114 



THE FRESH-WA'I'KH FISIIKS (tF FI'Uol'E. 



have been ref^^anled as of g-eneric value ; and tlie number and size of the barbels 

 is so variable tliat it is difficult to distiiif;'uish whether a species possesses two 

 or four of these api)endagcs. Hence it is not easy to define this genus ; and 

 the chai-acters given by Dr. Giinther himself are not readily grasped. Barbus is 

 chavactei'ised as having the third longest simple ray of the dorsal fin ossified, 

 enlarged, and often serrated, with never more than nine branched rays in 

 the dorsal fin, and those branched rays commence opposite to the root of the 

 ventral iin. The anal fin is short and high. The eye has no fatty eyelid ; 

 the mouth is arched ; the barbels may be four, two, or absent. The lateral 

 line runs in the middle of the body to the tail. The pharyngeal teeth are 

 in three rows, in the formula 5 — 3 — 2, or 4 — 3 — 2, usually five on one 

 side, and four on the other (Fig. 45). 



This large genus may be divided into three sections : — first, fishes 

 with four barbels ; secondly, fishes with two barbels ; third, fishes without 

 barbels. And to facilitate identification of species these groups are further 

 divided according to the number of scales in the lateral line, which may be 

 more than forty or less than thirty. Other characters are found in the 



presence or absence of pores or tubercles 

 on the snout, and the absence or pre- 

 sence and condition of the third dorsal 

 ray, which, when it exists, varies in 

 size, and in having or wanting ser- 

 rations on its margin. The fringed 

 condition of the barbels and size of the 

 mouth furnish other characters. But 

 in view of the facility with which ex- 

 ternal soft parts may vary, we should 

 have preferred to make the primary classification of the genus upon the 

 characters of the third dorsal ray. The greater number of the species live in 

 the fresh waters of India and the East Indian Archipelago; but the genus is 

 widely represented in Asia and Africa, and is not rare in Europe, though the 

 number of species decreases westward to two in France and one in Britain. 



45. — PHAKYNGEAL TEETH OF liAIlHt'S 

 VULGARIS. 



Barbus vulgaris (Fleming).— The Barbel. 



The fin formula of this species is differently stated by almost every observer, 

 from which we infer a greater variability of characters than is commonly 

 admitted, or the existence in some localities of types which make a transition 

 towards other species — 



J), 8_5/S— <), A. 3-5, V. 2/7— S, P. 1/15— ] 7, C. lU. 



