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SOME FRESHWATER AQUARIUM FISHES 
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lake or pool which never seem to be too thick, muddy or fetid for it to 
inhabit. Like the carp it buries itself in the mud during the winter months 
and there remains in a semi-torpid state until the advent of warm weather. 
The young are most beautiful aquarium inmates though more timid 
than goldfishes. Their colors are so delicate and fleeting as to be almost 
prismatic, when the fishes are viewed in a strong light. In form they are 
long, slender and rather flat-sided; the mouth is narrow, the eyes large 
and the small nostrils are erect. The fins are clear transparent white in 
fine contrast with the handsome colors of the body. ‘Two forms are 
generally bred, the Green and the Golden tench. 
The Common or Green. Tench, Vinca ceruleus, is a finely scaled 
handsome fish, especially the young when about 2 to 3 inches in length. 
The colors are rich olive-green on the back and abdomen with a fine 
metallic golden-green lustre which fairly scintillates with prismatic colors 
when viewed in the aquarium with the light at the back of the observer. 
The Golden Tench, Vinca auratus, isan albino variety of the Com- 
mon Tench originally bred in Silesia, and is of bright orange color, spotted 
with brown dots on the sides, fins and tail. | The small fishes, Fig. 42, 
are so nearly transparent when viewed towards the light that all the interior 
organs and the very functions of life may be seen through the transparent 
substance of the skin. When viewed with the light at the back of the ob- 
server, the colors are most charming and resemble an opal more than any 
other object. With the exception of the Goldfish and the Paradise fish, 
the Tench is probably the handsomest aquarium fish, very hardy, easily 
kept, and perfectly harmless, and should find a place in every aquarium. 
It may be fed with the usual goldfish foods. Its culture should be en- 
couraged, as it is a very fine pond fish of lively habit. 
THE CARP 
The Carp, Cyprinus carpio, is one of the most widely distributed of 
the pond fishes. A number of forms have been produced by European 
breeders of which the following are the more interesting. 


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FIG 43—Young Scaled Carp, Cyprinus carpio communts 
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