i8o BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES 



The spawning season is in May or June, when 

 the males acquire little tubercles on the head and 

 the anterior part of the back ; the fish assemble in 

 shallow or fairly deep water where the bottom is 

 gravelly ; the eggs are said to be covered over with 

 gravel by the parent fish, and to hatch out in about 

 a fortnight. After spawning the Barbel make for 

 the swift shallows, where they may be seen rolling 

 about on the gravel. 



The Barbel is a strong and active, yet wary, fish, 

 and affords fine sport to the angler ; opinions differ 

 as to its value as food, the flesh being white and firm, 

 but rather coarse ; the eggs are more or less poisonous, 

 sometimes inducing violent purging and vomiting, and 

 also weakening the heart so much that fainting may 

 result ; the poisonous secretion is sometimes absorbed 

 by the flesh of the lower part of the fish, which may 

 thus produce similar effects, and to be safe it is best 

 to eat Barbel only in the late summer and autumn, 

 and to remove the roe as soon as possible after the 

 fish is caught. 



The Barbel derives its title from Barbellus, the 

 diminutive of Barbus, the Latin name given to 

 this fish in allusion to its beard-like appendages or 

 barbels. 



The Gudgeon {Gobio gobio or G. flwoiatilis) is 

 rather similar to the Barbel in general form, as well 

 as in the shape of the head, the structure of the 

 mouth, and the position of the fins. However, there 

 is no anterior pair of barbels, the eye is rather large, 

 the scales number only thirty-nine to forty-five in 

 the lateral line, and the unbranched rays of the 

 dorsal fin are slender and articulated. The dorsal 



