Yarrell under the name of Dobule Roach, and which is the Cyprinus Dohula of Bloch, was the early stage of the Cyprinus Grislagine of Linnaeus; and this is also confirmed by Dr. Reisinger, in his Ichthyology of Hungary, who finds it in the Danube; and from him we copy the particulars which he gives 52 DOBULE. of its food and breeding. He says that it frequents the clearer waters of the lakes and streams of that river, where there is a bottom of stones or gravel; and it feeds on worms and vegetables. The roe is of a greenish tinge, and is shed copiously in April and May. The flesh is white, soft, and full of the small bones common tp this class of fishes. The Dobule is strictly a fish of the north of Europe; and Nilsson says it is in Sweden confined to the streams and lakes in the middle and north of the province of Wcrmerland; and that it should travel to Britain is not the least remarkable portion of its history. INIr. Yarrell himself took this example while engaged on tlie Thames in fishing for Whitebait with a net; and as it is not unlikely it may occur again, perhaps with some difiference of appearance as regards age and growth, to enable observers to be certain of the species, we give descriptions as they are con- tained in the works of the writers we have mentioned; as also that of Mr, Yarrell in the fourteenth volume of the Linnean Transactions, to which are added some notes obtained from examination of what we have believed to be specimens of the same procured from the continent; but the hatter are produced with the expression of some doubt. It is proper to add that the reviewer of Mr. Yarrell's work, in the first volume of the "Magazine of Zoology and Botany," on the authority of Dr. Parnell, informs us that this fish has also been caught in the Cumberland rivers; but no further particulars are given. Nilsson describes this fish as measuring seven or eight inches, which answers to the length of the figure given by Ekstrom. The form lengthened, the height and length of the head one fifth of that of the body to the middle of the tail fin; the outline little arched, and not much compressed at the side. Nose prominent and blunt; mouth small. Lateral line a little bent, with about fifty mucous spores. Number of scales across the middle of the body twelve; the lateral line on the eighth scale. Anal fin with eleven rays, of which eight are branched. The colour brown above, silvery on the sides, white below. Dorsal fin the colour of the back; lower fins white, with a tinge of red, and sometimes all red. The description of Dr. Rcisinger is, that it measures eleven or twelve inche^^, with a v/eight from one to two pounds; the DOBULE, 53 body lengthened, narrow, the back round; head bhmt, roundish, broad above; nostrils above the line of the eyes; eyes large. Jaws with seven teeth in a double row; lower jaw a little the shortest. Lateral line curved downward, dotted with yellow points; (which may answer to what Willoughby says, that this line is "citrine," or faint yellow; but he adds that above it is a black stripe which passes from the eye to the tail, which is also represented in his figure.) Colour on the top of the head dark ash; eyes yellow, and in the young white or silvery, with a green spot above; the body above darkish green or yellow; below white, with a tint of blue. Scales of moderate size, spotted on their borders with black. Eye yellow, and in the younger examples, which are the C. Grislagine of Linnaeus, this and the fins are white; in the older, or true Dohula, the dorsal is greenish, with eleven rays; the anal with eleven rays, and ventral with nine rays, both red; pectoral yellow, fifteen rays; caudal bluish, eighteen rays; the vertebrae forty. Mr. Yarrell's example was only six inches and a half long, and, he says, being a young male fish, was slender in proportion to its length. The general colour dusky blue on the back, becoming brighter on the sides, silvery white beneath. The lateral line descending from the upper angle of the operculum takes a course along the side parallel to the curve of the belly; scales of moderate size; dorsal and caudal fins dusky brown: pectoral, ventral, and anal fins pale orange red; head rounded and blunt; upper jaw the longest, the under jaw shutting within it; nostrils pierced on the upper side of the head, rather nearer the eye than the upper lip; irides orange; cheeks and operculum silvery white; first ray of the dorsal fin rising half way between the anterior edge of the orbit of the eye and the end of the fleshy portion of the tail, the first ray short, the second the longest, the last ray double; of the anal fin also the first ray short and the last ray double. Number of fin rays — the dorsal nine, pectoral sixteen, ventral nine, anal ten, caudal twenty. My own notes are, that the air-bladder is large, and of its two divisions the last fills a large portion of the cavity; bent forward and fastened near the vent; a small thread passes up to the base of the skull from this second division; so small that if not sought for it might have escaped observation. " o « o PACE. 55 is very slightly the shortest; head rather small; eye moderately h\rge. The outline rising very gradually to the dorsal fin, which is further back than in the Roach: its origin a little behind the root of the ventrals, and having nine rays, as have also the ventrals. The hindmost rays of the dorsal are long, although not equal in length to the first. Scales on the body rather smaller than on a Roach of the same size. Lateral line at first descending, and then straight to the tail, with fifty -two perforated scales; anal fin not greatly expanded, with ten rays; pectorals somewhat pointed, having seventeen rays; the tail forked, with twenty-one rays. The usual colour dark bluish, but sometimes brown; the sides lighter, with numerous lines running along the course of the scales. Dorsal fin yellowish, with a dark cloud on its anterior edge: the other fms pale. cc > o O BLEAK. 57 species of this family, the Bleak dies quickly when caught, and its flesh is quick to putrify. As food this species is not much thought of, but a value has been attached to it from a remarkable invention of which it has been the subject, in the formation of fictitious pearls; the particulars of which I find related by Dr. Badham, in his "Fish Tattle," at greater length than by any other writer within my reach. It is the brilliant white lining on the inner surf^.ce of the scales that has been employed for this purpose; and the manufacture was first ventured on at Venice; where the true pearls were held in the highest value, as they were in Rome at the time when the last-named city was at the height of its greatness. The glittering pigment was dropped into thin hollow glass globules, where it adhered to the surface by means of a pearly varnish; and by the purchase of these it became easy for people of limited wealth to rival the pride of the higher and richer classes. This however was not long tolerated by the government, and the practice of thus imitating the true pearls was forbidden. But greater liberty was allowed in Paris, where the art was re-invented or introduced; and from whence it was conveyed into England and other countries; but where at present it appears to be generally neglected. In London we are told that the cruelty was practised of depriving these fish of their scales, and then turning them again into the river. We are not aware that fish so treated can ever regain their natural covering, so that if it were intended to catch and rob them a second time the effort would be unsuccessful. This fish attains the length of about six inches, with a depth at the ventral fins of about one fourth of the length of the body, exclusive of the tail. The snout is somewhat pointed, and the lower jaw a little longer than the upper; the head small in proportion to the body. The lateral line gradually slopes down to about the origin of the ventral fins, and from thence backward low down and straight; scales easily removed. The dorsal fin is behind the middle of the body and above the vent; behind this fin and the anal the body becomes narrow to the tail. As this species bears some resemblance to the Dace, a few notes of the difference between examples of each sort of equal size, laid side by side, will enable an observer to distinguish VOL. IV. • I 58 BLEAK. between them. Thus, the snout of the Dace is less sharp, and the lower jaw not so much protruded. The dorsal fin is somewhat nearer the tail in the Bleak, and when laid down the end of the dorsal is over the middle of the anal, where, as in the Dace, this fin reaches only to the root of the first ray of the anal. The upper rays of the pectoral fin reach almost to the ventrals, which is not the case in the Dace; and the ends of the divisions of the tail are much pointed. The colour of the Bleak is light brown or greenish, the sides and below brilliant white; the fins dusky. In the dorsal fin are ten or eleven rays, in the anal eighteen to twenty, pectoral sixteen, and in the ventral nine. c I— < (£ o 59 GEAINING. Leuciscus Lancastriensis, Yarrell; Linn. Transactions, vol. 17, p. 6. British Fishes, vol. i, p. 406. *• ** Jenyns; Manual, p. 411. The earliest notice of this fish was given by Pennant, but perhaps from want of opportunity for examination it amounted to little more than assigning its provincial name and the situation in which it was found; and it remained for Mr. Yarrell to make us acquainted with the greater portion of what is known of its habits, and the marks by which it is distinguished from the kindred species. These particulars were originally contained in a paper printed in the Transactions of the Linntean Society, as quoted above, and from which most of what we shall say of it is derived; to which I add that at the time when that paper appeared I was indebted to the kindness of that gentleman for coloured figures of this species, and also^of the Blue Roach or Azurine, presently to be described. But although the Graining had remained to so late a date unknown to naturalists, it is not scarce in its own limited districts in the northern counties of England. Indeed they are said to be abundant in the River Alt, and some other branches of the INIersey, where they afford much sport to fishermen, who fish for them in the same manner as they do for Trout. They take a fly as readily as they do a worm. Mr. Thomj)son also obtained examples of the Graining in the River Leam near Leamington, and at Guy's Cliff, in Warwickshire. To prevent mistakes, as the examples believed to be of this species were of a different colour from what has been described by Mr. Yarrell, that of the body approaching more nearly to Shaw's description, we shall adhere closely to the description given by the former gentleman; adding only the remark, that 60 GRAINING. the fishes of this family and of fresh-water generally are prone to change their colour when dead, and kept out of their element sufficiently long to be conveyed to a considerable distance; and that those I have seen were of a decidedly blue colour along the back. The Azurine also, as they came to my hands, were one of them drab coloured, and another a fine blue. Mr. Yarrell's description is, that although similar to the Dace in shape, it is clictinguished from it by being still more slender in form. The Graining has the top of the head, the back, and upper part of the sides of a pale drab colour, with bluish red, which is separated from the lighter coloured and inferior parts by a well-defined boundary line; the irides yellowish white; infraorbital portion of the head, operculum, and sides shining silvery white, tinged with yellow; all the fins pale yellowish white; the lateral line descending from the upper angle of the operculum by a gentle curve to the middle of the body, thence to the centre of the tail in a straight line; the scales of moderate size, marked with numerous concentric striae and prominent radiating elevated ridges; whereas in the Dace the radiating lines on each scale are produced by grooved depressions. The central portion of each scale in the Graining is brighter than its sides, thus producing the appearance of shining longi- tudinal lines through the whole length of the body. The head is small, depressed, cheeks flat, line of the back but little elevated. The dorsal fin begins exactly half-way between the nose and the end of the fleshy portion of the tail; the first ray short, second longest, last double, nine in all. The mouth small, without teeth; eye large, nostrils nearer the eye than the nose, gill rays three; ventral fins on a vertical line but little in advance of the anterior portion of the dorsal fin, with ten rays; the anal fin commences, on a vertical line, immediately under the termination of the dorsal fin rays when that fin is depressed, and has eleven rays; the first of these rays short, the second longest, the last double. The fleshy portion of the tail long and slender, the rays deeply forked, nineteen in number. This fish does not often exceed the weight of half a pound. CA a 1 — 1 z 1 — 1 1— < > ii O D X M o <: 61 AZUT^INE. BLUE ROACH. Lenciscns CcBrnlens, Yarrell; Trans. Linnean Soo., vol. 17, p. 8. British Fishes, vol. i, p. 416. CT/prinus Cceruleus, Jenyns; Manual, p. 413. The Azurine, or, as it is locally called, the Blue Roach, is so far a scarce fish that it was unknown to naturalists until it was examined by Mr. Yarrell; and so much concerning it as that gentleman was able to describe was inserted in a paper published in the Linnaean Transactions, as above referred to. It appears, however, according to Agassiz, to be an inhabitant of some of the lakes of Switzerland, and I have reason to believe that I have obtained it from some other river of England besides that which is mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, but of which I omitted to take a note. The only foundation for doubt is, that while the shape of the body and the situation of the dorsal fin is the same with Mr. Yarrell's figure, the rays of that fin do not exactly correspond; and after a long con- veyance the colour of the back was dark umber, pale yellow on the sides, and cheeks yellow. It is deemed best therefore to have recourse to a coloured figure of this, which was a gift from its first describer at the time when it was announced as a newly-known species. Its habits are said to be much like those of the Chub; and especially it is highly retentive of life. In shape this fish resembles the Rudd; but as regards colour it is distinguished by having the upper part of the head, the back, and sides, a slate blue, passing into silvery below, and both shining with a metallic lustre; whereas in the Kudd the lower part of the body is a golden yellow. In the last-named fish 62 AZURINE. the fins are always of a fine vermilion colour, but in the Blue Roach they are white. The head is small and depressed, the back arched; dorsal fin far behind, beginning half-way betweer the posterior edge of the eye and the end of the scaly portion of the tail; half-way also between the first ray of the ventral and the anal fin, with nine or ten rays, the last double. The snout blunt, mouth small, without teeth. Pectoral fins long, reaching nearly to the origin of the ventrals, with sixteen rays. From the vent the body becomes much more slender; anal fin with twelve rays, the last ray double; caudal fin forked, with nineteen rays. That nothing may be omitted as regards this little-known species, I add my notes as taken from an example in my possession. — The length four inches and three fourths, depth one inch and a fourth at some distance before the dorsal fin; the slope forward, beginning at the furthest third of the pectoral, and descending rapidly forward. Gape narrow, jaws nearly equal; eyes large and much in front. Body compressed, diminishing backward from the front of the dorsal and from the vent. The anal fin begins opposite the termination of the dorsal Pectorals low; ventrals rather large; scales also large MCZ LfSRARY c4 i> Q O O 63 IDE. Cyprmvn idns, Linnaeus. Lewsiscus id us, CuviER. BloCII; pi. ">G. « Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 305. The only authority for placing this species among British fishes is Stewart, in his "Elements," etc., who says that an example was obtained from the mouth of the Nith by Dr. Walker., but it has not since been recognised, and its claims therefore must be regarded as doubtful. It is minutely described by Artedi under its Swedish name of Id, and also by Ekstrom, who says it is common in Scandinavia, as far north as Lapland. It also wanders into the bays of the Baltic Sea, where the water is known to be much more fresh than in the open ocean. Several of the fishes of this family do so, and it is just possible that this species may have done the same. 64 MINNOW. MINNIS. PINK. Varius or Phoxinus IcBvis, Jonston. Plwxinus, WiLLOUGHBY; PI. 28, 1, p. 268. Cyprinns phoxinus, LinnjEus. Donovan; PI. 60. " " Jenyns; Manual, p. 415. Leuciscus phjximis Cuvier. Bloch; p. 8, f. 5. " " Fleming; Bi-itisli Animals, p. 188. " . " Yarkell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 423. It ajipears from the writings of Jonston and Rondeletius that some other species has been confounded with our well-known Minnow, and that the Phoxi7ius and Varies of ancient authors are to be regarded as distinct; so that it becomes in some degree uncertain whether the remarks that will be extracted from Aristotle with reference to its habits, are applicable to one or the other; although indeed we suppose they may be more correctly referred to both. The Phoxinus, which is termed Squamosus or the Scaly, may belong to the genus Leuciscus, and has been supposed to be the fish denominated by Linnceus Cyprinus bijnmctatus ; but it is beyond doubt that the Varius of Rondeletius is our Minnow. As its name implies, this fish is the smallest of the British s]3ecies of this family. It appears also to be the most exten- sively distributed, and yet it is remarkable that it was not originally a native of the Irish rivers; its introduction into that island not having taken place at a much earlier date than the beginning of the present (nineteenth) century, and it is not, even at this time, to be found in many situations that appear well fitted to its nature. But where it has been con- veyed it multiplies as freely as in England. In Scotland also 1. M I N N O W. 2. L O A C H. 3. S P I N E D L O A C H. n. Y P 1 V MINNOW, (55 it is common, and in some districts of this portion of r)rilain it is the only one of the family of Carps which inhabits the rivers. We learn that it is known in Sweden and Norway, and supposing it to be the Phoxinus mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny, it occurs in Macedonia or Greece; althougli it is not recognised in Italy by Risso. In some of the smaller streams in Cornwall it is not found; but in many of the isolated ponds or pools on the wilder downs of that county they abound; although, it seems difficult to imagine in what manner they can have been conveyed thither; and the ponds themselves are distant from any river, so that they appear to be supplied with water only from the draining of the surrounding soil or the occasional fall of rain. But, besides the Minnows there is found in these solitary ponds a fine species of Trout, which nearly resembles that of the Loe Pool, in the same county; and to these the Minnow can furnish a sufficient supply of food, while the manner in which itself manages to obtain subsistence has escaped observation. These pools must be of ancient date, but in appearance they are nothing more than the excavations made by miners in remote times in their search for tin. In the flowing streams inhabited by this fish it is necessary there should be some deeper recesses into which it may retire from the influence of the colder seasons, to which it is highly sensitive; but in summer it is active and frolicsome in shallower water over a gravelly bottom; where numerous companies are seen enjoying themselves in sport, unconscious of the danger which besets them from ravenous enemies, which rush suddenly among them, while such as are so fortunate as to escape are dispersed in all directions. Perhaps the Trout is their most destructive foe, and no more enticing bait can be employed to entice that fish to its own destruction; but indeed there are few of the predaceous fishes which inhabit fresh water that do not prove themselves formidable enemies to this little fish; for in the earliest stage of its existence there are larvae of insects which prey upon it; so that if it were not exceedingly prolific, the race itself would be in danger of becoming extinct. But to counteract this extremity of hazard, Aristotle has remarked that the Phoxinus begins to breed almost as soon as it has come into existence, which is only an exaggeration of VOL. IV. K 66 MINNOW. ■what belongs to fishes in general; for, contrary to what takes place in creatures that are higher in the scale of nature, almost all fishes breed long before they have reached their full extent of -growth. Yet among Minnows there are found more males than females, and the season of spawning, which is in the middle of summer, appears to be short for each individual; although an observation of Aristotle, which appears to be confirmed by the experience of others, is sufficient to shew that the younger fishes may have produced a progeny sufficient to provide a second growth before the expiration of the same season. As the colder weather approaches they certainly cease to breed. The spawn is deposited in sandy ground, and in a very short time the young escape from the egg; but at this early stage of existence, as enemies are numerous, they are said to seek concealment from danger by burying themselves in the sand. As it is known also that they are not usually to be discovered in the colder months of the year, it is to be supposed that at this season some similar mode of concealment or shelter is again resorted to. Naturally the Minnow is a timid fish: as it may well be where every inhabitant of the stream is a dangerous enemy. But it may be rendered tame without difficulty, and in a tank it will take food from the hand, and even attend on the motions of a friend. In the river it readily seizes a bait, and will even hold it so fast with the jaws as to suffer itself to be thus lifted out of the water. And when not disturbed it is amusing: to see them assemble in order to devour some dead animal substance, which may even chance to be the body of one of their own species. They arrange themselves in the form of a ring, which has been compared to that formed by the petals of a flower, with their heads lower than the level of their bodies; and in this situation no one jostles another. But however peaceable among themselves, the circle must not be broken into by a stranger; for on the approach of such the most powerful of the company will qviit his station to drive him away; while his place is kept vacant by his companions until his return to the feast. The Minnow seldom exceeds three inches in length; the shape solid and robust, but lengthened in proportion to the MINNOW. 67 fTepth, mid moderately compressed. The snout rounded, vmdcr jaw a little the shortest, nostrils large and ojien; eyes large; summit of the head broad, body rounded over the back; scales scarcely perceptible. The first ray of the dorsal fin at the middle, as measured from the snout to the fork of the tail, with nine rays, but also with a first ray very short, making ten; the last two from one root. Anal fin beginning about opposite the last ray of the dorsal, with seven rays; tail wide, forked, with nineteen rays; pectoral pointed; ventral nine rays. Colour of the top of the head and back dark green, with darker bars, plainly visible in some, less so in others; a yellow line from the upper part of the gill-covers to the tail; cheeks yellow: faint yellow or whitish on the belly; fins generally pale yellow; a dark spot at the root of the tail. In some specimens a dark brown line from the eye to the mystache; and in the breeding season the under parts a lively pink. The breadth across the head with a narrowing towards the mouth is the best proof that this fish is the true PJwxinus of Aristotle; whose name of it, as signifying "formed like a top," is applicable to such a shape. 68 COBITIS The head smnll; moutli without teeth, but with barbs on the lips. Body lengthened, with small scales Three rajs in the gill membrane, the aperture small; ventral fins far behind, and above them a single small dorsal fin. Abdominal fishes. This family, which with us bears the name of Loach, is aberrant from that of the true Carps, and appears to make an approach to that of Silvrus, thus uniting together species which in their general aspect, a? well as in habits, appear at first sight to have little in common. Besides the presence of barbels at the mouth, which assimilates them generally to the true Carps, Barbel, and Gudgeon, they also possess the strongly -toothed pharyngeal bones, and an air-bladder separated into two lobes; which latter is indeed scarcely to be discerned, because besides its being of very small size, it is- enclosed within a double bony case formed by the third and fourth vertebrae, whereby it is kept almost concealed from view. It is placed immediately over the entrance of the mouth from the gullet, and was only discovered by the skilful dissection of an anatomist; and its office appears to be more closely connected with the organ of hearing than with the more ordinary function of suspending the body in water. It appears from an observation by Mr. Maclelland in the "Asiatic Researches," that the bones of the ear discovered by Professor Weber, as referred to by Blumenbach and Professor Owen, (which in some of this family connect the air-bladder with the organ of hearing in the brain,) in the Loaches occupy the situation of this donbly-lobed vessel; and it points out the near connection between the Silurid^ and the Loaches, that the air-vessel of the former is situated in the same relative situation. This family of Loaches is also distinguished by an abundant supply of mucus on the skin, secreted from innumerable but obscure sources, which are not confined to the lateral line, as in the generality of the Cyprinidce, but are scattered over the whole surface; and the use of which is that it not only renders them more difficult to be laid hold of, but also answers an important purpose in the animal oeconomy by preventing the escape of fluids necessary to their existence; a remark which will apply to many other fishes besides the Loaches. From experiments made by Dr. W. F. Edwards, brother of Dr. Milne Edwards, it has been found that when a Cliub and Gudgeon had been wiped dry and weighed alive, although their gills continued to beat until they were dead, yet by that time they had lost by evaporation, the one a fifteenth, and the other a fourteenth of their whole weight ; and other species suffered in about the same proportion. But an example in which the body was immersed while the head and gills were exposed to the air, remained alive for nine hours and twenty minutes; and how long the Carp will continue alive, and even increase in bulk, when wholly enclosed in wet moss, or frequently dipped in water has been ali'eady noticed. 69 Cohifis flninatiUs harhatula, Im •baiula, t( « <( <>' M u i 1 m O *—• o hJ 117 ALOSA. This genus is distinguished from Clupea by a recess in the middle of the line in front of the middle jaw; and however slight the mark by which they are separated, it is convenient as pointing out a family which diiFers in its habits from those of the genus Clupea, as now defined. In almost all fishes in which the tail is forked, the upper and lower divisions act in some measure as separate fins, their action being often in opposite directions; but in the Clupea, or Herring family, the separation of the lobes is particularly conspicuous; and in the genus Alosa it is still wider, the separation being marked with a difference of structure ; at which part there are two peculiar fan- shaped rays, which must have a diff'erent function from those above and below. At this pai't the body is only moderately covered with scales generally; which renders the structure of our scale-tailed species the more remarkable. The air- bladder is long and slender, and the tube which connects it with the vent is even more slight than in the Herring. ALLIS SHAD. SCADINA. ALEWIFE. DAMIN HERRING. SliaA, WiLLOUGHBY; Plate p. 3, f, 2, Agonl, and p. 227, but he confounds this species with A. finta, the Twait Shad; as do many others. . Clupea aloea, Cuvier. Jenyks; Manual, p. 438. Alosa vulgaris, Yaruell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 213. This species is widely distributed in the moderately temperate regions, and in the Mediterranean appears to have attracted attention at an early date; as it is noticed, under the name of Thrissa, generally by the writers on Natural History among the Greeks and Romans. 118 ALLIS SHAD. Of the Trichaios, which is our Shad, Aristotle says, B. 8, C. 13, that it enters the River Ister, or the Danube, and then, where this river divides into branches, it passes down into the Adriatic Sea; and in proof of this his argument is, that it is seen to enter the river, and is not known to come out of it again; whereas in the Adriatic they are not known to enter, but are caught as they come out. Aristotle could not have been acquainted with the geography of the higher portion of the Danube, and he may have given credit to the error contained in the received accounts of the proceedings of the Argonautic expedition; where instead of what really happened, which evidently was, that in order to escape pursuit the ship was conveyed across the Isthmus of Perecop, from the west side of which the adventurers sailed along by the mouth of the Danube into Greece, it was believed that they had gone up that river, and by some other branch had passed down to the Adriatic; a supposition which in somewhat later times gave rise to the further absurdity of believing that Ulysses had gone from Troy to the distant region of Italy, in his endeavour to reach his home in a Greek Island. It is plain that this wanderer had gone into the Black Sea in his endeavour to escape the danger threatened to his fellow warriors; and it is there the dangerous islands, from which the Argonauts had so narrow an escape, were his Scylla and Charybdis, and another island was the home of his Circe, where Medea had learnt her skill in sorcery. But the Roman Pliny, in a later age, had become acquainted with the geography of these regions; and therefore while he copies the Natural History of the learned Greek, he is compelled to add, that the passage of this fish from the Danube to the Adriatic was by subterranean channels; for he was aware that it accomplished at all it must be by a way not known to observation. Indeed, it does not appear probable that the Shad is at all accustomed to ascend to the higher part of this river; since Dr. Reisinger, in his account of the fishes of Hungary, does not mention this species as coming within his knowledge. They avoid turbulent streams or rapid currents, unless for a short way; but whether foul or clear is of small consequence. It was also known to the Egyptians by ascending the Nile from the sea, and it is common along the coasts of Europe up AIJ.IS SHAD. 119 to the north of England, but it is not mentioned by Nilsson as occurring in Sweden; aUhough the kindred Twait Shad is found there. And this circumstance of its absence so far to the north agrees with the observation of Aristotle, that the Thrissa was not an inhabitant of the Euripus, as not being able to bear the cold. It is probable that what brought it into particular notice in ancient times, in addition to its habit of passing up the larger rivers from the sea in the spring, and soon again disappearing from view, was its supposed disposition of being particularly liable to the impression of sounds; especially such as are of a pleasing nature. It was the popular belief that they might be brought together by music; which opinion is recorded by ^lian and other writers, and strongly counte- nanced by Rondeletius in his own experience; and it was further supposed that they were so affrighted with the roar of thunder, as to be driven by it back again from the river into the sea. There has always been a diversity of opinion about the quality of this fish as food; but this is known to depend on the place where they are caught, and the length of time they have been in the river; for when taken in the sea they are little valued, and the multitude of small bones with which the flesh is studded, is sufficient to banish all pleasure in eating it when there is no delicious taste to counterbalance the annoyance. It was in this condition that Ausonius prefers to call it by its more vulgar, but now recognised name, and pronounces it as notoriously unfit for any other table than that of the common people; "who does not know those frizzing, sputtering fish on every poor man's grate! Qnis non norit Stridentesque focis opsonia plebis alausas?" But in some rivers a change of quality is soon effected, and then it is esteemed a fit repast for the epicure. Those of largest size are said to be found in Spain and the south of France, but the most delicious of the foreign rivers are those of Italy, and especially of the Tiber. In our own country the Severn has long possessed the character of affording Shads of a high degree of excellency, for which a regular fishery is carried on, of so much value that it forms one third, or, according to some evidence, an half of the profit derived from the fish of all sorts L^O ALLIS SHAD, that is there taken. The season is in April and IMay, and the improvement in quality is quickly after the fish have entered the river; where they are caught in nets, of the length of about t"Wo hundred yards, with a mesh of three inches; and from seventy to eighty dozen have been caught in a night, at which time the fishermen are chiefly at work; for the Shad is a shy and timid fish, and might not be easily enclosed in a net by day. It spawns in about the first half of June, and for this purpose they do not proceed very high up the river; it being very uncommon to find them so far up as Worcester; the chosen situations being shallow and rocky, and the proceeding is con- ducted at night, at which time the fish may be heard to make a rattling noise, as if beating the water with their tails. Presently after this the quality of the flesh suffers much change, and they speedily leave the river for the sea. It is to be observed, however, that I have found the roe of large size in the first days of February, fully enlarged in April, and also at the end of June. When at sea they are sometimes caught with a line by those who are loluffing for Pollacks; the bait being either the Mud Lamprey, or a slice cut from the side of a Mackarel; but it has been also caught in a trammel, which shews it sometimes to swim near the bottom. This species is said to reach the length of three, and even four feet, but this must be where it is not often caught, and in consequence where it has had time to reach its full stature; and a Shad of half that size is what is mostly met with in England. In shape it differs from the Herring in being deejjer in the body, and one from which our description is taken, and which was caught in the Severn, measuring fourteen inches and a half in length, was three inches and a half in depth. Head and body compressed, the latter covered with rather large scales to the root of the tail. Jaws equal when closed, but the latter protruding a little when the mouth is slightly opened; teeth obvious in the upper jaw, on each side of the recess in front, and also further on the sides; none in the lower jaw or on the tongue. Mystache running back to the hindmost line of the eye, narrow at first, then broad, broadly channeled, the border plain. Nostrils in a depression nearer the snout than the eye. Eye moderate; plate on the top of the head flat. The ALLIS SHAD. 121 gill-covers adorned with branched lines — perhaps mucous ducts. The usual hooked serrations along the line of the belly. Dorsal fin over the ventrals, with twenty rays; the first two short; pectorals eighteen; anal fin narrow, twenty-one rays, the last two from one root; ventrals nine rays. Colour of the back blue, upper portion of the head brown; light golden tints on the gill-covers and about the upper parts round the eye, tints of blue and pink reflect on the sides, silvery below; a large black spot close behind the upper border of the gill-covers. Pharyngeal bones very slightly rough. VOL. IV. B 122 TWAIT SHAD. MAID. Shad, WiLLOUGHBY; p. 3, f. 1, p. 227, but lie confounds the two now recognised species together. Clupea alosa, Linn^us. Bloch; PI 30. Donovan; PI. 67. " finta, OuviEB. Jenyns ; Manual, p. 437. Alosa finta, Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 208. This species so nearly resembles the Allis as to have been confounded with it until Cuvier established some definite marks of distinction; the chief of which are the existence of some teeth in both jaws of the Twait, and that it is ornamented with a row of rather large spots along the sides from the gill-covers; whereas in the Allis there is only one spot, and sometimes none. In most other particulars they resemble each other, except indeed that the Allis is a little the thickest, and the Twait never reaches the size that is sometimes attained by the kindred species. Their habits are much alike, but the Twait is known further north, and is reckoned among the fishes of Scandinavia. It is also mentioned by Risso as a native of the Mediterranean, and in Britain, where it occurs, it is in more abundance than the Allis; but I have not known it to take a hook, although I suppose it to be the species from the stomach of which Dr. Fleming informs us he took three Herrings. It enters rivers in spring, and is taken in the Severn at the same time with the Allis; but it is in much less esteem than that fish for the table. In what I suppose to have been an example of this species, instead of a row of large dark spots, I have noticed a scattered row of small spots irregularly placed on the sides. H O -' o ¥r HAI ^ ■^'^ ^ J < ''^, <. v..,- ^ rh x: O m o Q 1 — 1 ^th n — i P4 s ►^ < o w ns SCALE-FINNED SHAD. Alosa Squamoinnnata, Noms. Two species only of the family of Shads have been supposed to be found on the coasts of England and of Europe; but the fish I now introduce to the notice of British naturalists will be found different from the preceding species in so many particulars, that I am compelled to believe it a distinct species. The skin of it, with a figure, was sent to me from Bristol, by E. T. Higgins, Esq., where his attention was directed to it as it lay in the market; and our representation is taken from this only known example. But as when it came into my possession the colour had much faded, it has been judged best to give it in the plate with only so much of its native hue as then remained on it. Its length was one foot four inches; the depth a little more than three inches, the proportionate length therefore exceeding that of the Allis and Twait Shads. The scales also were much larger; but the more remarkable particulars are the peculiar distribution of the scales on the pectoral and caudal fins, in the former of which a larger series lies on its root, and extends over about half its length. On the tail the surface is generally covered with small scales, except the outermost ray above and below; and on the middle rays the scales are much larger than on either side. The pointed scales along the lower line of the body were not easily counted because of the large scales which overlapped them, but with some care we have i-eprescnted them. These prominent points between the ventral fins and vent were fourteen, and there was the same number of ribs between the throat and ventral fins. On the back also the large scales conceal the roots of the rays of the dorsal fin. A large portion of the scales of the body had been lost; but enough 124 GREAT-HEADED SPRAT. remain to shew that there had not existed a row of spots as in the Twait; nor could any teeth be discovered in the jaws. The lower border of the mystache was not rough or toothed. Number of fin-rays — in the dorsal seventeen, anal twenty-four, ventral ten. Scales prevented the counting of the pectoral and caudal rays. It becomes a question whether this fish has been overlooked by naturalists and is new to science, or whether it be a variety of the Allis Shad, from which species however it differs in too many particulars to permit us to allow of its being no other than a casual variety. The discovery of a second example would settle this question. GREAT-HEADED SPRAT. Cliipea viacrocepliala, Swainson. It was the opinion of Mr. Swainson that he had discovered in the River Mersey, where it existed in some abundance, a distinct species of Clupea, which he denominated by the name quoted above; but although many years have passed, no naturalist has hitherto recognised it, or even referred to it in any manner. We notice it here in order to shew that we have possessed examples from the same neighbourhood, which have answered nearly to Mr. Swainson's description; the chief difference being that we did not observe "a few curved teeth in the palate;" and there could not be a doubt that they were different from the Common Sprat; but it did not appear quite so certain that they were not in an early stage of the growth of one or other of our well-known Shads, and probably of the Allis Shad; the heads of both the Shads seeming to be decidedly larger in proportion to the body at an early date, than in the full-grown condition of these species. 125 ENGRAULIS. TuE snout projecting; mouth opening backward considerably beyond the eyes; mystache long and straight. Twelve or more rays within the gill-covers, the opening wide. Abdominal line without the projecting hooked scales as in Clupea and Alosa. ANCHOVY. Encraskolus, Willoughby; Table p. 2, f. 2. p. 225. Clupea encrasicolus, Linn^us. Doxovax; pi. 50. Engraulis encrasiclwlus, Cuvier. Fleming; Br. Animals, p. 183. Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. 2, p 217. " " Jenyns; Manual, p. 439. The Anchovy has been best known in Britain as forming an esteemed relish when brought pickled and preserved from the Mediterranean, where a successful fishery has been carried on for taking them from remote times. This fishery is referred to by vElian, who says that on one occasion so large a school was taken that fifty fishing-boats were loaded with the produce; and he adds that the Anchovy is prolific, very timid, and so fond of keeping in considerable bodies that it is not easy to cause them to separate, even by force. The same account is given by Oppian, with some tendency to poetical exaggeration; and it is probable he is referring to even the same remarkable instance as that given by iElian, when he describes the taking of a large quantity with a ground-sean; but it is worthy of notice that whilst the simple narrative of the first-named writer repre- sents them as prolific, the poet adopts the popular opinion of their having their origin from the froth of the sea. The Anchovy is not numbered with the fishes of Madeira by Mr. Lowe, but Dr, Pappe obtained it at the Cape of Good Hope; and on the north of our own country Mr. Peach has 126 ANCHOVY. procured it from Herring nets at Wick, in Scotland, It is found also in the Baltic, and by Nilsson along the coasts of Scandinavia. Fabricius also reports from Greenland that he had found examples in the stomachs of seals, and that they are caught in Davis's Straits at a long distance from land. In the westmost portion of the British Channel these fish are often taken in drift-nets employed in the fishery for Herrings and Pilchards; but this is only when they are sufficiently large to become entangled in the meshes as these chance to be doubled together, and there is sufficient evidence to shew that if nets of finer twine, with meshes of proper size, were employed, sufficient might be taken on the coast of Cornwall to supply the full amount of what is consumed in our own country, the whole of which, as sent to us from the Mediterranean, has been so much as, with a tax on the importation of twopence in the pound, to bring into the exchequer year by year the sum of £1,764. As regards the time when these fish are near us, I have met with an example in March from the stomach of a Mackarel; in summer they are found at St. Ives, in the ground- seans employed in catching Launce. Mr. Dillwyn mentions them at Swansea in June, and they have been found heavy with spawn in September, as also in November, and sometimes they are seen so late as December. But it is only in the Mediterranean, which they are supposed to enter from the Atlantic for the purpose of shedding their spawn, that a fishery is carried on with the expectation of profit; the principal adventure being with drift-nets, to which the fish are attracted with artificial light, which is kept burning in an iron framework for the purpose. Duhamel describes at considerable length the fishery for Anchovies in the Mediterranean; the most successful method being to attract the fish by means of a light, and then to shoot a net at some distance round the boat that bore it. This plan was pursued with several boats in succession through the night, for even in moonlight it did not succeed. The largest Anchovy I have seen measured eight inches in length; the sides and cheeks compressed, but round over the back; the whole length to the fork of the tail about six times and three fourths of the depth. Upper jaw projecting much beyond the lower, gape wide, mystache slender, passing much «»<* ANCHOVY. 127 behind the line of the eye, sometimes notched along the upper edge; under jaw narrow, pointed; teeth in both; the tongue slight, pointed, firm; passage of the gills forward in the mouth. Eye large, towards the snout; nostrils open. Dorsal fin behind the line of the ventrals, with sixteen rays; anal narrow; pectoral low and small; ventrals also small. Tail forked. Colour blue on the back, lighter on the sides, silvery white below; sometimes there are crimson tints about the head and iris of the eye; the cheeks yellow. It is necessary to distinguish this species from another which has been confounded with it, but which is marked by a shorter snout and rounder profile. This last has not been recognised in Britain. 128 EXOC^TUS. Body moderately compresscfl, and, with the head, clothed with scales. Low down on each side of the body a row of carinatcd scales, more prominent, and separate from the lateral line. Dorsal and anal fins far behind. Abdominal fishes; but what particularly distinguishes this genus is the very large extent of the pectoral fins, the rays of which are stout and firm; the arm bone or radius of this fin also large. GREATER FLYING FISH. nirnndo TlhiU, Jonston; PI. 18, f. 5, pi. 17, f. 8. Mur/il alatus, Eondeletius. Hirtmdo, Willoughby ; Table p. 4, p. 233. Exoccetus exiliens, Cuvier. Tukton's Linnaeus. " " Yakeell; British Fishes, vol. i, p. 458. The earliest account we possess of the occurrence of a Flying Fish in Britain is by Pennant, who reports that in June, 1765, there was one caught in the River Towy, at a small distance below Carmarthen; whither it had been brought by the tide which flows as far as that town. He had not himself seen it, and as at the time when Pennant wrote his "British Zoology," it was not understood that there existed more than one species of Flying Fish, except indeed the Flying Gurnard; he therefore saw no reason to doubt that the representation he has given, and which he must have derived from some preserved example, was a correct figure of the fish; although in fact it is a likeness of the Lesser Flying Fish, (Exoccetus volitans,) of which we entertain a doubt whether it has at any time been seen in our seas. A second example of a Flying Fish is recorded to have been found on the beach at Helford, near Falmouth, scarcely dead, and still fresh from the ocean; and from the dimensions of this O ►-. I— I o