SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



gill-opening the margin of the clavicle is dyed almost 

 black, though this dark stripe is generally concealed hy 

 tlie Iiroad rim of tiie branchiostegal membrane. The 

 top of tlic head is dark olive brown, its sides and under 

 surface have a silvery lustre, shading into yellow with 

 a play of various colours. Tlie iris is light yellow, 

 below silvery, above marked with a dark band. The 

 pectoral, dorsal, and caudal fins are nearl}' ])lain olive 

 brown; the ventral and anal tins, on the other hand, 

 of a beautiful, bright I'ed colour, both with yellowish 

 base, and the latter fin with rose-coloured rays. The 

 coloration of the fins is, however, subject to variation. 

 Our figure is coloured from a specimen taken shortly 

 before the spawning-season. Younger Chub are paler 

 in hue, with the inferior fins light and colourless. 



In Scandinavia the range of the Chub is confined 

 to the south of S\veden and the south-east of Norway. 

 In Denmark the Chub has not been found. In Finland 

 too it is a southern species, common, according to Mela, 

 only to the extreme south. It is one of the I'arest 

 Scandinavian Cyprinoids, and in contradistinction to 

 most of liiem, it is taken only in small numbers and 

 never in an^ (juantity, even during the spawning-season. 

 Retzil's knew that it occurred in the Nissa, a stream 

 in Sma-land, where it was called Bjelke. Towards the 

 mouth of this stream, near Halmstad, in llalland, it is 

 often hooked, in company with the Ide, and is here 

 known as Mruacka. It beai's the same name, according 

 to Lloyd", at Falkenberg on tiie Atra. To Ekstrom 

 it was known from onlj' three localities in Sweden, 

 namely, Norrkoping River, where the fishermen called 

 it Fdrna, the River Gotha off Gothenburg, where it 

 ^vas entitled Dick-kopp, and Lake Hjelmar, ^\'ith its af- 

 fluent the Stor river, where tlie name of the species 

 was Arannaren. But he remarked that its occurrence 

 in waters so far ajjart sho^ved that these could not be 

 its oidy haunts in Sweden. It has subsequently been 

 found by Schagerstr6m and others, according to Lillje- 

 BORG, in the Helge in Scania; by Malm and others at 

 a few places in Wester Gothland and Bohuslihi, e. g. 

 in Lake Stenstoi'p 20 miles east of Gothenliurg, and in 

 the ( )rekil at Krokstad and Qvistrum, where it is called 

 Ahuk; by I^loyd and others in the south part of Lake 

 Wener; and by Hakdin and Widegren in the north of 

 Lake Wener and in the Klar VAL In Norwa\-, acct)rd- 



ing to CoLLETT, the occurrence of the Chub is confined 

 to Lake MjSsen, the south part of the Glomnien with 

 its tributaries, and the brackish water at the mouth 

 of the Tistedal Elf off Fredrikshald. In Central and 

 Soutlierii Europe, on the other hand, the range of the 

 Chub is very extensive, and in England, Scotland, and 

 the countries bordering on the Mediterranean this spe- 

 cies replaces the Ide. According to Grimm tlie Chub 

 occurs throughout Russia-in-Europe, with the exception 

 of Transcaucasia. Richardson described it (Leuciscus 

 on) from Anatolia in Asia Minor. In mountainous 

 regions, according to Benecke'', it ascends the rivers 

 and brooks to a height of about 1,000 m. above the 

 level of the sea. 



In all these southern countries the Ciiul) has long 

 been better known than in Sweden. It has the repu- 

 tation of a strong, but timid swimmer, eagerlj- hiding 

 in the shade of any object or behind a stone, and is 

 accused of comparatively great voracity, not only snap- 

 ping up insects at the surface or such fruit as may 

 fall into the water, but also preying on small fishes, 

 frogs, and water-shrews. It possesses great cunning, 

 and will not l)ite i-eadily, if the line be visible. From 

 its habit of frequenting the eddies below mill-wheels, 

 it has received in France the name of Meiinkr (miller). 

 According to information supplied to EkstrO.m by Mr. 

 Lenning and Dr. Hanssen of Norrkoping and Mr. 

 Hamnstrom of Orebro, the Chub lives in Sweden during 

 the greater part of the year in lakes and extensive 

 pieces of water, but keeps to comparativel)' shallow 

 places, where the bottom consists of mud or weeds. In 

 the month of May it begins to ascend the river at 

 Norrkoping, and being a powerful swimmer, is met 

 with where the current is strongest, endeavouring with 

 all its might to stem the stream. About the end of 

 June — in more southern countries in May or even 

 April — the spawning-season begins, as shoAvn by the 

 presence, in specimens caught in the middle of June, 

 of roe and milt ready to be deposited. But here as in 

 the case of the other Cyprinoids, this season varies, no 

 doubt, according to the state of the weather; and Malm 

 quotes a- statement t(j the effect that in tiie River Gotha 

 the Chul) s])awns at the end of April. The fish as- 

 semble in large shoals, according to Fatio, with tu- 

 multuous uproar, not far from land and by preference 



" Scandinav. Adcentiires, I, p. l!4. 



'■ Handh. Fi.«clu-, mid F/sclieni (Max v. p. Borne), p. 134. 



