727 



rouii'h (.iiraiiul.'ilcd), riiniislied witli a great iiuiuluT of 

 small, \erriici),so pi'dtubt'ranccs (thickeiit'd parts). The 

 lateral line deseeiids tVoiii the temporal rcyioii in a 

 sli'i'ht, bnt reaulai- curve down to the middle of the 

 depth of the body at about the tip of the pectoral fins, 

 from wiiicli |H)int it ad\ances, straight and uninter- 

 rupted, to tile middle of th(> base of the caudal iin. 

 The duet in eatdi scale is short, and pierces only about 

 the middle third of the length of the scale. It has long 

 been known, however, that, in addition to the ordinary 

 Carp, there occur vai-ieties (see our figure) which are 

 distinguished by the absence of scales and the greater 

 thickness of the skin on a greater or less part of the 

 body, the scales on the other parts being considei-ably, 

 even monstrously enlarged. One of these varieties is 

 represented in oui- figui'e. The largest scales lie in the 

 lateral line, in a continuous or an interrupted row. One 

 or two rows of rather large scales generally coast the 

 dorsal margin of this variety. The l)elly is clothed with 

 ordinary scales. As the large scales on the sides of 

 th(? body most often possess an iridescent or a vitreous 

 lustre, this variety has been named apcgelkarp (Mirror 

 Carp). Another variety, ^vhich is entirely without scales, 

 but has a still thicker skin, is known as the Leather 

 Carp (ld(lerkarj)e}i). 



There is hardly any external difference between 

 the sexes, except during the spawning-season, at which 

 time the males are mai'ked hj a dermal eruption, con- 

 sisting of small, wliite tubercles, on the cheeks and 

 gill-covers. 



The usual coloration is olive green, on the back 

 darker, sometimes blackish brown, on the belly lighter, 

 sometimes yellowish white, on the sides with a coppery 

 or brass}" lustre. It is, however, subject to consider- 

 able variations, shading on the back into blue or red, 

 on the sides still oftener into red, a colour especially 

 characteristic of the so-called Leather Car]). This 

 ground-colour is diversified by the Idack edges and 

 centre of each separate scale. The dorsal and caudal 

 fins shade most often into graj-, the paired fins and the 

 anal fin into red. In the reddish varieties, however, all 

 the fins share in the general tone of colour. The iris 

 is yellow, with a bright golden margin round the iniyiil. 

 In captivity albinos sometimes occur. 



The natural range of the Carp extends from Japan 

 and China through Central Asia to Eastern Europe. It 



is difficult 111 fix the limit of the Carp's natural range 

 in (,'entral Europe; but it has been introduced in a 

 state of domestication tin'oughout the rest of Europe, 

 except the extreme north, and has also been transported 

 to the East Indian Archipelago, Australia, and North 

 America. In India it is uTiknown. Subsetjuent to its in- 

 troduction it has sjiread to the lakes and rivers of these 

 regions, where it now lives even in a state of freedom. 

 Kkoyer assumes, with great prol)ability, that it was 

 during the Roman Catholic times, when fish was the 

 Old}' animal food permitted during Lent, that the Carp 

 was introduced b}- the monks into Denmark and the 

 south of Sweden, and l^egan to be cultivated in ponds 

 at the convents. We have no jiositive information, 

 however, on this point. An old tradition, on the other 

 hand, c|uoted from Pontoppidax" by Bloch, Kkovek, 

 and NiLSSOX, but also in need of confirmation, ascribes 

 the introduction to a later date, when Peder Oxe 

 (L567 — 1575) was Lord Steward of Denmark and owned 

 large estates in Scania. In England Carp existed, though 

 their number was small, in 1496, according to Dame 

 Juliana Beexer's Boke of St. Albans''; and at the pre- 

 sent day the Carp is very common in that country. 



The Carp, like the other Cj'prinoids, is by nature a 

 fresh-water fish, i)ut it can also endure salt water. In 

 the Caspian Sea, according to Pallas, the Car]j lives 

 in water so salt that hardly any other fish can sustain 

 life there. In brackish water it occurs, according to 

 JIoBirs and Heixcke, in the Schlei at Schleswig. In 

 Sweden it has spread from the ponds to the lakes and 

 rivers, principally in Scania. It has also been culti- 

 vated, \vithout doubt, on the estates of Central Sweden, 

 for it occurs, though extremely rare, in Lake Malar, where 

 in June, 1888 a fisherman from Sundliyholm (Soder- 

 manland) caught the female Mirror C'arp represented 

 in our figure (' g of the natural size). Neither he nor his 

 acquaintances had ever seen one of these fishes before. 



In a state of nature the Carp haunts [)la(!es with 

 a luxuriant vegetation, being by no means averse to a 

 muddy bottom, but requiring clear water and free access 

 to the sunlight. Distinction has long been made be- 

 tween Biver Carj), Lake Carp, and Pond Carp, which 

 generally differ not only in their coloration, which 

 adapts itself to the bottom and the water, but also in 

 their flavour, which is best in the first-mentioned forms, 

 worst in the last-mentioned, unless the pond has been 



" Den Danske Atlas, p. G53. 



' See Yarrell, Brit. Fisli.,.ed. 2. 



ol. I, p. 350 and Day. 1. c, p. 103. 



