THE BARBEL 179 



noticeable for the high position of the smallish eye, 

 the rather long snout, with the upper profile more 

 or less decurved, and the inferior horseshoe-shaped 

 mouth with thick lips and with two barbels on each 

 side, the anterior near the end of the snout, the 

 posterior near the corner of the mouth. The dorsal 

 fin is placed in the middle of the length of the fish ; 

 the last simple ray is a strong serrated spine, and 

 the branched rays number eight or nine, whilst the 

 anal has only five. The pharyngeal teeth are sub- 

 conical, hooked, arranged in three series on each 

 side, five in the inner row, three in the middle, and 

 two in the outer row. The general colour is a 

 greenish olive, darkest on the back, and with golden 

 reflections on the sides ; small dark brownish spots 

 are often present on the back and sides and on the 

 dorsal and caudal fins. 



In England the Barbel has been known to attain 

 a length of more than 3 feet and a weight of about 

 20 lbs., but much larger specimens have been 

 recorded from the Danube. The largest English 

 specimen I have seen weighed 1 2 lbs. 1 2 oz. 

 and was 30 inches long; it was taken in the 

 Kennett ; an example from the Thames, 9 inches 

 long, is shown on PL XXV, Fig. i. 



Barbel feed especially on worms, shrimps, insect 

 larvae, etc., but they appear not to disdain any sort 

 of animal or even vegetable matter, which they find 

 by rooting about on the bottom or in the banks 

 with their snouts, often turning over stones and 

 using their barbels as feelers to aid them in their 

 search for food. In the winter-time they herd to- 

 gether in large shoals and retire into deep water, 

 where they lie in a torpid condition. 



