Pn the ^von. 



Order IV. 

 PHVSOSTOMI. 



Family 

 CYPRINIDM. 



^iSrOLDEN t:>ARP. 



fCarassius atiratiis.J 



Cyprinus auralus, 



Goldfish, 



Cyprinus telescopus, 



" quadrilobus. 



Linn. Syst. Nat., i. p. 527; Yarrell, i. 358; Gunther's Cat. 



vii. p. 32. 

 Pennant, Brit. ZooL, iii. p. 327. 



LAcfipi)DE, V. pi. 18, figs. 2 & 3. 



THE Golden Carp, or Goldfish, with the silver and bronze coloured specimens, has its original 

 home in China and Japan. It is subject to as much variation as its western representative, 

 the Crucian Carp, or Carassiiis z'lilgaris, of which, according to Giinther and other ichth)'ologists, 

 it is merely a domestic variety; "although numerous examples of the Crucian and Goldfish 

 are exactly alike in the shape of the body, the western species appears to have the body 

 more elevated than the eastern, which also has less longitudinal series of scales above the 

 lateral line." — (Giinther.) The Goldfish has been domesticated in China for ages, where, as 

 Couch observes, it has contributed to the amusement of the higher classes by its lively actions 

 in luxurious captivity; perhaps no other fish is more subject to variation both in shape and 

 colour, and none more brilliantly beautiful than the vivid golden varieties. The Chinese 



