ASPRO VULGARIS. 47 



is spinous. The tail is short and compressed. The colour is golden-brown, 

 with four broad oblique blackish bands. 



Von Siebold gives the usual lengths of Rhone specimens at five inches, and 

 it so closely resembles the young Zingel as to be distinguished only by count- 

 ing the rays in the dorsal tins. In France it is nowhere abundant, and is 

 found only in the north-eastern provinces, but owing to its small size is 

 not taken by the fishermen. 



The body is elongated, nearly cylindrical in the middle, and tapering 

 towards the tail. The head forms about one-fifth of the entire length of the 

 fish, is large, rather depressed above, and covered with scales, even as far for- 

 ward as the interspace between the eyes and nostril. The snout is smooth and 

 remarkable for its blunt termination. The diameter of the eyes is one-fifth of 



Fig. 17. -ASPKO VVLGARIS (CVVIER AND VALENCIENNES). 



the length of the head ; they are placed in the middle of its length, and re- 

 semble the eyes of the Perch. The nasal apertures are double, close together, 

 with the largei- one close in front of the eye. The mouth is narrow. The 

 tongue is smooth. The pre-operculum is covered with skin in the fresh 

 condition ; it is serrated, but the denticulatious are so fine as to be scarcely 

 visible. The operculum is rounded on its inferior border, and terminates 

 posteriorly in a long and sharp spine. 



The fins of this species differ remarkably from those of its allies. The 

 dorsal fins are of moderate height and extent. The first dorsal, which has a 

 convex curved outline, contains only nine spinous rays. The second dorsal fin 

 has the first spiuous ray short and weak, followed by twelve soft rays, of 

 which the first is simple and the others branched in their upper portion. The 

 pectoral fin is ovate, and includes fourteen rays. The ventral fins are remark- 

 ably long ; they have only six rays, of which the first is spiny, and the others 

 stout. The anal fin is below the second dorsal, has a shorter base, and is made 

 up of ten rays, of which the first is spinous. The caudal fin terminates with 

 a notched or crescent-shaped outline, and includes twenty-one rays. 



The body is covered with scales except in the pectoral region. The scales 



