DACE AND CHUB. 8 1 



river Wey with a volume of Yarrell's "British 

 Fishes," in one hand, a diminutive specimen of the 

 genus lenciscus in the other, and in his face a 

 pitiable expression of bewilderment as he en- 

 deavoured to identify the species of his " captive" 

 by a critical comparison of the relative measure- 

 ments of the head, body, and fins, according to the 

 ichthyological formulary given in the pages of that 

 scientific, but to the uninitiated, somewhat perplex- 

 ing volume. Was it a small Chub or a large Dace 

 that he had caught ? This was the problem. I 

 forget whether he succeeded at last in solving it ; but 

 if the angler will bear in mind the following simple 

 distinguishing characteristic he need never be in a 

 similar dilemma : The ventral (or belly) fins of the 

 Dace are always greenish with a slight tin^ge of red, 

 whilst the anal fin has no red about it whatever ; in 

 the Chub both these fins are of a brilliant pink colour. 

 As the Chub grows larger, the chocolate brown, 

 almost black, of its tail-fin becomes more marked, 

 and the whole fish rapidly assumes a bronzed or 

 golden appearance, in place of the prevailing 

 silvery tint which the Dace retains in its original 

 brilliancy to the last. 



/a 



