8-22 



SCANDINAVIAN FISIIKS. 



the Baltic; Init tlieir occurrence in the lower course of 

 the Helge. which there widens into broads, tiiids a pa- 

 rallel in many places, the Zope often ascending rivers 

 l)oth from the Baltic and the Black Seas. The Zope is 

 further known from the lower jiarts of the Rhine, We- 

 ser, and Elbe (Sieboi.d), from the aljove-mentioned 

 German rivers and Haffs connected with the 15altic, from 

 the Danube, u]) to Hungary and the Hungarian lakes 

 (HcKL., Kn.), from upper Austria (Sikb.), from the whole 

 of Russia-in-Europe, with tlie excejjtion of the river ba- 

 sins sloping to the Arctic (_)cean, and from the ISlack 

 and Caspian Seas (Pallas, Kesslek, and Guimm). 



The temperament of the Zope seems in the main 

 to resemble that of the Iiream. Its diet, however, in- 

 cludes less vegetable substances, and consists more of 

 insects and ^vorms. The spa^vning-season occurs in 

 April and May, much earlier than that of the Bream, 

 and sometimes, according to Baron Gyllenstjerna as 

 (pioted l)_y Nil,s.son, even before the ice has melted in 

 tlie inlets of Lake Millar. The spawning-place is chosen 

 in shallow water with a weedy bottom. At this season 

 the Zo])e often ventures even upon flooded meadow- 

 land. The operation of spawning is performed as we 

 have described in the case of the Bream, but is said 

 to last no more than 1 — 3 days, during which time the 

 Zope is no less afraid of noise than the said species. 

 The course of its development and its growth are little 

 known; but of its fecundity Blocii states that in a fe- 

 male weighing 468'., grm., with ovaries 164'7 grm. in 

 weight, the number of the ova, which were of the size 

 of a poppy seed, was about (37,500. 



When the spawning is over, tiie Zope retires to 

 deeper water, and is seldom found near shore through- 

 out the i-est of the 3-ear, but only in the depths. In 



autumn and winter it assembles in large shoals, like 

 tlie Bream, where it can find a deep pool. 



The flesh of the Zope, is flabby, white, bony, and 

 of sweetish, indifferent flavour, being poorer in summer 

 than in winter, and fattest previous to the spawning in 

 April. Still tlie fish is eaten fresh, in which case it is 

 boiled, and is also salted and dried for future con- 

 sumption. 



During the si)awning-season, at which time the 

 Zope, as we have mentioned, approaches the shore and 

 ascends into the shallows, it is taken in traps {ri/ssjor, 

 see p. r>'d, fig. 7), nets, and seines hauled from the shore, 

 where the bottom admits of this operation. It is occa- 

 sionally speared by accident. Late in autumn it is 

 sometimes caught in a kind of seine shot in deep water, 

 the hauls being always large, if made at the right 

 place, as the fish have no^v assembled in their winter- 

 quarters. The Zope ma}" also be taken with rod and 

 line baited with a common earthworm. 



On the south coast of Lake Malar throughout its 

 length the Zope is called Fame or Fana, in the central 

 and western parts of the lake Faren, and in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Upsala, according to Lilljeborg, Vimma. 

 In Lake Wener, according to Lloyd, it bears the name 

 of Langstjert (Longtail) or, according to Widegeen, 

 Langhala (Norw. Hale = sfjert). But it is often con- 

 founded by the fishermen with White Bream and young 

 Bream, being included witli these under the names 

 quoted by Artedi and Linx^us, Blecka {BJiclai), Bra- 

 xenpanlia, Braxenflia (Braxenflira). In order to pre- 

 clude the ei'ror into whicli he had himself been be- 

 trayed by tiie name of Faren, Ekstrom preferred to 

 use Flira. 



(Ekstrom, Smtit.) 



Gems PELECUS. 



Beginning of the short dorsaJ fin situated rcrticall/i above that of the long anal fin, and the base ofi the former 

 less than '/^ of that of the latter. Dorsal mascnlature extending for nurd across tin- interorbital space. Lateral 

 line hent sharply downwards behind the pectoral fins, and in the posterior part of its course undulating, or erm 

 externallg interrupted. Scales like those of the Bleak, but with the nucleus situated in the posterior half. Mouth 

 sharphj ascending, and the tip of the lower jaw projecting. 



Among the Cyprinoids to which tiie Scandinavian 

 fauna can lay claim, this genus is in several respects 

 tiie most remarkable. With a form of body reminding 

 us of the Herrings, it has several characters that range 

 it beside the Bleaks, others again being Abramidine 



characters at their highest point of development. The 

 characters of Alburnus may Ije seen in the form of the 

 moutii, with the point of tlie lower jaw fitting into a 

 sinus at the tip of the snout, the slender and prolong- 

 ated pharyngeals, and the thin, comparatively deciduous 



