THE CARP FAMILY 



253 



to monsters of 6 feet or more in length. Some of the largest are found in the Tigris ; buv 

 the Mahseer of India must be regarded as the king of all the species. In some of the 

 rivers flowing from the Himalaya Mountains are curious Barbel which have their \ent and 

 anal fin in a sheath covered with large scales. Roach are important members of the Carp 

 Famil\% and the Roach group is a very large one, including the \-arious fishes coming untler the 

 term of " white fish" in German}-. The Roach proper is common all over Europe north of 

 the Alps. In this group is the Ide of the central and northern parts of Europe, which when 

 domesticated becomes golden in hue, and is then called the Golden Orf, a prett\- fish kept in 

 manv English aquariums. Rudd are found all o\-er Europe and Asia Minor. Of Tench, 

 only one species is known, the Golden Tench being merely a variet\- difi"ering in the matter of 

 colour. The Bream group consists of the Common Bream, Bream-flat, and the American Bream, 

 or Shiner. Lastly, we ma}- mention the Bleak group, of which there are fifteen known species 

 in Europe, East Africa, and the temperate parts of Asia. This list b}- no means exhausts the 

 numerous members of the Carp Family. 



The Common C.\ri' is one of the most 

 remarkable fishes which swim. In earl}- times 

 in England it was extensively cultivated as 

 a food-fish, and in Germany at the present 

 day is as much domesticated as the sheep, 

 pig, or o.x. The fish-culturists have indeed 

 done extraordinary things with it, having, for 

 instance, produced a variety with a single 

 row of scales down each side and sometimes 

 on the back only, called the MlRROR-C.\RP, or 

 K1NG-C.A.RP. There is also the Leather-carp, 

 with no scales at all, which is much esteemed 

 in Germany. 



There is reason to believe that the common 

 carp was originall}- a native of the East, and 

 it certainly has been domesticated in China 

 for many hundreds of years. Thence it is 

 supposed to have been imported to Germany 

 and Sweden, reaching England some time in 

 the early years of the fifteenth centur}-. In 

 that curious work the " Boke of St. Albans," 

 published in 1496, it is said that the carp is 

 a " dayntous fysshe, but there ben fevve in Englonde, and therefore I wryte the lesse of h}-m." 



China is the home of the GOLD-FISH, a pretty little carp common in that countr}- and 

 the warmer parts of Japan. The Chinese have distorted Nature with regard to this fish even 

 more than the Germans have the common carp. Their most e.xtraordinary monstrosity is, 

 perhaps, the Telescope-FISH, which has a huge tail and projecting eyes. It is believed that 

 gold-fish were not known in England before the }-ear 1691. 



The carp has many interesting peculiarities. It is an e.xtraordinaril}- fertile fish, and 

 one of the most rapid growers in fresh-water. Under the most favourable conditions it 

 attains a weight of from 3 to 3.I lbs. in three years. In a pond which is overstocked, carp 

 hardly increase in weight at all ; while, on the other hand, tlieir growth in hot countries is 

 very much greater than above stated. A fish of from 4 to 5 lbs. may contain, on an average, 

 from 400.000 to 500,000 eggs; these are spawned in Ma}- or June, and hatched in from 

 twelve to sixteen days, according to the temperature. 



The life of this curious fish may be one of extraordinary duration, carp having been known 

 to attain an age of a hundred }-ears or more. W'hen very old, they are apt to go blind and 

 develop white marks, due to the growth of funguses. 

 17 



fhil! by U'. SaX'iU,-K,nt, f.Z.S.] [AA.Y.rJ-. 



GOLD-FISH 



^ r.at'fc of China and the ivarmer parts of Japan 



