2i8 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



" ' Sans water he 



Had llv'd, d'ye see, 

 Beneath those roots of wood, sir, 



And there, alack ! 



Flat on his back, 

 Had lain since Noah's flood, sir. 



" ' Now he's in stew, 



For public gout, 

 And fed with lettuce-cosse, sir ; 



In hopes the Town 



Will gulp him down, 

 With good humbugging sauce, sir.' " 



Daniel adds : " But notwithstanding the squibs and 

 witticisms of incredulity, the account is authentic." 



The tench is very tenacious of life ; is a slow grower, 

 rarely exceeding 5 Ibs. The general colour of the body is 

 a light greenish-olive, with a golden sheen, lightest along 

 the whole line of the under surface. Fins dark brown ; 

 the lateral line commencing at the upper part of the gill- 

 cover, descending, and then going straight to the tail. 



Fin-rays: dorsal, 1113; pectoral, 17; ventral, 9-10; 

 anal, 9-10; caudal, 17. 



The tench spawns about the middle or end of June. 

 The female is generally accompanied by two males, and 

 deposits her ova on the leaves of aquatic plants often on 

 the broad-leaved pond- weed, Potomogeton natans hence in 

 some counties this plant is called tench-weed. 



The tench is said to hibernate in the mud in winter. 



Giinther says : " Only one species of ' tench ' is known 

 (T. tinea), found all over Europe in stagnant waters with 

 soft bottom. The Golden Tench is only a variety of 

 colour, an incipient albinism like the Gold-Fish and Id." 



THE CRUCIAN CARP. 



Cyprinoids without barbels : 



The CRUCIAN CARP (Carassius vulgaris) differs from the 

 common carp in having no barbels ; the pharyngeal teeth 

 being in a single series, 44, and compressed, and the shape 

 being more bream-like. In the common crucian carp the 



