OF GREAT BRITAIN. 105 



men behind the pectorals, without being attached to the bones 

 of the shoulder. Mouth shallow ; lips commonly fleshy ; jaws 

 feeble, generally without teeth. Powerful teeth in the throat. 

 Only one back-fin. Body scaly. Very few gill-rays. 



Besides the Common Carp, and cyprinus aurattis 

 (the ordinary gold and silver fish of the aquaria,) 

 there is another — though far from common — 

 species belonging to the genus of the true Carps, 

 called the Prussian orGibel Carp {cyprinus gibelid), 

 a much rarer fish than the common Carp, and pro- 

 bably by anglers very often confounded with it. . 



From the common Carp, however, it is entirely 

 distinct, the following being the most obvious 

 structural differences : — The whole general appear- 

 ance of the fish is much more thick and chublike 

 than the common Carp, resembling in fact the 

 Rudd in external form more than any other fish, — 

 the common Carp much more nearly ajaproaching 

 that of the Barbel. 



In the common Carp the length of the head is 

 almost invariably greater than the depth of the 

 body in the deepest part, whilst in the Prussian 

 Carp it is always very much less. 



The scales on the Prussian Carp are larger, the 

 number in the lateral line being about -^^^ — and in 

 common Carp about 38. 



The mark, however, by which the angler may 

 always at once distinguish the two fish on the most 

 cursory examination is the mouth. This in the 

 common Carp has two little barbels or beards 



