28o TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



Other Members of the Carp Family. 



The number of species of this family which inhabit our larger waters 

 is very considerable, and they are often only with difficulty to be 

 distinguished. We shall confine ourselves to mentioning the following : 



The Crucian Carp (Carassius vulgaris) so closely resembles the 

 common carp in all respects that it might be described as a " carp 

 without barbels." An artificial variety of this species is the well-known 

 Gold-fish, which originates from China, the land of fish culture par 



excellence. 



The genus Leuciscus contains a very large number of species, most of 

 them living in the open water, and hence silver-coloured (see herring), 

 and not equipped with barbels like bottom fish (compare with carp, 

 tench, etc.). Being chiefly carnivorous, they are nimbler swimmers 

 than the carp (body being often laterally compressed), and their 

 pharyngeal teeth have pointed crowns (compare with carnivorous 

 mammals). 



The best-known species are the Roach (L. rutilus), with its bright 

 red iris, and the Rudd (L. erythrophthalmus), in which the iris is of a 

 brilliant gold colour. The fins in both species are generally red. 



A similar fish, but with much higher body and grey fins, is the 

 Bream (Abramis brama), which reaches a length of 28 inches. 



The Barbel (Barbus vulgaris} is of slender shape, and is a chiefly 

 nocturnal bottom fish which feeds upon the smaller aquatic animals. 

 The mouth is provided with four thick barbels. The numerous teeth of 

 the inferior pharyngeal bones are sharp as in predaceous mammals. 

 The roe is sometimes poisonous. 



In pure waters with a sandy bottom in Germany occurs a little fish 

 only about 2 inches long, called, on account of the bitter taste of its 

 flesh, the Bitterling (Rhodeus amarus). In the spawning season the 

 male shines with all the colours of the rainbow, and in the female there 

 is a tubular appendage about 1J inches long in front of the anal fin. 

 This appendage is an " ovipositor," by the aid of which the female 

 places her eggs in the interior cavity of a fresh- water mussel (Unio or 

 Anodon). Between the gills of the bivalve the delicate eggs and young 

 of the fish obtain protection and a constant circulation of water. 



The Tench (Tinea vulgaris) frequents by preference a muddy bottom, 

 in which it burrows after all kinds of decaying animal and vegetable 

 substances. Correlated with this mode of life are its dark colour and 

 the fleshy lips, with their barbels and broadly-crowned pharyngeal teeth 

 (see carp). Unfortunately, this much-esteemed food-fish is daily becoming 

 scarcer. (What is probably the reason of its disappearance ?) 



