THE RUDD. 57" 



the back, vamng in shade when viewed from, different posi- 

 tions, the golden yellow of his cheeks and gill covers, his 

 colours seem to change when looked at from different lights 

 and shades, like the wings of the " Piirnle Emperor" butter- 

 fly. All these form a picture of fish colouring that an artist 

 might envy ; but, alas ! these colours soon fade and disappear 

 finally after death. He is probably called " rudd " because 

 of the ruddy coppery tint of the fish, and " red-eye " e\adently 

 from the bright red of the irides, and " shallow " most likely 

 from its breanvlike shallowness of body when on its side. 



There are certain similiarities between the rudd and the 

 roach that anglers who are not intimately acquainted ^^'ith 

 both kinds would have a difficulty in telling at a glance the 

 difference between the two. He mdght fancy a rudd, if he 

 happened to take an odd one when roach fishing, was a par- 

 ticularly bright and handsome specimen of the latter fish ; 

 but in spite of this similarity there is a great difference be- 

 tween the anatomy of the t^vo fishes. We will suppose the 

 angler has a pound rudd and a roach of similar weight lying 

 before him, he will at once notice that the former is the 

 shorter one, that it is a trifle flatter on the sides, and that it 

 is also a full half inch or three-quarter inch deeper than the 

 roach. Two other points of marked difference will be found 

 in the dorsal or back fin, and the nose and mouth. The 

 dorsal fin of the roach is exactly opposite the ventral fins, 

 while in a rudd this fin is nearer the tail ; in fact, the dorsal 

 is placed very far back, between the ventral fins and the 

 anal fin. As I have noticed in a previous chapter, the 

 peculiar shape of the top lip of a roach, which is capable of 

 elongation, and is overhung ; in the rudd this peculiarity is 

 exactly opposite, the fish looks pug-nosed, its bottom lip 

 projects, turns up\\'ard over the top one, and is underhung, 

 and when we also notice the difference in colour between the 

 two fish, as already hinted, it wWl not be a difficult matter to 

 recognise the rudd, if the angler is lucky enough to meet with 

 it during his outings. 



I have been rather particular in describing this fish, as it 

 is not generally known among anglers, and also taking into 

 consideration the fact that fish culturists are now beginning 

 to turn their attention to it, and are stocking waters with rudd 



