EXERCISES IN DESCRIPTION. 



77 



in colour of the whole body, and the whole head is scale- 

 less. The mouth-opening is terminal, and when closed is 

 crescent- shaped ; the nostrils, paired and valved, are situ- 

 ated anterior to and about the level of the dorsal border of 

 the eyes. These are black, with iris pale, slightly bronzed, 

 and tinged with amethyst. There is a row of [sensory] 

 spots on the under side of the lower jaw. Behind the eyes 

 are the relatively large, somewhat convex and composite 

 gill-covers, beneath which may be seen the gill-arches. The 

 ventral portion of the gill-cover on each side is supported 

 by a few curved bony rods. 



Fig. 12. The Carp (Cyprinus). Compare with Haddock (p. 70) as regards number 

 and arrangement of median fins, and position of paired fins. 



The trunk is about three and a half inches long, its 

 greatest vertical depth, which is just behind the head, is 

 one and a half inches, and its least, at the junction with 

 the tail, about half an inch. The scales have a rounded 

 free border, and are always more darkly pigmented on the 

 exposed part. One taken from the side of the body is 

 bronze, dotted over with minute black specks, the covered 

 part is silvery white, and the innermost border is wavy in 

 outline. A distinct line of modified scales, running along 

 each side of the body and curving upwards anteriorly, is 

 observable. (This indicates a lateral sensory line.) 



There is a median dorsal fin about the middle region of 

 the trunk, and a median ventral, smaller, both terminating 

 about the same distance from the caudal fin. Close to the 



