705 



in tliis crevice iiimv he felt tlic tij) of ;i s])iiie, whicli 

 does not, lio\\('\cr, mliiiil ol' erection. Aiiiiir}, Day ob- 

 serves of the Inilian species of the ^acmis Xemachili(s 

 that "sometimes tiic |ireorhit!il is niiscd and with a free 

 lower edge, wiiile this uiav not oeeiu' in all examples 

 of the same sjjeeies". Several authors too, ^Mokkau and 

 LlLLJEBoui; for e\ani])!c, have al)aiidoue(l the attempt to 

 distinguish the genera within this family exelusively by 

 the ])resenee or absence of the preorbital spine. On the 

 other hand, it seems highh" probable, to judge by our 

 knowledge of tlie remaining genera, and also when we 

 consider the analogous relations within the (ilanomorph 

 series, that the presence or absence of barbels on the 



lower jaw affoi'ds a constant and more useful generic 

 character, though in many s])ecies that arc othei'wise 

 witlKiut them, these barbels are indicated by eontrac- 

 lions and inter])0sed swellings on the underlip. Whether 

 we choose on this ground to retain the genus Misgurnus 

 for the European ]\fisffiinii(S fossiUs and a few other 

 Sjjecies, or whether we regard tliis group as a subgeiuis 

 of the genus (hibitis, n. course for which we shall find 

 strong reasons below, is a matter of no great im- 

 portance in the Scandinavian fauna, for though Misgitr- 

 )U(fi fossills has once been ])lanted in Sweden — in ponds 

 at Ulriksdal, .aceording to LixxyKU.s — it has not spread, 

 so far as is known, to any extent in this countrj'. 



Genus COBITIS. 



Six harheh". none on the loiccr jotr. Jindi/ eJongafpd, terete, or eompretised. Head naked (icithoiit scales). Dorsal 

 fin short and sitaatcd aJiore the ventral _fins. Caudal fin rounded, truncate, or sllghthj concave. 



This genus comjjrises the great majority of the fa- 

 mily. Including the species that have previously been 

 referred to the genus Xeinachilus, as being without 

 movable preorbital spine lielow the eyes — by far the 

 greater number belong to this class — 67 species have 

 been adopted and described by Guntheu, Day, Herzen- 

 STEIN, and Bleeker. Day enumerates 31 species from 

 India. Herzexsteix assigns 17 species to the highlands 

 of Central Asia (Tibet). From Syria and Palestine 7 

 species are known, described by Heckel and Guxther. 

 Bleeker cites only two species from Java and Sumatra, 

 Castelnau two from Cape Town*. Europe also pos- 

 sesses two species of the genus. It thus appears that 

 the genus thrives best in the rivers and brooks of the 

 Asiatic Highlands; and it is probably thence that it 

 has spread to the lowlands. 



In one of our I-^uropean species {C. tfcnia) Ca- 

 NESTRim'' remarked in the structure of the pectoral 



fins an external difference between the sexes, an ob- 

 servation which Herzexsteix has subsequentlv verified 

 with one or two modifications, in the majority of the 

 sjiecies that inhabit Central Asia. In the males of these 

 species the second ray of the pectoral fins is more or 

 less thickened and broad, and furnished during the 

 spawning-season with tubercles or spines. 



The members of this genus are in general of in- 

 significant size'', though, as Valenciexnes has pointed 

 out, not to such an extent that we are justified in 

 assuming that it was to these fishes that Aristotle 

 referred when he included Ko}/)'tTig among the A2)hi/(e 

 (cf. above, p. 264). The genus Cohitls of modern 

 ichthyology dates from Artedi. 



In Scandinavia only two species are found: 



1: Preorbital bone furnished with a spine... Cohitis tceida. 

 2: No extensile spine below the eyes Cobitis barbatula. 



" In one ludiaii species there are 8 barbels; but all of tbeni belong to the snout and the upper jaw. 

 ' These two species are recognised by GOnther, however, merely as doubtful. 

 ' Fn. Hal, part. III,. Pesci, p. 21. 



"* One species, Cohitis )/avtca7idens>s from tlie -Asiatic Highlands, attains, however, a length of at least 3 dm., and is thus only slightly 

 inferior in size to the European Afisyuniiis fossilis, whicli sometimes measures .3' „ dm. 



