75(5 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



IIU, r; [). 7(i9 below), composes a continuation of the 

 |iliai'\iigeal fartilage in an inverted canaliculate form, 

 more or less sharply defined and more or less raised 

 above the remaining surface of the cartilage. 



All the fins are of a somewhat rounded shape, re- 

 minding us in some degree of the Tench. The dorsal 

 fin begins at a distance from the ti|) of the snout which 

 on an average measures very nearly half the lengtli of 

 the body, but varies between 48 and 52 % thereof. 

 Its base measures on an average Vio of ^l^e length of 

 the body, varying l)etween !• and \\ % of the same. 

 Its height (the length of tlie longest, the first Ijranched 

 ray) is always greater than tiie length of its jjase and 

 measures in the females about 13 — 15 %, in the males 

 nearly as much as 17 %, of the length of the body. 

 As a rule the first ray is inipercei)tible above the skin. 

 The same remarks apply to the anal fin, \\hicli is of 

 tlie same obliquely' quadrilateral form, witli more or 

 less distineth' rounded corners, and as a rule ot the 

 same size. The distance between this fin and the tip 

 of tlie snout is greatest in the females and varies be- 

 tween about 55 and 61 % oi the length of the body. 

 The caudal fin is not very deeply forked. Its middle 

 rays occup^• in average-sized specimens about 9 — 11 % 

 of the length of the body and measure more than half 

 (5.3 — 64 ?«i) of the length of its longest rays. 



In this species too, the jiaired fins afford the most 

 trustworthy distinctions of form between the sexes. 

 Both ])airs are rounded and obliquely oval. The pec- 

 toral fins are set, as in the Gudgeon, so low that when 

 expanded thev' lie almost in the same plane as the 

 ventrals. In l)i)t]i sexes the length of the pectoral fins 

 is as a rule about 13 — 15 % of the length of the body, 

 but in the males it may rise during the spawning- 

 season to 1(S % thereof. In the males the upper (an- 

 terior) rays (5 — 7) are thick and have more markedly 

 distinguislied articulations than in the females. The 

 pectoral fins of the Minnow thus supply us with si- 

 milar sexual characters to those afforded by the vent- 

 ral fins of the Tench. Here, on the other hand, the 

 ventral fins of the two sexes differ both in their po- 

 sition — somewhat further back in the females — and 

 their length, which in the males is more, in the fe- 

 males less than 13 % of the length of the body. The 

 distance between these fins and the tip of the snout 

 measures during youth and in the males about 40 — 42 

 %, in the females 42 — 46 % of the length of the body, 

 and the distance between them and the anterior angle 



of the ])ectoral fins (the preabdorainal length) during 

 youth and in the males 19 — 22 %, in the females 22 — 26 

 % of the same length. In ccjiisequence hereof the tips 

 of the pectoral fins, when laid back, may sometimes 

 extend in the males nearly to the bases of the ventral 

 fins, while the tips of the latter fins in the same posi- 

 tion reach in the females scarcely to the vent, in the 

 males beyond this point or even to the beginning of 

 the anal fin. The vent, which protrudes considerably 

 and is fairly wide at its junction with the ui'ogenital 

 aperture, lies ])erceptibly, though not far, in front of 

 the beginning of the anal fin. Here, as in the Cobitoids 

 (see above), \\% find no special scah' appendage at the 

 outer angle of the ventral fin. 



The covering of scales shows (piite a consideral)le 

 external resemblance to that of the Tench; but the 

 scales are of exactly opposite form, deeper than long, 

 of a more or less broad elliptical shape, with the longi- 

 tudinal axis turned in the transverse direction of the 

 body. Instead of being inserted in the skin for the 

 greater part of their length, as in the Tench, they are 

 chiefly free and hardly imbricated in the longitudinal 

 direction of the body, though in a transverse row on 

 the l)ack each scale may slightly overlap the one below 

 it. The texture is rather coarse, but densely striated 

 Avith concentric ridges, which are interrupted through- 

 out the circumference of the scale by radiating grooves 

 extending to a greater or less distance inward from the 

 margin. The stria" are thus divided into patches of 

 oblong triangular shape, crossed by transverse streaks 

 and with their apex directed towards the central nucleus 

 of tiie scale. The lielly is naked in front and at the 

 isthmus, but is furnished on each side in front of the 

 pectoral fin with a triangular patch of about 8 rows 

 of scales. The lateral line pierces its scales throughout 

 the greater part of their breadth (in the longitudinal 

 direction of the l)ody), but is very often partially or 

 entirel)- wanting on the sides of the tail. It foi-nis a 

 do\vnward curve from the temporal region, so sharp 

 that it reaches the middle of the sides in front of the 

 perpendicular from the tip of the pectoral fin, when 

 laid liack, and runs back from this point in a straight 

 line to the middle of the base of the caudal fin. 



The coloration in conjunction with the well-])ro- 

 portioned form of the body renders the Minno^^■ one of 

 our most handsome fishes. The colours show considerable 

 variation, however, according to the locality, the season, 

 the sex and the mood of the fish. No long description 



