178 BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES 



wild state has the greenish-brown hue of the other 

 Carps, and it is only the domesticated varieties 

 which lose their black or brown pigment and 

 exhibit the well-known gold and silver coloration. 

 Some of the largest specimens I have seen, certainly 

 several pounds in weight, w^ere in the ponds at 

 Hampton Court. A small example, 7 inches long, 

 is shown on PI. XXIV, Fig. 2. 



The Chinese and Japanese have produced many 

 remarkable varieties of Gold-fish ; the dorsal fin 

 may be variously reduced, and the caudal may split 

 vertically into its component halves, thus showing 

 four lobes instead of two, or if the upper edges do 

 not separate it may appear trilobed. The most 

 curious type is the Telescope Fish, with protruding 

 eyes, no dorsal fin, and a very large trilobed caudal. 



The Barbel {Barbus barbus or B. vulgaris) 

 belongs to a genus which is very rich in species ; 

 nearly two hundred different forms are known from 

 Africa alone, and numerous kinds are also found in 

 the Indian region, including the famous Mahseer 

 {B. jnosal), so well known as a sporting fish, which 

 attains a weight of more than 100 lbs. 



The European species are few in number and our 

 Barbel is the only one found north of the Alps ; its 

 range on the Continent extends from France through 

 Germany to the Danube, but it is absent from the 

 northern parts of Europe. In the British Isles it 

 seems to be confined to the Thames, the Trent, and 

 some of the Yorkshire rivers. 



The Barbel has a rather elongate body covered 

 with scales of moderate size, numbering fifty-two to 

 seventy in a longitudinal series. The head is 



