BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
we boys endeavoured to catch one of these “ bearded”’ 
fishes. ‘The Loach is an adept at taking cover under a 
stone, and as it keeps very close to the bottom it is 
difficult to locate. It belongs to the Cobitide, and is 
not distantly related to the Carp. ‘The very small body 
scales can hardly be discerned even on close examination. 
The colour may be brownish, greenish, greyish, or 
yellowish, marbled and spotted with darker colour, with 
whitish underneath. There are small spots of blackish 
on the fins. It rarely exceeds 3 to 5 inches in length, 
and has three pairs of barbels. Night appears to be the 
feeding-time, as in daylight the Loach hides itself under 
stones, and even if dislodged will make haste to take 
cover under another stone in the near vicinity. The 
food is made up of the more usual fish diet which has 
so frequently been mentioned in our account of other 
species. 
MMS ) t . 7 Lore 
Sa. UR tn els sb My. Me eM Os Ut ite wnt Uff 
a Shame ean eth. te Ub Weng, wt wp wii “Wih Win Wh die Ue Uh 
Spined pack ati Fig 55 
Spined Loach.—Cobitis tenia (Fig. 55). This still 
smaller species has the prefix Spined attached to its 
name because of the possession of a kind of two-forked 
‘““ spine ” which is only raised when the fish is moving 
about. When in repose, the spine fits into a small groove 
100 
