406 PISCES (OSSEI) MALACOPT. [CYPRINUS. 



1812.) vol. in. p. 474. Bowd. Brit. fr. wat. Fish. Draw. no. 13. 



Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 328. Tanche vulgaire, Cuv. Reg. An. 



torn. n. p. 273. 



LENGTH. From twelve to eighteen inches ; sometimes more. 

 DESCRIPT. (Form.) Thick and bulky in proportion to its length : back 

 moderately elevated : dorsal line continuous with the profile, falling in 

 one regular curve to the end of the snout : greatest depth a little before 

 the dorsal, contained about three times and a half in the entire length : 

 thickness exceeding half the depth : head about one-fourth of the whole 

 length, excluding caudal : snout rather broad and rounded when viewed 

 from above : eyes small and somewhat sunk in the head, directed down- 

 wards: jaws equal: a minute barbule at each corner of the mouth: 

 lateral line descending in a gentle curve from the upper part of the 

 opercle to the middle of the body, then passing off straight to the base 

 of the caudal : scales very small, invested with a slimy mucus : dorsal 

 commencing a little beyond the middle ; its greatest height rather more 

 than half the depth of the body ; its length a little less than its height ; 

 first ray scarcely more than half the length of the second ; this last and 

 the next three nearly equal; the succeeding ones slightly decreasing; 

 all except the first two branched : anal similar to the dorsal, but smaller ; 

 commencing beyond the termination of that fin : caudal broad, rather 

 thick and fleshy, the end nearly even: pectorals large and rounded, 

 about two-thirds the length of the head ; the fifth, sixth, and seventh 

 rays longest: ventrals exactly half-way between the pectorals and the 

 anal; in shape and length similar to the former: 



B. 3; D, 11; A. 10; C. 19, &c.; P. 18; V. 10. . 



(Colours.) Head, back, and sides, deep olive-green, tinged with golden- 

 yellow: abdomen sordid yellow: irides orange-red: all the fins deep 

 purplish brown, inclining to dusky. 



Inhabits lakes, ponds, and other still waters. Keeps near the bottom, 

 and remains in a tranquil state buried in the mud during the winter 

 months. Usually from four to six pounds in weight, but has been known 

 to exceed eleven. Spawns in June. Very tenacious of life. 



(5. ABRAMIS, Cuv.) 



86. C. Brama, Linn. (Yellow Bream.) ^Depth one- 

 third of the whole length : number of scales in the lateral 

 line fifty-seven: anal with twenty-eight or twenty-nine 

 rays. 



C. Brama, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 531. Block, Ichth. pi. 13. 

 Don. Brit. Fish. vol. iv. pi. 93. Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 108. 

 Abramis Brama, Flem. Brit. An. p. 187. Bream, Witt. Hist. 

 Pise. p. 248. tab. Q. 10. f. 4. Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 362. 

 pi. 70. no. 169. Id. (Edit. 1812.) vol. ni. p. 478. pi. 81. Bowd. 

 Brit. fr. wat. Fish. Draw. no. 18. Yarr. Brit. Fish. vol. i. p. 335. 

 Breme commune, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 274. 

 LENGTH. From one to two feet, or upwards. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Body very deep in proportion to its length; the 

 depth increasing suddenly at the shoulder ; greatest above the ventrals, 

 where it equals one-third of the entire length : sides much compressed ; 

 the greatest thickness contained three times and one -third in the depth : 

 back sharp : dorsal line forming a salient angle at the commencement 



