X 

 498 PISCES SUB-CLASS IILTELEOSTOMI. 



mammals. Unlike the cat-fish, the carps prefer clear water ; and while the 

 majority subsist on a mixed diet, some prefer animal substances ; some others 

 confine themselves more or less exclusively to food of a vegetable nature. 

 Although the family approaches the Siluridw in point of numbers, the .im- 

 portance of its members claim for it a somewhat fuller notice. 



The typical sub-family Cypridince is characterised by the air-bladder being 

 divided by a transverse constriction into two chambers, and not invested in 

 a bony capsule. With the exception of the Oriental genus Homalopterus 

 in which they are increased to three, and the air-bladder is wanting the 

 number of pairs of barbels does not exceed two, but one or both of these 

 may be absent. Of the various genera of this sub-family, the typical 

 Cyprinus includes a small number of species from the fresh waters of tem- 

 perate Asia and Europe, the common Cyprinus carpio having been originally 



introduced to the latter continent from 

 the former. In common with certain 

 other genera, Cyprinus generally has 

 the short anal fin provided with five or 

 six branching rays ; but it is specially 

 characterised by the lateral line oc- 

 cupying the middle of each side of the 

 tail, and by the dorsal fin having its 

 Fig. 27. COMMON CARP. front edge placed immediately above 



the pelvic pair, and including one 



serrated bony, and more than nine branching rays. The blunted muzzle 

 carries two pairs of barbels ; and the teeth form a complete triple series, the 

 outermost of which are adapted for crushing. From this genus, Carassius, 

 which includes the crucian carp of Europe and the gold-fish of China and 

 Japan, differs by the absence of barbels. Nearly allied is the very large Old 

 World genus Barbus, typified by the common European barbel, but also well 

 known in the person of the huge mahasir (B. tor\ which affords such excel- 

 lent sport with rod-and-line from Kashmir to Ceylon. The members of this 

 genus have the mouth arched, and are provided with false gills ; the barbels 

 may be either four, two, or none, and the scales are very variable in size, 

 while the form of the body is often less deep than in Cyprinus. Of the 

 mahasir, or mahseer, General Macintyre writes, that * ' on the back its hue is 

 a dark olive-green, shaded off on the sides of a well -conditioned fish into 

 a golden orange, which merges into pale pink and silvery- white below, it 

 has rather large toothless jaws, lined with a very tough membrane, so it 

 requires to be struck pretty hard to be properly hooked. When I say struck, 

 I mean that after the fish has hooked itself, as it will do by its own weight, 

 a good pull without a jerk is necessary to drive home the barb into its 

 leathern jaws. Owing to this toughness of mouth, a mahasir when fixed is 

 seldom lost unless it breaks the tackle. This a big fish will often do in its 

 first plunge, when it sometimes has a way of lashing its tail over the line. 

 That crisis being safely over, if your tackle is trustworthy, landing your fish 

 is usually only a matter of time and patience. Its strong teeth are set far 

 back in its gullet, and the stoutest tackle has a poor chance if it gorges your 

 lure beyond them. It cannot be easily clipped, as its large round scales are 

 so hard that the sharpest gaff will glance off them. When running a mahasir 

 after it has been finely hooked, I have never known it leap from the water, 

 and I think it rarely does so, but its long and rapid rushes quite equal, if 

 they do not surpass, those of any salmon of a similar size, As regards its 



