AFRICAN LOACHES 



2841 



and usually immersed in mucus; in one Oriental genus, developed upon the back 

 and sides of the head. The loaches of this subfamily are confined to Europe and 

 Asia; and while some of those from the former continent are partial to swift clear 

 streams with a stony bottom, the Indian forms delight in muddy tanks, where they 

 bury themselves in the mud. All 'are carnivorous; and, in spite of their small size, 

 the European species are esteemed as food. The giant loach (Misgurnus fossilis] , 

 forming the central figure of our illustration, is the largest European member of 

 the group, and belongs to a genus of four species, common to Europe and Asia 

 north of the Himalayas. The genus is characterized by the elongate and com- 

 pressed form of the body, the absence of an erectile spine near the eye and the 

 presence of from ten to twelve barbels, four of which belong to the lower jaw; the 

 dorsal fin being placed above the pelvic pair, and the caudal rounded. The 

 European species, which grows to a length of ten inches, is found in stagnant 

 waters in Southern and Eastern Germany, and Northwestern Asia; being replaced 



ANGOLA I.OACH. 



(Natural size.) 



by an allied form in China and Japan. The true loaches (Nemachilus] , on the 

 other hand, have six upper barbels, and none on the lower jaw. They are repre- 

 sented by some fifty species from Europe and temperate Asia; the common British 

 loach (A^. barbatulus], shown in the upper figure of the illustration, being found in 

 clear streams all over Europe with the exception of Denmark and Scandinavia. 

 The spiny loach (Cobitis tenia), shown in the lower corner of the illustration, is the 

 typical representative of a third genus, distinguished from the last by the presence 

 of a small, bifid, erectile spine below each eye. The figured species is locally and 

 sparingly distributed in Britain, but more common on the continent. Certain 

 Indian loaches formerly included in this genus are now regarded as distinct, the 

 subfamily being represented by eight other genera in the same country. 



AFRICAN LOACHES Family 



Two small loach-like fishes from the fresh waters of tropical Africa, one of 

 which (Kneria congolensis} is figured in the annexed illustration, alone represent a 



