186 



THK FKKSII-WATI 



FFSIIES OF EUROPE. 



Genus: ParaphOXinUS (Bleekeu). 



Paraphoxinus is a small geuus C(jnipi-ising' two species of fishes wliieli 

 are eoniined to the Adriatic region of the Balkan peninsula. It is distin- 

 <^uished by having- the body free from scales, or covered with scales which are 

 rudimentary and do not overlap. Scales, however, extend along the lateral 

 line, but this line is more or less incomplete. The mouth is terminal. The 

 pharyngeal teeth are in a single row on each side, with the formula 5 — 1. 

 The other characters are, for the most part, similar to those of the Phoxinus 

 type of the Genus Leuciscus. 



Paraphoxinus alepidotns (Meckel). 



This remarkable species (Fig. 100) has much the same relation to Leuciscus 

 that Aulopyge has to Barbus, in being free from scales. In the adult the 

 height of the body is equal to the length of the head, but in old females it is 



Yi<^. 100. — 1' VRVTiioMM s viEi'iuoTus (iieckel). 



greater. The thickness of body is not less than half the height, nor more than 

 two-thirds of the height. The back is rounded. The length of the head 

 is less than two-ninths of the leng'th of the fish. In males it is a little shorter. 

 The diameter of the eye is from one-fourth to one-fifth of the length of the 

 head. Its own diameter separates it from tlie snout, and the frontal inter- 

 space between the eyes is one and a half times the diameter of the eye. The 

 angle of the obli(|ue mouth scarcely reaches back to the anterior nares, which 

 are near to the cyo, and rather elevated in ])osition. The jaws are equal, and 

 the lips round. The prulile is very like that of the Minnt)w, but with age tlu' 

 body becomes higher and more (•()uq)rcssed. The dorsal fin begins l)ehind llie 



