152 THE RUFFE. 



the delicacy of its flesh. They are gregarious, 

 are generally taken with the rod, in the same 

 way that perch fishing is practised in the south, 

 and in favourable days six or eight dozen are 

 taken at one stand. The colours of the Ruffe 

 are golden green, inclining to olive brown on 

 the back, and silvery towards the belly, with 

 clouded spots over the head and back. The 

 spiny part of the dorsal fin is spotted with black 

 on the membrane between the rays, the soft 

 portion of it, and the tail upon the rays them- 

 selves. The lower fins are whitish, tinged with 

 red. In the internal structure, it resembles the 

 Perch. Two other species are found in the 

 European rivers, one in the Danube, and another 

 in the Don and Dnieper. The first, Acerina, 

 Schraitzer, grows to a size of eight or nine inches, 

 and is of nearly similar colour with that of 

 Britain. The other is also somewhat similar, but 

 is thickly spotted on the sides with black. Both 

 are esteemed for their delicacy. 



Following the Ruffes, Cuvier has placed the 

 genus Polyprion, formed from a single species, 

 common in the Mediterranean, remarkable for the 

 large size it attains, and still more so for being 

 long undescribed by ichthyologists. It is the 



