706 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



THE SPINED LOACH (sw. .nissogat). 

 COBITIS T.EXIA. 



Plate XXXI. fig. 4. 



Body latcraUji coniprcsscd. Breadth (thicknefis) of the head at the ei/es less than ' ,, of its Jengtli : lueadth of 

 the interoyJiital spare less thait the dianieter of the latter. Below each eye a niorahle preorbital sjiitie 



poUd'nt;! in a backirard direction. 



7—8 ' ' ■ 5 ' ' 8 ' 



R. b 

 (J. .c+1 + 14 + H-,r; Vevt. 45'', 



(1)+1 



Syn. Uobilcs acideata, Rond.. Pise, part. II, p. 204. Tcenia coi- 

 nuta, SoHONEV., Iclitliyol. iSlesv. Hols., p. 74. Colitis, aculeo 

 bifurco infra utrumque oculum, Art., Gen. Pise, p. 2; 

 Sijn. Pise, p. .3 ; Spec. Pise, p. 4. 



Cobilis Twnia, LiN., Syst. Nat., ed. X, torn. I, p. 303; Fn. 

 Suee, ed. II, p. 121; Bl., Naturg. Fisch. Deutschl., I, p. 

 221, tab. XXXI, fig. 2; Pall., Zoogr. Ross. As., torn. Ill, 

 p. 166; Flmng (Gobitis), Brit. Anim., p. 189; NiLSS. (C'o- 

 bitis), Prodr. Ichlli. Scand., p. 35; Jen., Man. Brit. Vert., 

 p. 417; Agass. (Acanthopsis), Mem. Soc. Neucli., toiii. I, p. 

 36; Yaru. (Botia ex Gray), Brit. Fish., ed. I, vol. I, p. 

 381; Kb., Danm. Fiske, vol. Ill, p. 564; Cuv., Val. (_Cobiti.i), 

 Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. XVIII, p. 58; NiLSS., Sic'and. Fn., 

 Fislc., p. 345; Kessl., Bull. Soc. Natural. Mosc, torn. XXIX 

 (1856), p. 352; Hckl, Kn., 6'usswasserf. Oesterr. Mon., p. 

 303; Vosta, Fn. Regn. Nap., Pesci, Abdom. Malacott. Cypr., 

 p. 31; SiEB., Siisswasserf. Mitteleur., p. 338; Mgrn, Finl. 

 Fisk. (disp. Helsingf.), p. 37; Steind., Stzber. Akad. Wiss. 

 Wien, Math. Naturw. CI. LH, i (1865), p. 490; Blanch., 

 Poiss. d. eaux. 'donees Fr., p. 285; Canestr., Arch., Zool., 

 Anat., Fisiol., vol. IV, fasc. I, p. 146; Gthr, Cat. Brit. 

 Mus., Fish., vol. VII, p. 362; Canestb., Fn. /toZ., part. Ill, 

 Pesci, p. 20; Cedeeste., Of vers. Vet. Akad. Forh. 1874, No. 

 9, p. 47, tab. XI; Fedders. (Botia), Natnrh. Tidskr. Kbhvn, 

 ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 92; MoR. {Vobitis), Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., 

 torn. Ill, p. 434; Bncke, Fisch., Fischer., Fischz. 0., W. 

 Prenss., p. 147; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., /»-eZ., vol. II, p. 201, 

 tab. CXXXVII, fig. 3; Mela, Vert. Fenn., p. 314, tab. X; 

 Norback, Handl. Fiskeu., Fiskafo., p. 444; Lillj., Sv., Norg. 

 Fisk., vol. Ill, p. 345; Fatio, Fn. Vert. Suisse, vol. IV, 

 tab. V, fig. 2; vol. V, p. 10. 



Cobitis caspia, EiOHw., Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1838, II, p. 133. 



Cobitis twnia japonictt, ScHL., Fn. ./ajmn., p. 222, tab. CIII, 

 figg. 3 et 3. a. 



Cobitis elongata, Hckl, Kn., I. c, p. 305. 



Cobitis larvata, De Fil., Mem. Acoad. Toriii., XIX, p. LXXI, 

 vide Canestr. Arch. Zool., Anat., Fieiol., vol. IV, fasc. I, 

 p. 150, tav. VI, fig. 7. 



The Spined Loach is in general the smallest of the 

 European Cobitoids, its oi'dinary length being between 

 '2 and 1 dm., though according to Mokeau it may 

 sometimes attain a length of 12 cm. From Krain 

 (Austria), however, Heckel and Kner have described 

 examples of this species, under the name of CoJntis 

 elongata, that measured nearly 16 cm. 



The body is shallow and compressed, but of fairly 

 uniform depth. The greatest depth of the body, which 

 generally lies about half-way between the head and the 

 dorsal fin, is about ' ,, of its length' . The thickness at 

 the same point is about ' jj of the depth in our most 

 terete specimen; but as a rule the body is still thinner, 

 the greatest thickness being sometimes no more than 

 half the greatest depth. The body is of almost uniform 

 thickness throughout its deptli, with obtusely rounded 

 dorsal and ventral edges, at the tip of the tail ribbon- 

 shaped, in front with the snout obtusely rounded at 

 the sides. This species, like the next one and the 

 majority of the species within the family, is charac- 

 terized in general by a slightly marked (comparatively 

 deep) peduncle of the tail, the least depth thereof vary- 

 ing between 7 and 8 % of the length of the body. But 

 in the aforesaid form {Cobitis elongata) described by 

 Heckel and Kneh, tliis depth seems from their figure 

 to have been onlv 5 % of the length of the body. 



The length of the head measures IG'V' — 14\j % 

 of that of the body. It gives the fish a singular ap- 

 pearance on account of its sharply arcuate upper pro- 

 file, with the deej) snout projecting beyond the mouth 

 and lo^\■er jaw, which lie on the same plane as the 

 lower profile, which is generally straight. The sjiccific 



'i 



" Sometimes 5, according to Heckel and Kner. 



* 41, according to Valenciennes. 40 — 42, according to Canestrini. 43 — 44, according to Cederstb(5ji. 

 ' According to Canestrini's measurements of 23 specimens the greatest depth of the body varies between 10 and 16' , 

 length, increasing generally with age. 



'' In young specimens (less tlian ' „ 'I'"- '° length) even IB'/o "<., according to Canestrini. 



of its 



