2 6 Guide to the British Fresh-Water Fishes 



to Mongolia. It is couimuu in England, except Coinwall anil the 

 Lake District, and in Wales and Ireland, but it is absent from 

 Scotland. Tlie shoals frequent quiet shallows with a sandy or 

 gravelly bottom. This is a small species, rarely growing to a 

 length of 8 inclies. The example exliibited, from the Thames, 

 was mounted and presented by F. Page, Hsq. 



42. Tench, Tinea /wcrt.— The small scales, rounded fins and 

 greenish colour are characteristic of this species, which is quite 

 unlike any of the other T^ritish Cyprinoids. It inhabits Europe, 

 Asia Minor and Western Siberia; in ouv islands it is generally 

 distributed, except in Scotland north of Loch Lomond. It is a 

 sluggish fish, found in lakes, ponds and slow-iunuing rivers. 

 There is a British record of a specimen weighing 11 lbs. 9 oz., but 

 the angler does not often capture a larger Tench tiian the one 

 exhibited, a fish of 5 lbs., which was taken in the lake at Gatton 

 Park, Surrey, in June, 1915, by the donor, F. E. Graham, Esq. 



43. Minnow, Phoxinus 2}hoxinus (fi,<4. 17). — ^The Minnow is in 

 most respects a miniature Chub or Dace, but the scales are much 

 smaller than in those species. It inhabits Eiirope, except the 

 Iberian Peninsula, and extends through Russian Turkestan and 

 Siberia ; it is generally distributed in England and Wales, is 



W 



Fig. 17. — Minnow. 



absent from the northern Highlands of Scotland, and is local in 

 Ireland ; 3 or 4 inches is the usual size, but examples 6 or 

 7 inches long have been taken. The pretty little fishes exhi])ited, 

 showing the difference in coloration of the sexes in the breeding 

 season, were mounted and presented by F. Page, Esq. 



44. Chub, Leiiciscus cephalus (fig. 18). — The Barbel and 

 (xudgeon have barbels, the Tench and Minnow have small scales; 

 in the remaining species with both dorsal and anal fin short the 



