716 



SCANDINAVIAN FISIIKS. 



The form of the Ixwly is ^'■enerall}- regular, showing 

 tlie cfjiupresseci, fusiform outline most ty})ical of the 

 Telcosts, whethei" it extends in ii longitudinal direction, 

 as in our Gudgeons and Minnow, or rises vertically, as 

 in our Breams. In tlie great majority of the fishes of 

 this lauiilv" the l)odv is coNcred with dense and finnly- 

 attached, mure or less liard, cycloid scales, large or 

 small. Tiie greatest external ditferences which here, as 

 in the Glatioinorphs, afford the most useful characters 

 fill' the subdivision of the family, consist in the position 

 and dimensions of the tins, especially the dorsal and 

 anal. Tlie back possesses only one tin (adipose fin 

 wanting), situated as a rule at the middle of the trunk, 

 l)ut of a greater or less extent forwards or backwards, 

 in front of or behind the region of the ventral fins, 

 and sometimes set on the tail, al)ove the anal tin, 

 whicli in its turn shows varying dimensions, greater 

 (ir less than tliose of the dorsal tin. 



The Cyprinoids in genei'al iia\e a ratlier small 

 mouth, tlie position of wliich may vary from the tij) of 

 the snout to the under surface thereof. The lips of 

 some (several East Indian) forms are strongly and sin- 

 gularly developed, sometimes funnel-shaped and fringed, 

 continuous or divided into loljes; l)ut in our forms they 

 are smooth and liardl^' more Hesliy tlian usual. In a 

 West Asiatic genus, ('Ii<i)i(l}-i)sfoiii((, which also occurs in 

 .Southern and Central Europe, a cartilaginous sheath is 

 developed on the lower \\\k In a North American ge- 

 nus, AcrocliUd^, a similar sheath ap})ears both on the 

 upper jaw and the lower; and in the genus Laheo of 

 the Old World the sheath ma)- appear on either or both 

 (if the jaws. In many ('yi)rinoids the mouth is fur- 

 nislied, as in the preceding family, with liarbels, which 

 always belong, ho>vever, to the upjier jaw and never 

 exceed two pairs; the most common and usually most 

 developed is the barbel at each corner of the mouth. 

 The margin of the upper jaw is formed by the toothless 

 intermaxillary Ijones, which are generally at least to 

 some extent (sometimes highly) protrusile. This does 

 not depend, however, as usual on any elongation of the 



nasal processes, which are here comparatively short — 

 though often prolonged upwards by a cartilaginous con- 

 tiiuiation, which, Avlien the mouth is closed (the upper 

 jaw drawn up), fnlds into a cavitA' between the tip of 

 the etiininid Imnc and the rostral cartilage'' — l.nit in 

 most cases only loo.sely united to the rostral cartilage 

 in front of the ethmoid bone and above the more or less 

 cartilaginous head of the vomer. The intermaxillaries 

 are without erect, lobate process (cf. above, p. 463), a 

 growth ^vhich is all the more developed on the maxillary 

 bones behind them. The maxillary bones are besides 

 remarkable in most cases for their detorted form and 

 the short and generally thick head of their articular 

 knob. A distortion of the toothless dental part of the 

 lower ja>\- tliat reminds us of the Mugiloids (see above, 

 p. 330), occurs in several Cyprinoids (e. g. in the Bream 

 and Barbel, but not in the Ide), in which the upper 

 dental margin is thus turned out\vards. \\ e are also 

 reminded of the Mugiloids by the upright protube- 

 rance frequently present at the symphyseal tip of the 

 braiK-hes of the lower jaw. Tlie most striking resem- 

 Idance to the Mugiloids — dei)ending on a similarity of 

 diet — belongs, however, to the palate. The palatal 

 curtains (vela transversa) of the Cyprinoids are well- 

 deve]o])ed, at least in the upper jaw. The palatal roof 

 is lined witii a mucous meml)rane. thickly covered with 

 papilla' and arranged in longitudinal folds, ^vhich is 

 continued backwards, smooth but with large gustatory 

 papilhr, on the tumid, soft, cushion-like mass of muscles 

 and fat — the Carp's tongitp so highl}- prized by the 

 epicure — situated under the posterior ]>art of the 

 cranium. Backwards and do^vn^vards from the body of 

 the occipital bone runs an osseous (pharyngeal) jn'ocess', 

 pierced at its liase for the passage of a blood-vessel 

 {aorta nhdominalis), the under surface of which process, 

 just at the end of the said cushion, is shod in a de- 

 pression ^\•ith a cartilaginous, more or less hard and 

 tumid disk, the so-called Corp-Moiir ov pharjiwiecd ciir- 

 fihii/e {Karpfeiisteiii, la moilc). Against this disk the 

 lower pharyngeal teeth, Avhich are highly characteristic 



" In a SoiitlicTii Eiin.pfim melius. Aaloi>>/ije, however, tlie body is entirely naked. It is also entirely cr jiartially naked in three 

 Asiatic tjenera. 



'' This cavity smiictiines cunduccs in a remarkable way, even externally, to the singular form cf the snont, which in an Indian (Labeo 

 iiiilcUt. Day, Fi^h. Ind., ji. .'543, pi. CXXVIII, irg. 5) and a Snniatran species {Laheo — Schismatorhyticlnis — lieterorytichiis, Blkr, Atl. Ichth. 

 fml. Or. Neerl., Ci/jn-., p. 50. tab. IV, tig. 4) acquires a monstrous appearance, owing to the presence of a deep, horizontal, transverse 

 hollow in front of the nostrils. 



' This process was formerly regarded by some as an liypapophysis, by others as an entire haiunal arch; but it arises, as S.\OE- 

 MEHI, (Morphol. Jahrb., Bd. XVI, ).. 510) has at least shown to be probable, in a totally different way from these parts of the skeleton, 

 namely by the ossification of connective tissue which Sagemehl regards as a remnant (trace) of the ligament (also pierced by the aorta) which 

 in the Cliaracinoids unites the occipital and parasphenoid bones to the air-bladder. This same connexion we shall also find in the Clupeoids. 



