2836 



THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



mon with its allies, the bitterling is remarkable for the circumstance that in the 

 breeding season the oviduct of the female is produced into an elongated tube, pro- 

 jecting a considerable distance beyond the surface of the body. This organ, which 

 may be compared to the ovipositor of an insect, is introduced within the shells of 

 fresh-water mussels, and the eggs are thus deposited in a situation where they will 

 be protected from the attacks of enemies. 



Bream 



BITTERLING, BLEAK, AND GUDGEON. 



(Natural size.) 



The common European bream (Abramis brama], shown in the 

 lower figure of the illustration on the next page, is the type of a large 

 group of genera, characterized by the elongation of the anal fin, and by a portion or 

 the whole of the abdomen being compressed so as to form a sharp edge. In the 

 type genus the much compressed body is deep or oblong in form, with the scales of 

 moderate size, and the lateral line running below the middle of the tail; the short 

 dorsal fin, which is not furnished with a spine, being situated opposite the interval 

 between the pelvic and anal fins. In both jaws the lips are simple, the upper being 

 protractile, and generally longer than the lower, although occasionally the reverse 



