46 MALACOP. ABDOM. CARP FAMILY. 



They have only one dorsal, and the body is covered 

 with scales, most frequently of a large size. 



Gen. LI. Cyprinus. Carps, properly so called. — 

 This genus has a long dorsal fin which, together 

 with the anal, is furnished with a spine more or 

 less stout, as its second ray; the body is covered 

 with large scales : some have fleshy tubercles at the 

 angle of the mouth, and to these we shall first al- 

 lude ; others are without these appendages. Four 

 species are enumerated as British. 



(Sp. 95.) C. carpio. The Common Carp. " The 

 Carp is accounted the water-fox for his cunning" 

 (Walton.) From the Carp being highly esteemed, 

 and having long been reared in a kind of domes- 

 tic state, an acquaintance has been made with it 

 which falls to the lot of but few of the finny race. 

 Isaac Walton, no small authority, ascribes its shy- 

 ness in taking the hook to its acute and cunning 

 perceptions, a characteristic which, we suspect, 

 may be more satisfactorily accounted for from its 

 herbaceous tastes and sluggish disposition. 



The specific characters of Common Carp are, that 

 the mouth has two barbules on each side, and that 

 the caudal fin is forked. Its general colour is olive- 

 brown tinged with gold, darkest on the head ; belly 

 yellowish white ; dorsal and caudal fins dusky ; ven- 

 trals and anal tinged with red. Its food is chiefly 

 vegetables ; also the larvae of insects, and worms. It 

 is reported to live to a great age, and its dimensions 

 increase with its age. From one foot to one and a half, 

 or even two feet, are not very uncommon lengths ; 



