20 PRUSSIAN CARP. 



The Crucian Carp was occasionally obtained by Yarrell from the Thames, between 

 Hammersmith and Windsor, where it sometimes attains a considerable size, and weighs a 

 pound and a half. It has been introduced into fishponds by various gentlemen interested in 

 pisciculture, and where the water is constantly supplied by running streams, this fish thrives 

 well ; and although its flesh cannot be considered dainty food, yet good well-nourished 

 specimens are by no means to be despised. According to Ekstr5m the Crucian Carp is 

 common in all parts of Scandinavia, inhabiting muddy and grassy lakes. Its spawning time 

 is said to be in May and June, and the eggs to be deposited on weeds. Like many of the 

 species of this family, the Crucian is eminently retentive of life, and will live for a long time 

 either without water or in water whose impurities would poison other fish; it also manages to 

 exist entirely without food for months, though, as may be supposed in such a condition, it 

 grows \erf thin. It is sometimes called the Bream Carp, because the general form of the 

 fish is flat and bream-like. 



The whole length of the specimen before me, from the snout to the origin of the tail, 

 is six inches and a half; the greatest depth at the origin of the dorsal fin, which is in a line 

 with the origin of the ventral, is three inches; the tail is slightly . forked, but many specimens 

 have the tail nearly square. The lateral line, proceeding from near the top of the gill-opening 

 to the middle of the tail, is straight, and has thirty-four punctured scales. The back is of a 

 bronze colour, with slight reddish tinge ; below the lateral line the sides are light golden 

 yellow, each scale being minutely dotted with black ; the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins 

 reddish brown ; the tail is slightly red ; the back is ver}^ much arched ; the irides golden 

 yellow, with a tinge of red ; the pupils blue ; the first ray of the dorsal and anal fins is 

 serrated on the posterior edge ; the scales are large. 



The fin-ray formula in this specimen is 



Dorsal 20. 

 Pectoral 14. 

 Ventral 9. 

 Anal 8. 



The specimen figured was supplied by j\Ir. Masefield, of Ellerton Hall. 



^RUSSIAN ^ARP. 



fCarassiiis vulgaris, var. Gibclio.J 



npHE Prussian Carp, or Gibel Carj), which by Yarrell and some other ichthyologists has 

 -*- been considered a distinct species, is by other authorities, as by Giinther, considered 

 merely as a variety of the Crucian. Whether this fish be entitled to rank as a distinct species, 

 I will not pretend to say; at any rate if not specifically distinct, the Prussian Carp is a well 

 marked variety. The Prussian Carp is the Cyprmus gibclio of Bloch, Lacepede, Yarrell, Couch, 

 and other writers; the specific name oi gibclio, from the German Giebel, "a gable" or "ridge 

 of a house," would seem to imply that the term was originally given to the Crucian variety, 

 whose back rises abruptly from the head, and forms a prominent ridge; by modern ichthy- 

 ologists, however, it is now employed to designate the Prussian Carp. 



This variety is far better known than the Crucian, being not uncommon in some parts 

 of the Thames, and abundant in the ponds and rivers of several of our English counties. I 



