170 PHYSOSTOMI. 



Length of head 4 to 4, of caudal fin 4|, height of body 5 to 6 times in 

 the total length. Eyes rather high np, situated in the middle of the length of 

 the head, 8 to 10 diameters in the length of the head, 3 to 4-| diameters from the 

 end of the snout and 3 to 4 apart. Dorsal profile more convex than that of the 

 abdomen, which is almost horizontal. Snout produced and somewhat overhanging 

 the jaws, the maxilla much longer than the mandible. Lips thick. Barbels 

 two thick pairs, the maxillary ones extending to beneath the middle of the 

 eye, while the rostral pair are somewhat shorter. Teeth-Pharyngeal curved, 

 hooked at their extremity and pointed, 4, 3, 2/2, 3, 4. Fins dorsal com- 

 mences about midway between the angle of the mouth and the base of the 

 caudal fin, the extent of its base j shorter than the third undivided dorsal ray, 

 which is the longest, osseous, strong, and serrated along its posterior margin : 

 last ray of the fin half the height of the longest anteriorly. Pectoral inserted low 

 down, broad, and about 4/5 as long as the head but not reaching the ventrals, 

 which latter do not extend to the anal. Anal narrow, the length of its base 

 being only 2/5 of its height. Caudal deeply forked. Scales about 35 rows 

 anterior to the base of the dorsal fin, and 7 between the lateral-line and the base 

 of the ventral. Lateral-line complete, continued to the centre of the base of the 

 caudal fin. Gill-rake'rs short. Colours olivaceous shot with gold, lightest along 

 the sides and lower surface. Dorsal fin with a narrow, dark outer edge. The 

 other fins of a reddish colour. 



Steindachner (Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien. 1866, p. 385) considers Barbus Mayori, 

 Cuv. and Val. from the Lake of Zug, to be this species : he also notices the 

 supposed hybrid between Barbus and Chondrostoma. 



Names. Barbel, from "barba," a beard, or the "bearded fish." Barfbyfg 

 y Barfog, Welsh. Be Barbeel, Dutch. Le Barbeau, French. 



Habits. The barbel generally prefers the bottom of still rivers and their 

 deeper parts, where they live together in schools, rooting in the soft banks with 

 their snouts like swine or turning over gravel and other movable substances under 

 which they search for suitable food. Some delight in rapids below weirs, others 

 are partial to shallows where there is a good stream, and they will even lurk under 

 weeds. During the season of 1880 these fish were rather numerous in the open 

 tideway at Hammersmith. The barbel is not very timorous and roves about at 

 night-time, while it consumes both animal and vegetable substances. An old 

 writer observed that it " delighteth in filth, speciallie in the dung of beastes, as 

 Oppianus among other matters reporteth " (Angler's Note-book, p. 151). It 

 consumes worms, grubs and small fish. When in an aquarium it is often shy, 

 but this is not invariably the case. It is said to be a long-lived fish. As winter 

 sets in and weeds die off they hybernate or congregate together in large numbers 

 under the lee of a sunken boat, below banks and in deep pools, at which periods 

 they are readily netted or poached by snatching. They are said to have been 

 taken by persons diving after them. Under water they are able to produce a sort 

 of guttural sound without occasioning any bubbles to rise. 



It is a matter of history that subsequent to a dreadful carnage between the 

 Turks and Austrians on the banks of the Danube, barbels were found of such 

 vast size and in such numbers as to become a subject for record, while their 

 propensity for human flesh being well known, the circumstance was attributed to 

 the heaps of dead bodies which had been thrown into the river. 



Means of capture. The angler requires strong tackle and a fair amount of 

 patience, but it is evidently an occupation that has many votaries, as may be seen 

 along the Thames in the proper season, especially during September and the 

 earlier part of October, where punt-fishing for barbel is indulged in. The angler 

 cannot be at work too early in the morning or too late in the evening for these 

 fish, which are most particular in their choice of food as such must be sweet or 

 they will reject it, and even then they will try and suck off the bait. 



It is best to ground-bait the locality to be fished some hours prior to 

 commencing to fish, and in doing this the article employed should be of similar 

 kind but inferior in quality to that which is going to be employed by the angler. 

 When hooked the barbel is strong and dashes towards any cover, as a post in the 



