254 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 
By bearing these points in mind the angler need never 
be in doubt as to which species he has in his creel. 
When first caught I should unhesitatingly award to 
the Rudd the palm for mere brilliancy of colouring over 
all other British freshwater fish. The reddish gold, 
which is the prevailing body-colour, varies in the varying 
shades of light; the eyes and fins are tinted different 
shades of crimson and orange-scarlet, whilst the gill- 
covers and sides are of a rich golden yellow. From 
these peculiarities of colouring it is unnecessary to say 
that it derives itsname. Its specific appellation, exythrop- 
thalmus (from the Greek, evythros, red, and ophihalmos, 
the eye), has a similar origin. 
I was so fortunate, a few years ago, as to discover in 
some ponds near Romford, Essex, a lemon or yellow- 
coloured variety of the Rudd. In this fish, of which I 
took several dozen, all the red tints of the Rudd, even 
including its characteristic red eyes (or more correctly, 
irides), were replaced by various tints of lemon and 
bright yellow, the larger the fish, the deeper being the 
yellow colouring. The* specimens—of which some are 
now in the British Museum — present other, and in 
some points structural differences. 
In their natural habitats the Roach and Rudd differ, 
inasmuch as whilst the former species thrive and abound 
equally in ponds and rivers, the latter are comparatively 
confined to waters of a stagnant character, or lagoon-like 
expanses connected by rivers, like some of the Norfolk 
