CYPRINUS CARPIO. 95 



In this group the genus Cyprinus is conspicuous in having four barbels, 

 with a rounded, rather blunt snout and narrow mouth, which opens ante- 

 riorly. The long dorsal fin has a serrated bony ray, and the anal fin is short. 

 The pharyngeal teeth have a grinding character, and are arranged in the 

 series 3' 1' 1' 1' 1' 3. The genus is limited to Europe and Asia, and is 

 found only in temperate regions. 



Cyprinus carpio (LINN^US). The Carp. 



D. 34/1722, P. 1/1516, V. 2/89, A. 3/5, C. 1719. 

 Scales 56/3539/56. 



In this variable species (Fig. 32) typical forms often have the height of the 

 body equal to nearly one-half the length, yet the shape is elongated, laterally 

 compressed, and the body has its greatest breadth at the operculum, where the 



Fig. 32. - CYPRINUS CARPIO 



thickness is nearly half the height of the fish. The snout is blunt, the nose 

 thick, and the forehead and profile of the back form a low bow, which rises 

 uniformly to the dorsal fin. The length of the head varies with age ; usually 

 it is one-quarter of the length of the body, but in old individuals the head is 

 nearly one-fifth the length of the fish. The diameter of the eye is about one- 

 sixth the length of the head, and, as in so many allied fishes, is about twice its 

 diameter from the snout ; it may be three times its diameter from the other 

 eye, and has an elevated position over the mouth. The angle of the mouth is 

 so slightly oblique as to be almost horizontal, and the gape scarcely reaches 

 back to the anterior nasal opening. The yellow or red barbels at the corners 

 of the mouth are always longer than the olive barbels of the upper jaw ; but 

 both are variable, sometimes unsymmetrical, and frequently absent. The lips 

 are thick and fleshy; the lower lip is somewhat the shorter; the tongue is 



