388 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



prototype of our Trild carp, which even at the present day is the most 

 numerous representative of our river carp. From the Main and the 

 Ehine came to Korth Germany. It is frequently cultivated artificially 

 in ponds. 



(2) The MIRROR-CARP, the carp-lcmr/, Cyprinns rex cyi^rinorvm, Cypri- 

 nus speculum^ Cyprinus macrolcpidofus, the most highly improved breed of 

 carp of Central Germany, raised at the present time (the breed being 

 kept pure) by the foremost pisciculturists of Franconia, the Upper 

 Palatinate, and Bohemia. In its perfection it appears as a compactly 

 built fish, with a thick body and a tendency to grow large, whilst the 

 head remains small ; very voracious, growing rapidly, but, like other 

 carp, according to the varying circumstances, ready for spawning in the 

 third year. 



(3) The leather-carp, Cyprinus nudus, Cyprinus alepidotus (French; 

 " carpe a cuiv^^), entirely naked, a separate, well-determined race, and not, 

 as Heckel and Kner think, a mirror-carp, whose scales have either not 

 been properly developed, or which have fallen oft' from old age. Many 

 of our pisciculturists make a specialty of raising mirror-carp with very 

 few scales, and we therefore frequently find mirror-carp with only one 

 row of scales, generally on the back. 



At the present time, leather-carp of a beautiful golden brown color 

 are greatly in demand in Germany ; they are never called " gold-carp,''^ 

 but invariably " leather -carp.'''' 



Pisciculturists who do not follow the fashion, still prefer the thorough- 

 bred carp-Icing ; and it must be granted that a genuine mirror-carp is a 

 model fish. When in the water its back has a bluish color, more or less 

 with a greenish or gray hue, more decidedly bluish than the scale-carp 

 or the leather-carp. The last-mentioned fish, when in the water, has 

 only a very faint bluish color; tlie scale-carp is less blue than the carp- 

 king, but under no circumstances can the blue color be considered as a 

 mark of difierence of race. 



With regard to the gold-carp, I have already expressed an opinion 

 when speaking of the leather-carp. Two years ago we had a large num- 

 ber of dead '■'■ carpes d^or'''' in our market, which came from the neigh- 

 borhood of Saarburg, and as to growth and flesh, especially as to fine 

 flavor, were far inferior to our Francouian carp. No more orders were 

 given for this kind of fish, as, in spite of the moderate price, our people 

 did not care for it. It is therefore not advisable to deteriorate our mag- 

 nificent Central German carp races by the " carped'' or.''"' 



According to all the descriptions — for I cannot here speak from per- 

 sonal knowledge — the Cyprinus l-ollari, Cyprinus striatus (French ; " carpe 

 d^kollar''^), is a still more inferior fish. It is sometimes called the '^gold- 

 carp,^^ or the ^^gold bastard carp''"' ; is principally raised in the neigh- 

 borhood of Paris and Metz, and also in Belgium, and is probably a cross 

 between the bastard carp and the carp. 



I therefore see no reason why I should advocate the name ^^ gold- 



