PRACTICAL CAKP CULTURE. 13 



barbe 

 all the varieties. 



naked head, the barbels, and the dorsal fin are concerned, are leading for 



THE MIRROR OR KING CARP. C. rex cyprinorum, Spiegelkarpfen, 

 Carpe a cuir. This variety has a higher body than the preceding and is 

 but partly covered with scales, which are of different size and shape, some 

 of them three or four times the size of the scales on the noble carp. This 

 variation has given rise to the false impression, that carp shed their scales, 

 the fact apparently seeming to prove the idea. The color of the scales is 

 deep black in the center, and edged with silvery white, giving each scale 

 the appearance of a miniature mirror, hence the name. The skin, where 

 it is not protected with scales, is of a creamy yellow on the back inclining 

 to olive brown, and yellowish on the belly. 



THE NAKED OR LEATHER CARP. C. nudus, Lederkarpfen. Aa the 

 name indicates, this variety is very nearly or entirely naked, its skin as 

 soft as that of a catfish. Its shape is the same as the mirror carp, differing 

 only in color, which is brownish gray and the belly white. 



\ 



THE GOLDEN CARP. C. aurens, Goldkarpfen, Carp d'or. This 

 variety is very popular in France and cultivated to a considerable extent. 

 It must not be confounded with our common gold fish, as it is no wise 

 identical. Its flesh is salmon colored, (that of other varieties being white) 

 and of an exceedingly fine flavor, which together with the rich golden 

 color of its scales is due to the locality and the rood upon which it subsists. 

 In all other respects, this variety resembles the noblo carp, as does 



THE BLUE CARP. C. cocruleus, JUauerkarpfen , Carpr, bleu, which is 

 highly esteemed, especially so in and around the city of Leipzic, Saxony. 

 When cooked it still retains the blue color of its scales, though this is 

 ingeniously imitated by placing some other variety in vinegar for a while, 

 the scales thus turning blue. In such cases the fish is known as u Karp- 

 fen Ww" instead of "Blauer Karpfen," the name of the genuine fish. 

 The large pond situated in the city park of Leipzic, in the rear of the opera 

 house, and known as the "Swan Pond" (Schwanen Teich), is stocked 

 exclusively with blue carp. 



To these descriptions we wish to add that the mouth is of moderate 

 size and is formed for bottom feeding, with the upper jaw covering the 

 lower one. That the lateral line is continuous ; that the dorsal fin is very 

 long, and the anal fin is very short, the body as a whole resembling that 

 of the buffalo fish. 



The varieties of carp are no doubt the result of domestication, cultiva- 

 tion and hybredization. Whether the original stock introduced from the 

 fresh waters of Central Asia were of the mirror, leather or scale variety, 

 or all of these varieties, is not known. These are now the three principal 



