402 PISCES (OSSEI) MALACOPT. [CYPRINUS. 



LENGTH. From one to one and a half, or even two, feet. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Oval; body thick anteriorly; back moderately elevated; 

 dorsal line more convex than the ventral, falling with the profile in one continuous 

 curve, without any depression at the nape : greatest depth beneath the commence- 

 ment of the dorsal fin, measuring rather more than one-third of the entire length : 

 greatest thickness in the region of the gills, equalling half the depth : head large : 

 jaws equal ; lips thick, furnished with two barbules at the corners of the mouth, 

 and two shorter ones above nearer the nose : mouth small : no teeth in the jaws ; 

 pharyngeans with flat teeth striated on the crown : eyes small, and rather high on 

 the cheeks : opercle marked with radiating striae : lateral line nearly straight ; its 

 course a very little below the middle : scales large ; number, in the lateral line, 

 thirty-eight ; in the depth twelve, six and a half being above, and five and a half 

 below, the lateral line* : dorsal commencing in a line with the end of the pectorals, 

 and occupying a space equal to nearly one-third of the entire length ; first two rays 

 bony, and partaking of the nature of spines ; the first not half the length of the 

 second; this last very strong and serrated posteriorly; third (or first of the soft 

 rays) longest, equalling rather more than one-third of the depth ; succeeding ones 

 gradually decreasing to the seventh or eighth, beyond which they remain even to 

 the end ; all the soft rays branched ; the last two from one rootf : anal short, op- 

 posite the last quarter of the dorsal, and terminating in a line with that fin ; first two 

 rays bony ; the second strongly serrated ; third ray longest, nearly equalling the 

 third in the dorsal ; fourth and succeeding ones decreasing ; all the soft rays 

 branched ; the last two from one root : caudal forked for half its length ; all the 

 principal rays except the outer ones branched : pectorals attached low down, in 

 a line with the posterior margin of the opercle ; their length about three-fourths 

 that of the head : all the rays soft, and, except the first, branched : ventrals similar 

 to the pectorals but rather shorter, situate in a line with the first three soft rays of 

 the dorsal : 



B. 3 ; D. 2/22 ; A. 2/6 ; C. 19, and some short; P. 17; V. 9. 

 (Colours.) General colour olive-brown, tinged with gold; darkest on the head; 

 belly yellowish white : fins, dorsal and caudal, dusky ; ventrals and anal tinged 

 with red. 



Originally from the middle of Europe. Said to have been introduced into Eng- 

 land about the year 1514, but was certainly known before that time. Common in 

 lakes and ponds, as well as in some rivers. Attains to the weight of nearly twenty 

 pounds, but arrives at a still larger size on some parts of the Continent. Spawns 

 in May and June, and is very prolific. Food, insects, worms, and aquatic plants. 



** Without barbules. 



* 81. C. Gibelio, Gmel. (Gibel.) Depth one-third of the entire 

 length : lateral line bending slightly downwards : caudal crescent-shaped. 



C. Gibelio, Gmel. Linn. torn. i. part iii. p. 1417. Block, Ichth. pi. 12. 

 Flem. Brit. An. p. 185. Carassius, Will. Hist. Pise. p. 249. Crucian, 



XHinnea to tnose scales wnicn are marK.ea witn me luoe-iiRe projection, me smaii irregular 

 t the insertion of the caudal being neglected. The number of rows in the depth is taken 

 deepest part of the body, or in a line from the first rays of the dorsal fin to the base of the 

 1. Such a line, however, being interrupted near the middle by the lateral line, it is divided 



* The number of scales in the lateral line, and the number of rows of scales in the depth, are 

 characters of some importance in distinguishing the different species of Cyprinidce. They are 

 here adopted from Junne, and I shall state, nearly in the words of that author, the exact method 

 in which they are computed. In estimating the number of scales in the lateral line, the reckon- 

 ing is confined to those scales which are marked with the tube-like projection, the small irregular 



sclles at the i i= - HSTSZZ __ .__.___ _, __ 



atthedeepes 



ventral. Such a line, however, being ********* M *sv*i*% ******* *,**** *********** **-j ***** **.*.**** ******, **- * ***T ******* 

 into two parts, the dorsal portion containing the number of scales above the lateral line, the 

 ventral portion the number below it. Moreover, one of the scales themselves being always 

 divided by the lateral line, and this line serving as the boundary of the two portions, it follows 

 that half a scale is given each way to be added to the number of entire scales that appear in these 

 portions respectively. It may be further stated that the curved tile-like scale, which appears on 

 the ridge of the back in most of the fish belonging to this family, being common to both sides, is 

 not taken into the account ; neither are the small incomplete irregular scales which may be often 

 observed at the base of the rays of the dorsal fin. In like manner, the numerous small scales 

 which appear at the bottom of the abdomen, and which could not be counted with precision, are 

 omitted ; the reckoning at this point commencing with the first entire scale above the long scale 

 which is placed at the base of the ventral fin. See Jurine's memoir on the Fish of the Lake of 

 Geneva, contained in the Mem. de la Soc. de Phys. et d'Hist. Nat. de Geneve, torn. in. part i. 

 nn 143 144 



t In all the Cyprinidce, the last two rays in the dorsal and anal fins will be found to spring 

 from one root. In computing the fin-ray formula they may be reckoned either as one or two. 

 I have considered them as two. 



