BLEAK AND LOACH 



habits and pretty appearance. It is of social disposition, 

 and a lover of clear water. It keeps close to the surface, 

 and its sporting proclivities cannot fail to arrest attention. 

 It does not occur in either Ireland or Scotland, but in 

 other parts of Britain it is more or less a fairly familiar 

 species. It has a silvery- white dress, ornamented with 

 greenish on the back. It rarely exceeds 6 to 8 inches in 

 length. 



At spawning time the Bleak comes close inshore in 

 large numbers, and as with many other fishes, it shows 

 great excitement at such time. June sees the egg- 

 depositing at its height, and the eggs are cast promis- 

 cuously into shallow water where they become attached 

 to weeds, or stones. The curious name is indicative of 

 the silvery-white or bleached colour. Many different 

 hybrids have been described, and from the brilliant scales 

 various commercial articles are manufactured. 



5lone LotucU Fig ^'^ 



Stone Loach. — Nemachiliis barbatula (Fig. 54). This 



little tenant of fast-running streams where there is a 



plentiful supply of stones, is linked up in one's memory 



with boyhood days, and I remember the exciting 



adventures we had during those happy hours when 



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