751 



Tlu' internal organs essentially rcsenible those of 

 the pi-eceding genus. The liver follows the intestinal 

 canal backwards in two long, pointed lobes, the right 

 lobe being the longest and extending back to the vent. 

 The intestinal canal is short and tiiick, onl}- slightly 

 lono'cr or even siiortcr than the tish, with only two 

 coils and without dilatation or special stoniacii. The 

 air-bladder is large and, as usual, contracted at the 

 first tliird of its Icngtii. The anterior, snialiei- part is 

 cvlindrical with rounded ends, tiie posterioi' jiai-t jiointed 

 beiiind. Thi' ovaries an<l testicles are paii-ed and oc- 

 cupy the ordinary position. 



Tile Tencli is more of a FAii'ope;in tisli than tlie 

 preceding species, but otherwise has cssentiail\- the same 

 geograpiiical I'angc. It occurs tlu'ougliout tlic whole of 

 Europe, Tiorthwards in places to tiie ()2nd degree of 

 latitude. It is also known in Asia Minor, and in the 

 extreme south of Europe it is conunon. How far its 

 range extends in Siljeria, is unknown; but Pallas says 

 that it is common around the Yenisei. In the west of 

 Europe it does not seem to go so far north as in the east 

 of the same continent. Thompson" regarded the Tench 

 as of foi-eign origin in Great Britain and Ireland. I).\Y 

 says tliat it is commoner in the east of England than 

 in tiie west. Kroyei; had no knowledge of its presence 

 in tlie noi'tli of .Jutland; but according to Feddehsex 

 it has subsei)uently been found Iti Lake Ravnsti'up, a 

 little north of the east end of Liim Fjord. In Xoi'way, 

 according to Collett, the Tench occurs at only two 

 spots, situated in the coast regions of the extreme 

 south, namelv Kragero and the park at tlie Niis Iron- 

 works. To the latter locality it has been transplanted 

 from Denmark. In the southern tracts of Sweden it is 

 fairly conunon: but the northern limit of its range lies 

 in about l)U° X. iat., in Wermland and Westmanland, 

 according to tlie reports sent in to the Fisheries Com- 

 niittee of 1881, though it is said to have been jilanted 

 in the District of Gefleborg. In F'inland, according to 

 Mela, its range extends to 61° 40' N. Iat. According 

 to Rei TEi! it occurs even at Archangel; but according 

 to Gim.mm'' its range to the north is bounded in Russia 

 by the 62nd degree of latitude. According to F^atio 

 it a.scends in Switzerland to lakes situated as much as 

 1,600 in. above the level of the sea. 



In Sweden the Tench is most commonl)' found in 

 small lakes, ponds, and fens, witii a muddy and weedy 

 bottom. It is woi'thy of remark that this fish also oc- 

 curs in tlic central part of the western island-belt of 

 the Baltic, wh<'re it invariably chooses its haunts, how- 

 ever, in shallow and weedy inlets in the innermost 

 part of the archijxdago. Sluggish and indolent by na- 

 ture, it loves (piiet and is destitute of the activity dis- 

 playi'd ]>\ tiie majority of the following genera of this 

 faniih'. f'xcept during tiie spawning-season it lives al- 

 most constantly at the bottom, most often embedded in 

 mud among the weeds. It is especially prone to this 

 latter lialiit in winter, at wiiich time it geiuM'ally lies 

 still in a kind of dormancy; but, according to Siekold. 

 it is sometimes met witii in this position even in the 

 hottest summer. Now and then, though seldom, it may 

 be seen in summer, when the water is calm, at tlie 

 surface. Being very tenacious of life, it may be trans- 

 ported considerable distances without dying, and is thus 

 easily planted in ponds. It was one of the fishes earli- 

 est selected for this purpose. 



The spawning-season generally occurs in Sweden 

 at the beginning of June or somewhat later, according 

 to the state of the weather. .The oldest females spawn 

 fir.st, the younger ones later in the season. The spawn- 

 ing takes place in shallow and weedy inlets, ponds, and 

 small lakes, without am' boisterous demonstrations. The 

 fine, vellowish eggs are deposited on the weeds; they 

 are generally hatched in a \veek's time. The frj' grov 

 rather slowl}', though the rate seems to vary according 

 to the spawning-jilace and the state of the water. The 

 number of the spawning females is usually less than 

 that of the males. Yarhell estimates the proportion 

 of the sexes at two males to one female, or not less 

 than three to two. This disparity in number might 

 have a detrimental effect on the propagation of the 

 species, if the fecundity of the Tench did not com- 

 pensate the scarcity of females. In a female l' ^ kgm. 

 in weight Bloch estimated the number of the ova at 

 297,000. Harmeu, according to Day, found as many 

 as 38-3,25.3 ova in one female. 



The food of the Tench consists of mud, worms, 

 and insects. It is seldom caught in the seine, generally 

 in fish-traps (kuff^nr, see fig. 204, p. 816, below, and 



" Nat. Hist. IreL, vol. IV, p. 13fl. 



*■ Fish., Hunt. Riiss. TI'a(., p. 14. 



' In the niODth of Octobei' Lilljeborg took a youug Tencli 70 ui 



ScttrKlinavian Fishes. 



long. 



