BLEAK AND LOACH 
habits and pretty appearance. It is of social disposition, 
and a lover of clear water. It keeps close to the surface, 
and its sporting proclivities cannot fail to arrest attention. 
It does not occur in either Ireland or Scotland, but in 
other parts of Britain it is more or less a fairly familiar 
species. It has a silvery-white dress, ornamented with 
greenish on the back. It rarely exceeds 6 to 8 inches in 
length. 
At spawning time the Bleak comes close inshore in 
large numbers, and as with many other fishes, it shows 
great excitement at such time. June sees the egg- 
depositing at its height, and the eggs are cast promis- 
cuously into shallow water where they become attached 
to weeds, or stones. ‘The curious name is indicative of 
the silvery-white or bleached colour. Many different 
hybrids have been described, and from the brilliant scales 
various commercial articles are manufactured. : 
SS 
SST! 
se Yl / | YY Mh Ui Lig 
7 a7 Pull Ute Mt, Ur Mel ye, Ul, atin, Mile tits 7 > 
i WG a MW Qa, Say ~ AB 
A 7 a ej 
Z Y 7 
LL 
ee 
Stone Loach Dice 3 
Stone Loach.—Nemachilus barbatula (Fig. 54). This 
little tenant of fast-running streams where there is a 
plentiful supply of stones, is linked up in one’s memory 
with boyhood days, and I remember the exciting 
adventures we had during those happy hours when 
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